Help! Need advice on coop roof---Edit: Coop is almost finished--Chickens are installed! Now Chick

[SarahJaneB]

Oh the chickens!! You've got quite a mixture there This is incredible work!!

 

[RedPonyAcres]

Awww, thanks! It's been an interesting experience, building it! Plus, I am surprised at how solid it is. We get high winds sometimes, but that coop is not going anywhere. Plus my daughter and I were both inside of it multiple times, and it held our weight with no problem at all.

It's our first time raising chickens, so I wanted a mix of breeds. So far everyone is getting along really well.

We have a Buff Orpington, a Light Brahma, 2 Gold Sexlinks, a Black Sexlink, a Speckled Sussex, a White Leghorn, A Gold Laced Wyandotte, 2 Mille Fleurs, 2 Easter Eggers, a Barred Rock that we think is a roo, and a Bantam Barred Rock roo. It's been fun watching them grow!

 

[RedPonyAcres]

We haz a fence! 6' chainlink held up with t-posts. We need to buy 1 more t-post for the right side where it sags a bit.

I'll have to cover the top with something. A worker at Tractor Supply suggested chicken wire, and I have 2 50-foot rolls of 48" chicken wire. However, I thought I would ask the experts here--is there something more cost-effective or easier to use? It's a pretty big area! We also have lots of hawks and eagles around here, so I can't let them out there unsupervised in an uncovered run.

Thanks!
-Patti

 

[insanity]

looks great, I'm just south of you(NW wy) so I know what you mean about the birds of prey.My run is 35x45 wood privacy fence with 1/3 acre garden for additional roaming. Both are open topped and I haven't had any loses in the last year. My ladies stay alert and every now and then I see them take cover in the bushes. Our local owl and golden don't seem interested and the turkey vultures gave up when it didn't look easy.

 

[RedPonyAcres]

Hmmm, maybe I don't need to be such a worrywort. They're actually out of the coop walking around right now. But they are staying almost totally under the coop. Maybe because it's hot as blazes, or more likely because this is the first time they have been out in their run so they are kind of nervous. It took them a while to get the courage to jump out, and some of them we had to encourage a little. lol

 

[bjones1128]

I watched a hawk try to take off with one of my neighbors chickens, and we have tons of vultures flying around and the occaisional eagle, so I will most certainly be covering my run! Watching that hawk was stressful! Although roosters and big hens might not be targets, any runt or smaller chicken would. I am going to cover my run with tin to help shade my chickens from the hot southern sun this summer, but since you have such a large space chicken wire would probably do the trick.

 

[RedPonyAcres]

Well, I'm going to start covering it and see how it goes. I am a worrier, so it would give me more peace at mind.

Here are some more pics!


Contemplating the great wide world:




Still contemplating.....



Finally some brave ones take the plunge!



All of them out! We had to give some of them a push. lol

 

[DuginMT]

RPA, chicken wire should make an excellent stopper for birds of prey. There is also some kind of nylon/plastic netting available but I would be concerned about UV damage from the sun. Looks like you have built a nice big run there for your chicks and I am sure they will enjoy it!

 

[Stumpy]

I put up some of that stiff blue foam board under my tin roof. It makes a tremendous difference in the temperature inside the coop.

 

[RedPonyAcres]

Thanks for the input! I'm glad to hear that my chicken wire should work, and I agree, I'm really glad we insulated the roof! There is no shade out there, so they needed some extra insulation, I figured.

BTW, I should really give my daughter Emily the credit for over 1/2 of the building work! She also had lots of good ideas for how to do things that I wouldn't have thought of, too!

I just spent all morning priming the coop. Phew! It's going to be a tan color with some green trim. I also want to add some bling...I recently got a scroll saw from a guy on Craig's List, and I'm going to cut out some silhouettes of chickens and maybe make a sign for the coop. I'll probably paint them green too.

I might just leave the saw horses out there! The chickens love to take naps under them.