Desert Urban Coop

[Bosque]

Here is my urban coop. I built it with plenty of ventalation for the Arizona heat. There are two doors, one to get into the coop and one to get into the roost. The chickens seem to really like it. The nesting box was built on the roost door and opens up aswell. You can see that there is the PVC feeder and waterer with two nipples. The waterer holds three gallons. I also have a quart waterer hanging on the right side.
We had a monsoon rain last week and the chickens did really well.

 

[bantamman13]

That is a awesome looking pen very neat and clean looking, I would say you have some very happy birds indeed.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Very nice

 

[2txmedics]

let see how do you SPELL Jealouze...Jealooze, Jaillese....

IM JEALOUSE!!!! Thats an awesome and pretty coop~~~lucky you!

 

[peeplessinNC]

Very nice set up! I really like how the coop and run fit in so well with the yard, fencing and trees. You have some lucky chickens there!

 

[1stepcloser]

Your coop is gorgeous. I am J-E-A-L-O-U-S.

 

[Bosque]

Thank you. It was really fun to build. I learnt a lot that being my first coop. Now, Im really looking forward to building the next one!
The one thing that I learnt was to use good wire. I tried the 2x3 welded wire, but the young chickens can almost get out. Then I had to buy poultry or hardware cloth for the bottom section. For the coop area, I ended up using 1x2 welded wire. It was more money, but I think that it is well worth it in the long run.

 

[fldiver97]

Very nice...fits in perfectly! No wonder your chickens like it!!!!

 

[Bosque]

I have a roost question for everyone. This is the first time that I have had chickens. I built the run first, then added the roost on the left side of the picture about a month later. My youngest chicks go up to the roost everynight, but the older ones that lived in the coop for several months want to roost on the ground or in a plastic box that I cut a semi-circle hole into. For the last few nights, I have been picking up the older hens to put them into the roost. How long will it take for them to learn that they need to go in there at night? Any tips???

 

[elmo]

Beautiful set up!

Just be aware that the spaces between 1" by 2" wire are large enough so that predators (e.g., racoons) can reach in and grab your birds, pull parts through the wire and dismember them. To make your run more secure, you could add 1/2" by 1/2" hardware cloth at the bottom of your run and anywhere your roosts attach to the sides of your run.