If I build it, they will come.....

[CKMom]

Your original quote is correct.

Yesterday DH was working on the coop and a neighbors' rooster came through the woods and checked out the coop, ate a few bugs and crowed at the kids. It was the funniest thing. We have lived here for 18 years, and never had a chicken in the yard.

Maybe he was the building inspector, lol..

 

[chseeads]

There will be run, fairly large is my plan, attached to the coop...covered with wire.....

Then I'm planning to do some new fencing and fence a 'pasture' in for my flocks to both keep them in, and most importantly to keep out predators, particularly things like dogs in the daytime.....

Thinking it will probably be 5ft horse wire and maybe a strand of barbed wire above that. Then a strand of electric wire close to the ground.....

How far does anyone recommend an electric wire be run above ground level to do the best good for keeping 4-footed varmints at bay?

 

[gardenak]

I started the coop after the chicks got here but got it done when they were between 4 & 5 weeks old. Now they are almost 8 weeks (friday) and I'm behind the ball on the run! I keep promising the babies that I'll be done "tonight" but then it takes another day and so on. I should be done "tonight"

, now if it would only stop raining here. . .

 

[chseeads]

It's raining here this evening or I would've done some more on it tonight.

 

[chseeads]

Did a little more on it tonight...it's starting to get a roof....

There were coon tracks in the mud inside it from after the rain yesterday.

Stupid things prowling around......bah....

 

[chseeads]

Coop has a roof now, woohoo....starting to frame in the sides and stuff now.

Now that it actually has a roof, I don't feel like I'm so far behind....

But then I think about how it still has to be finished and I still have to build the run and then fence the pasture area.....and I don't feel so good about it then...lol

 

[chseeads]

It has a roof, gutter, wire over window areas, 1 end wall sided up.....

Dug a bunch of dirt out of it to level it off, going to put gravel on it and try to level it out pretty good, and make a floor in it out of solid concrete blocks that we have.

Worked some on taking down old dilapidated fencing to make way for the new pasture area fencing.

 

[chseeads]

Things are progressing......

The weird little triangle shaped areas at the top corners on front are hardware cloth windows.... And each 'gable' end has hardware cloth over it....

The door you can see on the end of it is the 'clean out door.' It will be behind the roost area.

The front door needs to be hung, it's constructed...it's wire on a wooden frame, with a plywood piece at the bottom part....

The floor is concrete blocks laid on a bed of gravel.

 

[chseeads]

The front door is up now....

Started getting the posts up for the run......it's going to be about 16x50.

 

[Pine Acres Peeps]

Yeah, my chickens magically appeared before I got my first coop built. I figured it would be better that way, husband couldn't put building off for to long

I don't see anything wrong with a surprise!