Finished My Coop (pics)

[irf1983]

Quote:
Unfortunately. the frames cannot be detached. At least not easily. Luckily, the new house we moved to already has a run built onto a long shed. I have placed my run on the opposite side of the shed. and will eventually connect all three, so the girls will have free reign of three runs, including a fully enclosed shed with a dirt floor for all of our rainy days. Plus I will be able to easily install some climate control in the shed since it is completely walled. We live in Florida, so I'm not too worried about winter. I could always add some sheet insulation in the coop if needed, or put in a heater. Thanks for everyone's comments! I'll post pics of the new location soon.

 

[irf1983]

Quote:
In all honesty, the porch was my father's idea, but it was a great one. It keeps the food higher underneath the roof so when rain comes in from the side the food stays dry. The girls all like it too. I would suggest only making it 2 ft deep however. Mine is 3' which means i've got to lean over it to shut the coop, which can be messy when there is fresh poo on the edge.

To answer the previous question, the coop is just under 30 sq ft. So assuming a minimum of 3 sq ft per bird, I would probably limit myself to 9 chicken in the coop. Although I have seven in there now and the way they cram together on the roost i would seem i could squeeze in 30 or so. But I've also got two dogs and my first baby on the way, so I'm good with seven chickens for now. The run could probably handle 9-10 comfortably as well. However, when I attach all three runs like i said in the previous post, I'll have tons of space, and I could always attach an identical coop to the other end of the run to double my capacity.

 

[irf1983]

Sorry, I'm responding to these as I read them. The coop actually does very well in the heat, It is in the shade, so the roof never gets direct sun. I also made the roof and interior white so they deflected as much heat as possible. All of the ventilation in the run (the floor is open grating, so it is completely open and airy underneath, plus the vents at the top allow allow good airflow for heat to escape the top) makes it maintain the same temp as outside, which granted is hot in Florida, but there's not much more I can do to cool it until I run power to it. The chickens are only in the coop at night anyways, and I have checked on them repeatedly, and there is no panting while they roost.

And yes, we just moved a few miles away form the place we were renting. we're still in Brooksville, FL.

 

[lunkerchicken]

Wow, nice coop and run. I love the design!

 

[Mrs.ChickChick]

Very well planned and nicely done!

Love the porch idea.