FINALLY happy with my setup (first time chickener's coop and run)

[kraftykrow]

I'm still new to all this! I've been rearranging a lot of things and still have some other ideas to expand or add, but for now, I'm pretty happy with this and my 3 barred rocks (Henocide, Hennessy, and Murder Parade) seem to be happy, healthy girls. It's a 16 sq ft coop and 132 sq ft run. The coop I bought from a local Amish store. I liked it because they used 2x4 boards and heavy duty mesh. We added the roof over the run. This is surrounded by 2 ft. green PVC steel welded wire that is stabled to the covered part. My father made their sand/dirt box as a gift and he and I made the swings (that I never see them use lol). We also have some hanging veggie cages but they must have been down when I took the pics. I move the perches and stumps around to switch things up.

Wanting to add another 50-100 sq ft down the road. Unfortunately can't free range because our yard is so open and we have hawks that live in our neighbors tree and a group of wild cats live not far from us. I wouldn't mind a few more hens if we added 100 more sq ft, but the coop itself is only 16 sq ft. Don't want to crowd it so, probably not going to be able to get more. For now, we have a great time spoiling our girls and learning as we go. Share any advice or suggestions you have to improve what we have going!

 

[rosemarythyme]

That's a good space for the number of birds that you have. If you really want to expand in the future, I'd go over the top and build for much larger than you think you'll need, and this coop could become a nice isolation unit or broody cage or even an outdoor brooder.

For now I'd highly suggest you add hardware cloth or welded wire onto the chain link, at least on the bottom few feet to help deter some pests/predators, as well as a couple feet extending out or down as an apron.

 

[kraftykrow]

That's a good space for the number of birds that you have. If you really want to expand in the future, I'd go over the top and build for much larger than you think you'll need, and this coop could become a nice isolation unit or broody cage or even an outdoor brooder.

For now I'd highly suggest you add hardware cloth or welded wire onto the chain link, at least on the bottom few feet to help deter some pests/predators, as well as a couple feet extending out or down as an apron.

Thanks! I am learning as I go and adjusting. I'm planning on reinforcing the outside part, but have been holding off to see if I wanted to add on. The great thing is I can easily take one side off and add more chain link units. I honestly doubt we will get anymore in the coming few years but we aren't ruling it out in the future. If we do add anymore girls, we'll for sure have to get a larger coop. These gals won't be having any babies though. Strictly no roosters in town unfortunately.