First-timer coop q's

[LovlieLayers]

Hello all,

Planning our first flock, and I'd love your opinions on the coop plan I have my eye on. What I need more than anything is practicality and serious ease of use for a busy family. We can have a max of 4 hens in my city, the climate gets very cold and snowy in the winter, and we have a lot of predator wildlife in my neighborhood (fox and hawk sightings are *very* common, and I'm told we have a coyote family nearby too).

From what I've been reading, I'll need to secure the floor for the predators, and I'd like to add solar for motion-activated lights, but no other mods planned yet.

So is this beauty all she's cracked up to be?
http://heatherbullard.com/2010/03/our-chicken-coop/

 

[LovlieLayers]

What features would your dream coop have?!

 

[andreanar]

Its awful cute! But I would make some modifications, such as doing away with the run and storage space and use those areas for more coop space for the birds. That run wouldn't be big enough for 4 hens, and the coop space looks a bit tight too(the way it is now).

 

[jeria]

How big is the coop? hard to tell from photos. Newbie to this. I am building a 4x6 raised coop with nest boxes off to the side (not in the 4x6) with a 10x8 run. I will have 4 chickens, our max here is 6. I want enough space inside to be able to put food and water inside occasionally when the weather gets awful or I'm out of town for a couple days and they will be locked up for a day or so. Doesn't happen often here but a few days a year.

 

[aart]

Hello all,

Planning our first flock, and I'd love your opinions on the coop plan I have my eye on. What I need more than anything is practicality and serious ease of use for a busy family. We can have a max of 4 hens in my city, the climate gets very cold and snowy in the winter, and we have a lot of predator wildlife in my neighborhood (fox and hawk sightings are *very* common, and I'm told we have a coyote family nearby too).

From what I've been reading, I'll need to secure the floor for the predators, and I'd like to add solar for motion-activated lights, but no other mods planned yet.

So is this beauty all she's cracked up to be?
http://heatherbullard.com/2010/03/our-chicken-coop/

Beautiful and probably very expensive.
Would work great for a couple birds in mild California,
but not anywhere cold and snowy.

What features would your dream coop have?!

My Coop pretty much meets my dreams,
tho I wish I had a bit more space and a solid roof on at least part of run.
Walk-in coop and large storage area, all in a 16x16' shed that has plenty of ventilation and power for lights and heated water in winter.
I can feed/water/gather eggs out of the weather.....it's heaven.

 

[Robin37]

Welcome to BYC.