First time building a Coop and run - Thoughts?

[rekles75]

First off my wife and I are new to chickens and we have been researching the idea for a couple of years now. Well we finally decided to start building a coop to get it ready for next spring. I have been lurking on this forum and a couple of others for a while now and we have learned quite a bit but definately not enough. All thoughts are welcome and appreciated to help with this endeavor.

We are building a coop in our backyard from plans we found online. So far its coming along well and I just wanted to share and get some thoughts from you guys. We looked at many different plans and like these one the best. The area we are using is where there was an old wooden swing set from the previous owners that I tore down and reclaimed the wood from. I will be using the 4x4 posts that are already in the ground to make up the run area and building the coop on the backside of the run.

A few pics on our progress so far


















The coop is a 4ft x 4ft design with 3 nesting boxes on the side. I have added a pull out floor with laminate tile for what I hope will be easy cleaning. In the next to the last pic I have extended the roof to give a 6in overhang over the nesting boxes. In the last pic I had to add 3 more 4x4's to complete the run area. Still a lot of work to do. Paneling, figure out the chicken door and more.....

Gonna show some fencing choices and hardware in the next post.

 

[rekles75]

On to the fencing. My local tractor supply was having a labor Day sale a couple of weeks ago and I picked up some fencing. We plan to wrap the run in this fencing pictured below. It is actually 4ft by 100 ft. I need about 50 ft to wrap around the run and go about 71/2 ft tall. The pic is actually for the 3ft roll but we got the 4ft roll.



Now for the ground fencing to keep predators from beeing able to dig under the coop I was thinking of using this kind of fencing. I havent seen anyone using it so I would like to know everyones thoughts on it. It starts out as small fencing and ends on the other end with bigger openings in it. I would of course use the smaller fencing area closest to the coop and the
bigger are 2 ft out from the coop. It will be buried also.



And lastly I was going to use this bird netting for above the run



Thoughts??

 

[Isaac 0]

How much chickens are you getting and how big is your run

 

[Isaac 0]

Also Welcome to

 

[ocap]

snow load on your overhead netting?

 

[highonrunning90]

Wow great start!

Small Predators will be able to get through The 1x2 fencing so maybe double it up and overlay another price or use. 1/2 galvanized hardware cloth.

Will the run have shelter other than the bird netting on top?

Good luck!

 

[rekles75]

How much chickens are you getting and how big is your run

It will be between 4-6 chickens. No roosters. The run is about a 10 x 8 ft run with the coop enclosed in one corner of the run.

 

[Isaac 0]

The more space the better cannibalism is a issue in flocks that don't have enough space but your space met the requirements but as much space as you can give them would be great

 

[rekles75]

snow load on your overhead netting?

I live in GA so I dont expect much snow here. It does snow but to get more than 6-8 inches is uncommon. I am actually more worried about tree limbs falling into the run. We were also considering trellis' over the top instead.

 

[rekles75]

Wow great start!

Small Predators will be able to get through The 1x2 fencing so maybe double it up and overlay another price or use. 1/2 galvanized hardware cloth.

Will the run have shelter other than the bird netting on top?

Good luck!

OK I was wondering if it was too big of an opening. I did get 2 rolls of 4x100ft so doubling up is an option but I may look into different fencing. Hardware cloth is about 3 times the costs but it may be the best choice. The only other shelter will be in the coop or under the coop.