When our girls were tiny babes, I did (what I thought was enough) research on coops, runs, sizes, space, etc. I purchased bantams and somehow believed I’d have “little” hens. ( utter and complete newbie here) Lol ...Wrong. These girls are some serious fluff butts and even though they free range my garden all day, come evening, I hated seeing them in the old coop. They actually showed no stress about it but I was stressing. I hated having to put them into our shed for rainy day (it pours like hell here) which is not their space and they always seemed out of sorts there. As they grew we watched. Where they hang out. Where are they most comfortable. Where do they run for safety. Etc. Etc. So a few weeks ago we decided it was time to rebuild.
We learned a good bit. The first location was not great for them. Us, yes. Them, NO! Too sunny, not great for catching the occasional breeze, and not roomy enough. The run...our thought process was - we never intend to keep them in there. We wanted free range girls. We love them with us and out and about. However, during storms it’s soaking wet. The eaves weren’t large enough to stop splash back and it wasn’t large enough to shield rain-sheer.
The new coop allows our 4 girls to walk around freely and the run is everything the previous was not. It’s tucked underneath an oak and maple tree. It’s almost 10degrees cooler here (which is desperately needed in the gulf south) under the trees. We added more ventilation details and restructured the interior. All in all, it turned out great and I wish we hadn’t wasted time in the first coop but with it we learned an awful lot. That coop/run is now our greenhouse and the girls are enjoying their new digs under the cool trees. Today, with two hurricanes upon us, I am feeling fine about them and their safety and comfort.
We learned a good bit. The first location was not great for them. Us, yes. Them, NO! Too sunny, not great for catching the occasional breeze, and not roomy enough. The run...our thought process was - we never intend to keep them in there. We wanted free range girls. We love them with us and out and about. However, during storms it’s soaking wet. The eaves weren’t large enough to stop splash back and it wasn’t large enough to shield rain-sheer.
The new coop allows our 4 girls to walk around freely and the run is everything the previous was not. It’s tucked underneath an oak and maple tree. It’s almost 10degrees cooler here (which is desperately needed in the gulf south) under the trees. We added more ventilation details and restructured the interior. All in all, it turned out great and I wish we hadn’t wasted time in the first coop but with it we learned an awful lot. That coop/run is now our greenhouse and the girls are enjoying their new digs under the cool trees. Today, with two hurricanes upon us, I am feeling fine about them and their safety and comfort.
