From Shed to Chick Palace

[fifistamps]

We got your first chicks before Easter. The brood consists of Easter Egger, SL Wyandotte, Delaware, RI Red, Buff Orp.



We started working on the coop right away, not knowing how fast they grow, and I'm glad we did. Here is how it turned out.






We wanted plenty of room for the girls but also storage for their stuff. We divided the shed in half with an interior wall. Nesting boxes come into our space to give the girls more space. I was given a free linoleum remnant 4'x12' from a flooring guy that I used to cover the floor, nesting boxes and poop shelf.


Easy egg collection






The 3 nesting boxes are currently "closed" until the girls are closer to laying. We put a hinge on the board in front of the nesting boxes to allow for easy clean up.

The "Run" is 10 x15ft and filled with several inches of coarse sand. We left the back corner dirt to allow for dust baths. We also put in an outside roosting bar. The wire goes down about 12inches. The top is covered with wire as well. We didn't want to mess with cement so we compacted the 4x4 posts with gravel and dirt.


The Bathtub

Outdoor Roosting Bar

We got tons of ideas from backyard chicken. Here are my faves.

PVC feeder


Sliding Pop Door






Simple hook and loop hold it open

Poop Shelf



Hope this helps out! It has been an adventure but a ton of fun. The girls love their new home!

Oreo, Ginger, Buffy

Dottie


Henrietta


Compost Anyone?

 

[jtbrown]

That is beautiful! Congrats!

 

[Larrickchick]

Lots of great ideas and a beautiful coop! Thanks for sharing

 

[fifistamps]

Our first eggs started coming this week! Isn't it sweet!

 

[fifistamps]

The girls all grown up and beautiful!

 

[neecy911]

WOW this is incredible!! Love your design!!

 

[fifistamps]

Thanks Neecy911! It has worked out very nicely and made clean up a snap. We spent a lot of time of the making the run and girls barely use it. They love roaming so much that I only put them in the run when I hear the eagles calling. It has been almost a year and we haven't lost any, knock on wood. We ended up fencing our yard (over an acre) to keep the girls away from the neighbor dogs. Oh how a small project grows. We are going to run power to the coop this summer and I need to add another roosting bar for the next brood. Chickens are addicting!