Hi all, I'm new at this. I have a kinda different set up that I haven't seen yet, so maybe it's a bad idea, but this is what I have so far.
The chicken "run" is L shaped between my shed and the corner of the yard, which is fenced with 6 ft chain link fence (with privacy slats) on the North and East sides. The North side of the 'L' is covered with a metal roof that almost touches the top of the fence, so its pretty much secure. We closed off the south end with some extra lattice we had, and covered the whole east area with bird netting. We also closed off the West side and built a gate with lattice and scrap 2x4s. I think this is all pretty secure, we live in a suburban area and there are neighborhood cats and dogs, but I've rarely seen a dog loose, or the cats in my yard, and I don't think either could get in very easily.
My hubby built the hen house 2.5 ft wide, 4 ft long, and 3 ft tall, with a hinged top. It's actually on it's side from what it is supposed to be, so when the girls are old enough they don't need the heat lamp anymore I'm going to tip the whole thing over, cut a new door, and have it open from the side. I guess the old door will be a vent hole, it does have a hinged door. There's also a hinged door in the opposite end from the existing door, with the idea that I'll but an old empty radio cabinet up against it to be the nesting box. I currently have 2 black sex link and 2 Amauricana (easter eggers? from the local Wilco feed store) that I got bought as chicks just before Easter. They are fully feathered out and getting pretty big, so maybe they don't need the light anymore. Anyway, we've been leaving the top open, with 2/3 of it covered with another piece of plywood, and the heat lamp hanging in the other 1/3, so light and ventilation haven't been an issue. But I'm thinking they might be if I don't do more than just cut one new door. Oh, and the hen house is under the metal roof area, so everything is dry from our large amounts of spring rain.
I have some old windows, I'm thinking maybe I could just cut a sunroof in the plywood and lay a window down on top of it, since I don't have to worry about waterproofing it. Do you think this would be adequate? Do I need to figure out more ventilation than this? I live in a fairly moderate climate and we very rarely spend much time in the 90's in the summer, and it seems to stay fairly cool back there behind the shed. We also don't spend much time below freezing in the winter so the hen house is not insulated (altho it does freeze at night). Do I need to bother closing the hen house at night since the run is pretty secure? I have a 2 yr old and a newborn so some mornings it's tough to get out there to let the poor things back out...
It's also just sitting on the ground back there right now, we plan to build some sturdy legs for it as soon as we are ready to tip it on its side.
Can I keep the food and water out of the hen house for the summer? I figure in the winter they'll need the ability to just hang out inside when it's cold, but for now it seems they would have more room if I pulled that stuff out of there.
Thanks for any advise you can give me on finishing up the girls' space!
The chicken "run" is L shaped between my shed and the corner of the yard, which is fenced with 6 ft chain link fence (with privacy slats) on the North and East sides. The North side of the 'L' is covered with a metal roof that almost touches the top of the fence, so its pretty much secure. We closed off the south end with some extra lattice we had, and covered the whole east area with bird netting. We also closed off the West side and built a gate with lattice and scrap 2x4s. I think this is all pretty secure, we live in a suburban area and there are neighborhood cats and dogs, but I've rarely seen a dog loose, or the cats in my yard, and I don't think either could get in very easily.
My hubby built the hen house 2.5 ft wide, 4 ft long, and 3 ft tall, with a hinged top. It's actually on it's side from what it is supposed to be, so when the girls are old enough they don't need the heat lamp anymore I'm going to tip the whole thing over, cut a new door, and have it open from the side. I guess the old door will be a vent hole, it does have a hinged door. There's also a hinged door in the opposite end from the existing door, with the idea that I'll but an old empty radio cabinet up against it to be the nesting box. I currently have 2 black sex link and 2 Amauricana (easter eggers? from the local Wilco feed store) that I got bought as chicks just before Easter. They are fully feathered out and getting pretty big, so maybe they don't need the light anymore. Anyway, we've been leaving the top open, with 2/3 of it covered with another piece of plywood, and the heat lamp hanging in the other 1/3, so light and ventilation haven't been an issue. But I'm thinking they might be if I don't do more than just cut one new door. Oh, and the hen house is under the metal roof area, so everything is dry from our large amounts of spring rain.
I have some old windows, I'm thinking maybe I could just cut a sunroof in the plywood and lay a window down on top of it, since I don't have to worry about waterproofing it. Do you think this would be adequate? Do I need to figure out more ventilation than this? I live in a fairly moderate climate and we very rarely spend much time in the 90's in the summer, and it seems to stay fairly cool back there behind the shed. We also don't spend much time below freezing in the winter so the hen house is not insulated (altho it does freeze at night). Do I need to bother closing the hen house at night since the run is pretty secure? I have a 2 yr old and a newborn so some mornings it's tough to get out there to let the poor things back out...
It's also just sitting on the ground back there right now, we plan to build some sturdy legs for it as soon as we are ready to tip it on its side.
Can I keep the food and water out of the hen house for the summer? I figure in the winter they'll need the ability to just hang out inside when it's cold, but for now it seems they would have more room if I pulled that stuff out of there.
Thanks for any advise you can give me on finishing up the girls' space!
