Good "Intermediate" Coop?

[hokankai]

So my girls are 7 weeks old today!!! They are gorgeous (here's a link to another site I posted them on

http://www.ultimatebettas.com/index.php?showtopic=54652&st=0 ), but just about ready to move the heck out of their brooder. They constantly want backyard time, and unfortunately I can't always give it to them because I'm working, I can't watch them, or it's too hot. So they get to sit in a boring 8.5x2.5 ft brooder with only 2.5 ft of headroom to bounce around and spread their wings. Well today I was following the girls around and remembered we had a shed in our backyard! It's probably 8x4 ft and would allow the girls to have more room, get used to a coop, but still be close by. Our coop is being built on our new property, which is 15 minutes away. We won't be moving there until we sell the house, so it'd be nice to have them here as long as possible so I don't have to worry about predators on an abandoned property, and considering the fact that I'm in the middle of a subdivision (with hawks overhead and coyotes in the field behind my house, mind you) I thought it would be a LOT safer to be in the backyard.

So what do you think? Would it confuse them to move from one coop to another? How secure do you think I need to make it? Will they destroy my backyard quickly if I give them a lot of time outside?

Pics of the possible setup

the area of the backyard they would be restricted to unless supervised

the shed

possible roosting area

view from the shed

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
I think it would be fine to move them into the shed until you move to your new property. It would be preferable to being in cramped quarters. They grow so quickly, don't they?! You didn't mention how long you'll be keeping them in temporary housing, so it's hard to know what kind of wear-and-tear they'll put on the backyard. It looks pretty spacious and as long as they're not out there all day long, the grass will probably be ok. You'll know when it's starting to get worn in spots and can limit them at that point. I would recomment two things if you're worried about the lawn:
1) don't put their feed in the grass. They'll kick it out of the feeder and then scratch and claw at the grass to get at the little particles, ruining the lawn that much more quickly; and 2) clean up their droppings every night to limit the destruction to the grass and the flies in the area. I use a beach pail and a serving spoon (that is no longer in commission in my kitchen!) to clean up after them. I do it twice a day for my flock of 18 and my lawn looks great and I don't have a fly problem.

Good luck with your new babies and with selling your house!

 

[buildingmyark]

I think that would be great intermediate coop for your babies! I would secure it as best as possible, though. As for your yard, would it be possible for you to put up some sort of temporary fencing from the corner of your house to the fence? Just thinking it would make a smaller space for you to have to clean up.

 

[hokankai]

Oh! forgot to talk about the run. Yeah I'm going to put up some chicken wire to create a temporary fence/movable. I'm also gonna nail a tarp to the top of the fence to have cover over a part of the run. That'll be a hawk deterrant as well as shade from the sun/rain guard.

 

[buildingmyark]

Good thinking! I think that they will be very happy with those arrangements!

 

[sheila3935]

This is our intermediate coop. We have 8 RIR that are 24 weeks old. When we moved our 11 week old barred rocks outside we knew they couldnt go in with thw big girls so we converted an old metal shed into a coop for them. Also since then we have 1 month olds that are outside now in their own baby coop.
Barred Rocks coop

babies coop

They are all happy and gives me time to add on to our existing coop

 

[hokankai]

The girls have been living in their intermediate coop for almost two weeks now and absolutely LOVE the room! Here are some pics of them in the temporary coop/run. This will be their living arrangements for a couple more weeks until we finish the coop/run and move onto our new property.

aaaand the girls!

 

[buildingmyark]

It looks like the girls are really enjoying their new space! Good job improvising!

 

[UGAchick]

What a beautiful variety of birds!! Your girls are beautiful and the setup is awesome!! Wondering what prospective buyers will think when they tour your house, though!!

 

[hokankai]

What a beautiful variety of birds!! Your girls are beautiful and the setup is awesome!! Wondering what prospective buyers will think when they tour your house, though!!

Thanks! I love my girls and being able to tell them all apart, hahaha

And oh it's been interesting showing our house! It was even more hilarious when we had the chicks in the brooder in the garage. Haha there was this huge box with chicks in it! Our realtor was warning the people coming by just so they weren't freaked out. Now we can kind of pretend they don't exist