House of Orpington

[jasono]

There are a lot of awesome coop designs out there, when I decided to design mine I tried to incorporate some of the design features that I thought were the most user friendly for maintaining a coop in the suburbs. If you have any question or have some comments on how to improve the coop please let me know. I can always post more pics, or go into more detail about what materials I used.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

It's adorable!

 

[21hens-incharge]

SUPER cute coop by the way!

 

[Eggsoteric]

Beautiful!

 

[gggeek]

Possible to get some details on:

a) the pipe feeders and is it a pipe watering setup?
b) garden bed; is it lined with plastic or?

Awesome coop

 

[jasono]

1. Yes, the pipes are for feed and water system. In the original pic, 4" PVC Schedule 40 pipe adjacent to the fence is for water (Holds approx 5 gallons) the next 4" pipe over is for feed, (Holds approx. 4-5 days of feed.
2. The garden bed has rigid insulation built up in the middle to let water drain out to edges, and then a rubber membrane was placed over top. (Drain is in the back panel of the garden box
3. Shown in the above pic I used Fernco Qwik Cap 4in. Plastic DWV Flexible Cap for water tight seal and easy of maintenance. I installed Harris Farms Poultry Watering Nipples, Chickens took them immediately.
4. The other two small feeders are 3" PVC Sanitary Wye Fitting with plastic cap. I use these for grit and oyster shells.

 

[gggeek]

1. Yes, the pipes are for feed and water system. In the original pic, 4" PVC Schedule 40 pipe adjacent to the fence is for water (Holds approx 5 gallons) the next 4" pipe over is for feed, (Holds approx. 4-5 days of feed.
2. The garden bed has rigid insulation built up in the middle to let water drain out to edges, and then a rubber membrane was placed over top. (Drain is in the back panel of the garden box
3. Shown in the above pic I used Fernco Qwik Cap 4in. Plastic DWV Flexible Cap for water tight seal and easy of maintenance. I installed Harris Farms Poultry Watering Nipples, Chickens took them immediately.
4. The other two small feeders are 3" PVC Sanitary Wye Fitting with plastic cap. I use these for grit and oyster shells.

Thanks, definitely gave me some ideas.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Set-up looks great. I'm planning something along those lines for mine (hose-fed nipple waterer and probably a Grandpa's feeder since I already know mice abound in my yard).

 

[aart]

Man, those pipe fittings look huge!

How are you going to keep the water and nipples from freeing in the winter in Ohio(maybe you're in extreme southern Ohio)?

Garden has something to carry water away from coop walls?

 

[jasono]

I apologize for not getting back sooner; I usually take the weekend off from the computer.

• Pipe fittings are schedule 40.

• To keep the pipe from freezing I had planned on putting a lamp directly above the PVC pipe allowing radiant heat to warm the pipe. Also my hope is to use a bulb with enough wattage to maintain a temperature inside the enclosure that is just above freezing. Also to avoid the water from freezing in the pipe on the exterior side of coop, I will not be able fill the pipe to full capacity during winter.

• The 4” PVC pipe holds approx 5 gallons at full capacity, another solution I was considering is to drop in a submersible fish tank heater sized for 5-10 gallon aquarium.

• The garden has rubber membrane liner that is pleated and runs up the side of planter walls. It has a drain on the back side.

This is my first time at this, so I understand what I think might work may not so your feed back is much appreciated.