A few ideas my husband used with Fort Knox that I'm really excited about are that he used artificial ice for the floor. He's a hockey coach and we have had huge sheets of it for kids to practice shooting during summer. With this in place as the floor, raccoons will never be able to come up through the bottom, and it can be hosed down with bleach and water a few times a year. Plus, it cost us nothing!! It was trash we've had in the garage for 14 yrs.
Something else that should remain top secret, but seeing as we're in a pandemic and penny pinching, I'll share is- he bought an aluminum truck cap with windows in front and back as the coop top/roof!! It's pretty slick, though it gives the coop a hoopdie appearance. He bought distressed wood for the lap sides, and white sheeting to angle it out to give the appearance of a sloped roof. The back hatch/door opens to the nest boxes and a storage cube for me. Glass comes out with metal grate covering for added circulation if necessary.
And 3rd thing I am proud of are the roosts/ladder. He had an old aluminum ladder her cut in half-one half leads to the coop, and the other leads to their roost. The roosts are an old hallway handrail cut in half and mounted inside the width of the truck cap. There are two about 16" apart with the ladder in between. About 8 large heritage birds can fit on one. They are "rounded" , not rectangular, and they're smooth so they won't get bumble foot. They're large enough to perch comfortably but not too big for them. I'm pleased and they seem to love them.
I like that they have sunlight coming in, though they haven't yet realized they can't fly through. I may buy some Salvation Army curtains and put them up to close while they're inside sleeping and open them during cold mornings to warm up the coop. I'm also planning on making a shutter for their ventilation "vents". He made two, they're about 4' off the ground (about 2' high in the coop. The coop is about 7' tall but 2.5' of that is the run underneath), they're about 12" long by about 4" high with hardwire framed in. On east and west facing walls. The coop is SO cool, even on 98° days!! It's in full shade, but come fall/winter it's in full sun once the leaves come down.
CapCoops are officially a Jester and KinderGarden trademark
but feel free to make your own. Craigslist has lots of caps cheep!! If not, have a good laugh, cuz I'm not lying when I say it looks a little "Hoopdie Coop"
