The beginning of construction this past spring. We built it right on our driveway, so we could have a flat surface, access to electricity, & plus we had no idea where we wanted to place it in the yard. Well, my husband built it...I just help hold boards.
It's 8x10 and houses our flock of 16. I sure wish we would have found BYC before construction. There are few things we would have done different.....like BUILD BIGGER for more chickens. LOL!
Not finished yet, but showing a few of the girls their new home.
The nest boxes are mounted about 2 feet off the ground. They have a solid shelf for the bottom, but the dividers and the top shelf can come out if needed for a deep clean. The front lip of the boxes can also be detached. The top of the nest boxes double as a dropping shelf for their roost. We attached a roost in front of the boxes for easier access. A few problems is that the lip should be bigger (higher) in front of the boxes and the roost in front of the boxes should be a little further away from them. I haven't had any eggs roll out, but do I have one SLW pullet named Psycho that will hop in all the nest boxes to scratch the straw out on the ground, so she'll have some to make her nest on the floor in the corner of the coop.
She's the only one that won't use the nest boxes.
The flock finally moved in this past Aug. We had to use our tractor to move it to the yard. We still have things to finish or adjust. Here's more pictures before it got all poopy and broken in. You should see the inside right now...it looks like they were having a poop slinging contest and I just did a total clean out a few weeks ago.
We painted the inside with left over paint from another project. The wood floor was covered with cheap vinyl/linoleum. Then we covered the dropping shelf and floor w/ wood shavings.
Everyone lining up to try out the new pop door. Poor Henry the turkey wanted to use it. He always thought he was a chicken.
We had to duck tape it up quickly, b/c all the chickens were drawn to the insulation like a magnet. (Yum Yum!) Still need to frame it out. Looks like the ghetto pop door.
I still need to add better vents. There is some in the front above the coop door. I really wish we would have put in a screen door (maybe this spring). The other problem is that the door to the coop opens inward and is always pushing the shavings back. I hope you enjoyed the pictues.
Not finished yet, but showing a few of the girls their new home.
The nest boxes are mounted about 2 feet off the ground. They have a solid shelf for the bottom, but the dividers and the top shelf can come out if needed for a deep clean. The front lip of the boxes can also be detached. The top of the nest boxes double as a dropping shelf for their roost. We attached a roost in front of the boxes for easier access. A few problems is that the lip should be bigger (higher) in front of the boxes and the roost in front of the boxes should be a little further away from them. I haven't had any eggs roll out, but do I have one SLW pullet named Psycho that will hop in all the nest boxes to scratch the straw out on the ground, so she'll have some to make her nest on the floor in the corner of the coop.
She's the only one that won't use the nest boxes.
The flock finally moved in this past Aug. We had to use our tractor to move it to the yard. We still have things to finish or adjust. Here's more pictures before it got all poopy and broken in. You should see the inside right now...it looks like they were having a poop slinging contest and I just did a total clean out a few weeks ago.
We painted the inside with left over paint from another project. The wood floor was covered with cheap vinyl/linoleum. Then we covered the dropping shelf and floor w/ wood shavings.
Everyone lining up to try out the new pop door. Poor Henry the turkey wanted to use it. He always thought he was a chicken.
We had to duck tape it up quickly, b/c all the chickens were drawn to the insulation like a magnet. (Yum Yum!) Still need to frame it out. Looks like the ghetto pop door.
I still need to add better vents. There is some in the front above the coop door. I really wish we would have put in a screen door (maybe this spring). The other problem is that the door to the coop opens inward and is always pushing the shavings back. I hope you enjoyed the pictues.
