Dj's Coop Mahal

[Defjam]

The wife and I were taking a walk through the metroparks yesterday and I spotted a large diameter tree limb that worked out perfectly for a perch in the run. Last night I finished up the 2X4 roosting bar inside the coop, the removable poop board, putting hook and eye's on all the window vent doors and finally...installing a door handles. Last to do is cut the linoleum to match the poop board and to line the bottom of the coop. The birds are growing fast too! Some of them seem to be sprouting feathers overnight.

I placed the order for the green metal roof from this great mom-n-pop operation near our ANF. Its due to be ready for pick up on the 14th. Can't wait! I just realized how similar the coop is going to look like our "Shed Mahal"! LOL!




Anyway, depending on how feathered they get, I may actually consider putting them into the coop when they turn a month old. I'll post photos of my work soon.

 

[Defjam]

The finished Coop Mahal complete with forest green metal roofing:



and the chickens (now three weeks old) enjoying the sand run:



We've got 14 chickens and not all can stay. Now that they are 3 weeks old, we're beginning to see signs and small mannerisms that might indicate which are pullets and which are cockerels. Unfortunately, we've grown attached to our "first born" named "Sail" (I call him Sal, but the kids like Sail for some reason) and I'm fairly sure it's a HE... I'm not sure how to handle this dilemma, the darn thing allows us to pet him, scratch his belly, neck and head...he comes running to us when we call him, follows us around like a puppy and is so behavior-wise mild in comparison to some of the others! Can I pray that he doesn't crow?!

 

[lesgo54]

U did a good job. Mine looks a lot like yours but mine is 8 x 14

 

[Defjam]

Man! I wish I could fit one that large in my backyard. I will be adding a 4X6 extension for the rabbitry pavilion this fall. We're turning the backyard into a farm, what have I done?!

 

[Defjam]

Guys and Gals-

I'm giving this a bump as I've added some more content, scroll to the bottom:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/djs-chicken-coop-mahal

 

[aart]

Nice Update!

 

[shmeggs]

nice coop I like the design

 

[Mahlzeit]

Thats a really coop. Loved looking at the photo's and reading the steps you went through making it.

 

[DYarbro97]

Did you attach the coop to the blocks in any way, or is it just resting on them? I sent this thread to the DW so she can approve your design for our coop.

 

[Defjam]

The chicken's palace is not attached to the ground. Some would frown at this, but I figure if we had high enough winds to move it or damage it, I've got more problems that worrying about a coop that flew away.

If I had to change anything at this point, I would have made the run and the coop a little bigger. I didn't realize how much fun our "pets" would be and how my family has grown so attached to them. We are planning on getting more chickens to add to the flock and as a consequence, I'm already in the process of building a replica of this one:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/little-tykes-castle

We were fortunate to have been donated the exact castle from a neighbor and I figured I could just attach it to the "free range plaza" for their run. Once they get mature enough, we'll figure out a way to integrate the two flocks into one. Hopefully this will buy me some time to execute an expansion of the Coop Mahal to accommodate the larger quantity of birds. My kids are thinking that they want some easter eggers and barred rocks...