First post First coop first Chickens

[TooeleCherokee]

So I have been reading and searching like a madman on this forum and other places about Coops, chickens etc and finally decided to build my own coop for my back yard

..

In building the coop I had to stay under $100 including feeders light source and all the goodies..
I also had to make sure that it would be somewhat pleasing to the eye as I live in a residential neighborhood
it also needed to have the ability to withstand the different weather conditions that the state of Utah has to offer... COLD winters with a bit of snow and long periods of sub freezing temps, 100 degree plus summers.. strong wind storms sometimes upwards of 70MPH gusts.

I decided on a double decker design with the coop up top and a small run under it. I plan to have up to 6 Layers at one time (I will be starting with 4 hens that my Grandfather in Law has that are already laying I will get them on Saturday if all goes well with building and painting

) The dementions are 5 Feet tall total split in half for Run and Coop. The floorspace is 3 feet by 4 feet with 2 nesting boxes at this time.. will add another when I get more hens. behind the nesting boxes will be easy access ports so I can get eggs without risk of letting chickens out (and so my 3 going on 4 year old daughter can get them out too). There will be a number of Plexi glass windows and a couple of vents put in to maintain good airflow. Durring the winter I plan on putting Plastic around the bottom of the run to block off the cold winds and snow.

any input you have or considerations that I may have missed please speak up

without further flapping my yap here are some pics of Said Coop - its not done yet but will be by this evening

 

[KellyHM]

Although I hate to be the bearer of bad news in your new chicken career, a 3x4 coop is really only big enough for about 3 standard hens (more if they're bantams) assuming the normal 4 square foot per bird...

 

[TooeleCherokee]

I had read that a few different places but talking to old timers in the area no-one seems to follow that rule of thumb around here. My G-pa in Law has his in a corner of his barn that is little bigger than this and has around 10 hens in there.. they are not big (don't know what kind they are really) If it doesn't work out I can always expand the coop with a little bit more work later on.

 

[k0xxx]

Six layers would be a bit tight. But hey!, welcome to the forum and congratulations on a nice bit of "cooping".

 

[mrsengeseth]

Looks like a nice coop coming along.

Welcome to BYC

Wow those are some temp swings that you mentioned, sounds like my area!!

 

[Chicabee19]

Glad you registered!

Nice coop. What color are you thinking to paint it?

Are you going to let the chickens use your power tools?!

 

[SSO202]

It is certainly a good start. You'll be able to tell if they are to cramped in the coop. They are used to being cooped up together though and will probably be just fine. You should be planning on expanding it in the future! Good Luck!

 

[TooeleCherokee]

paint Just went on.. well at least the white.. the main panels will either be a light blue or Florecent green colour

it sure is nice to have a good airless paint sprayer handy when painting things.. took me all of 40 minutes for 2 heavy coats of paint

 

[Omran]

looks good:

 

[TooeleCherokee]

Well the coop is now inhabited by 4 Small White leghorns.. they had been laying up until yesterday morning. I got them last night around 5 but no eggs this morning.. probobly getting used to the Dogs, new coop and everything

..

They seem content in their new home and are using both levels (after some coaxing from me this morning with some dog food

)

anyhow Pics will come tomorrow once I get my camera back from my buddy who borrowed in this morning.