First time building a coop..

[Kates Chooks]

The reason I said 'more protection in winter' is because I saw your pictures before
you put the roof on.I suppose you rarely get snow, but chickens hate walking in snow and they need a snugger place if the weather gets bad. Even heavy rain is going to affect them. If it gets unbearably hot in Florida where you are, please think
about covering the sunniest side with maybe a tarp. Always be sure they have lots and lots
of fresh water too.

 

[Sarahbalcombe]

It does not snow here in florida. Where the coop is, is under a huge oak tree that covera 80% of the yard. We had a window awning it. However i liled thw idea of metal roofing more. And we happen to find that shed. We took the best and straightest pieces and will screw it down. I check the water about 4 times a day. I change it out every morning and wipe it out. I also only put in enough feed for the day and i wipe it out and put new feed in. Right now we are very much in lack of rain. We are actually under high risk for fires and have burn bans. It has been hot and humid. So i put a can of corn in ice cube trays and have frozen corn ready for them. They also have the inside of their coop for protection. Last night it was very windy and chilly. My chicks havent experuenced cold or wind like that and were not going to their coop. So i ended up bringing them in the house last night. If we have any severe storms or hurricane etc. We already agreed theyd go to the garage or in the house. They are about 5 weeks old or so now. The roosters arent filled in yet and i just started leave them outside at night a few days ago.

 

[RonC]

Welded wire fencing is more expensive than chicken wire but not as expensive as hardware cloth. It is available in a 2x4 mesh and will stop most dogs. My run is made of 2x4 welded wire fencing with 1" chicken wire around the bottom 3 feet. My dog took exception to the chickens eating the grass outside the run by sticking their heads out and decapitated one, hence the chicken wire. Just put the fencing around the bottom to keep the dogs out.

 

[jeria]

I know you said money is an issue. If you have Menards anywhere close they have 4 foot by 50 foot rolls of welded 2 inch wire for about $25.00. I used it to fence my raised beds to keep my dogs out. I know when I get my pen built it will be welded wire. I lost a bunch of chickens to coyotes years ago using chicken wire.

 

[Sarahbalcombe]

We do not have any menards here in florida. Coyotes are not around here where we are. If you go more towards the preserves then yes. However where we are is about 5 miles from the ocean. We dont have issues with snakes in our area. The main snakes you would see is a black racer or rarely a garden snake. The snakes are more towards the parks and beaches etc. We dont have to worry about big cats or bears etc. Very seldom are there raccoons or opossums. So our biggest issue is just keeping our heeler mix out.

 

[RonC]

Home Depot and Lowes carries it also but may cost a little more than Menards or Tractor Supply. It's not hard to find but the price varies depending on where you get it. Hardware chain stores seem to be the highest.

 

[silarajc]

I think that is an excellent coop from free materials. Very ingenious.

If your biggest concern right now is the dogs, then maybe change what you are doing with the dogs? Are the dogs outside all the time or do they mostly live indoors with you? My dog is a mostly indoor dog, but we are trying to train her not to chase the chickens. She will eat bunnies so I can only imagine how it would end for the chicks. It is taking a lot of patience and time to keep her close by any time I'm dealing with my 7 week old chicks, but I think she wants to please. Some dogs have a high prey drive and are harder to train than those with a lower prey drive, and you may want to consider keeping them on a leash or at least going out with them so you can intervene. You have to train them to "leave it" and what you want that to mean. It will be easier to train one at a time, too.

 

[ColoRockies]

Looks good! All I have to say is keep up the good work and just upgrade/ make adjustments when you can or need to. It's all a learning experience and there's absolutely nothing any of us can do to keep chicks 100% safe or be 100% efficient. There's no 1 foolproof or best way to do anything. Sounds like your biggest issue is keeping the dogs out and that has been accomplished thus far. My chickens love the snow and rain but the metal roof looks great. Experiment, learn and keep up the good work.