HELP!
Which came first, the baby chicks or the coop.....?
Yeah, you guessed it, the 13 Princess Chickies came home with me at 2 weeks old and now they are in desperate need of a permanent castle! They are approximately 5 weeks old and growing FAST!
I am looking to build my own and have found a lot of great ideas on what to build, but I am really struggling more on WHERE to build. HOWEVER, let me start with saying I have never owned chickens before. I have been a veterinary technician for over 23 years and have owned/cared for every animal you can think of, but I haven't been near a chicken since undergrad school!! Therefore, if any of my questions seem completely ridiculous, please be kind and bare with me!
SO, here goes....
First off, I live in Massachusetts, so weather is a factor...Harsh, cold snowy winters and very hot, humid summers make for interesting considerations when it comes to housing!
I have a fully fenced yard for my dogs, with very little grass anywhere, so I have multiple options as to which part of the yard I dedicate to my chicks, but I am really stumped as to what would make the most sense for me and for them.
I have some pictures attached below with descriptions of what you're looking at but here is a basic over view.
From the back of my house I have a room with 2 sliders on the 2 corner walls leading out to my back yard. I call this my sunroom due to the large amount of light it gets. This in on the northwest side of my house. Continuing along the houseline in the backyard to wards the east, you get to a small "cubby" area between my garage and kitchen with a door that goes into the mudroom. The mudroom is used as just that...the entrance into my home from the front before you walk into my kitchen. The cool part about this cubby area is that it has a great view of it from my bay window at my kitchen table.
Coming further east from the "cubby" is my garage with a regular sized door going into it and then around that corner is what I call an alley way to the front driveway. This whole area is fenced with one side being chain-link leading up to a stockade gate. The other side is the side of my garage.
Now that you have the landscape, here are some pics of it with my thoughts on the pros and cons of having the coop and or run in that area:
NOTE: Ignore all the crates and fencing and "crap" everywhere...it is all just the conglomeration of items and ways to give the girls some temporary roaming space!!
This is the view from the backyard towards the house on the northwest corner, the sunroom, which is 8x10. You can see that there are 2 sliders out of it one facing north one facing west.
the west slider has the picket fence along it with a gate leading to my front/side yard where my garden currently is. The picket meets up with the chain-link that surrounds my whole yard. The span from leaving that slider, along the picket to the chain-link is approximately 28 feet.
From the north slider out to the chain-link, where there is a gate to a gully, is well over 40 feet, which is the entire length of my back yard, in that area. As I said, ignore that piece of fencing and the random pole, etc...all just attempts at containment.
The other pic shows a view from in the sunroom out the 2 sliders.
This is a view of the "cubby" between the kitchen bay window and the garage. You can see the open garage door and then the alley way along the east side of the garage, which is also has the chain-link fence all the way up to the stockade gate.The "cubby" area itself is 9 feet wide from window to garage wall and 7 feet out towards corner of house but obviously could be continued further.
The fact that there is easy access in and out through the mudroom door seems ultra convenient and being able to possibly continue it out towards the garage seems great too!
The last pic shows the "alley" next to the garage. *Again please ignore all the pallets and junk trying to make temporary blockades!
It is 15 feet from the garage to the already existing chain link fence and from the corner of the garage towards the stockade gate is 22 feet, again it can very well extend past the garage corner if needed.
My thought here are that I have one solid wall already (the garage) and easy access through the stockade gate, but that leads into my unfenced driveway area.
Also there is not much of a view and I realize it will only get good morning sun and the rest will be spotty due to tree coverage and the house itself.
That also brings the question of whether or not to build the coop inside of this run area or do I just use it as the run and perhaps use the garage as a coop??
The garage itself inside is 12 ft wide and I have it blocked to a depth of 9 feet but I could bring it back more. The ceiling is 8+ feet and the obvious perks are that it is well protected and contained but not much light. It only has the front garage door small windows so the only other light would be when the door is open or from artificial lighting. The other downside is significant loss of garage/storage space.
This shows 2 views from out of the bay window into the "cubby" area. I would be able to see into the coop if I build it accordingly but also I could see the area towards the garage if I decide to make use of the alley as a run. I would love to be able to look out at the girls each day right from my kitchen since that is where I spend most of my time!
Other thoughts are if I use the cubby and alley area, the garage can be merely a backup plan in really harsh weather or while I am building. It also gives me 3 ways to get in and out of the coop and run area.
BUT, will having them so close to the house there be an issue?
SO...back to the other side:
The other side of the house, sunroom on the northwest side will get significantly more light throughout the day with spots of shade from the trees. But I am not in a huge hurry to have the girls INSIDE my sunroom again (that is where they lived, in a large kiddie pool, while they were 2 weeks old and I was figuring this all out!) Therefore with that option the large outdoor area would definitely have to be for the coop and run all together. The other plus over there is that if they were to escape there is the safety of the front yard and the woods and gully as opposed to the street and neighbors on the east side.
Plus my garden is right there and the back gate is where we typically dispose of yard waste and where I am most likely building my compost pile.
UGH! Decisions decisions!
I know ultimately the choice is mine, but I was hoping for any tidbits of knowledge that I may be overlooking that would help make my decision a bit easier.
There are so many of you on here with great advice and experiences that I have already learned a TON and I wish I could snatch some of you up to come take a look in person to help me make my choice!
Hopefully the pics can adequately show what I am working with and this will all get moving forward soon!
The Princesses are getting big and need their castle up and running soon!
Thanks in advance for any and all advice, believe me it is VERY appreciated!
~ The Chick-O-Pee Chicks
Which came first, the baby chicks or the coop.....?
Yeah, you guessed it, the 13 Princess Chickies came home with me at 2 weeks old and now they are in desperate need of a permanent castle! They are approximately 5 weeks old and growing FAST!
I am looking to build my own and have found a lot of great ideas on what to build, but I am really struggling more on WHERE to build. HOWEVER, let me start with saying I have never owned chickens before. I have been a veterinary technician for over 23 years and have owned/cared for every animal you can think of, but I haven't been near a chicken since undergrad school!! Therefore, if any of my questions seem completely ridiculous, please be kind and bare with me!
SO, here goes....
First off, I live in Massachusetts, so weather is a factor...Harsh, cold snowy winters and very hot, humid summers make for interesting considerations when it comes to housing!
I have a fully fenced yard for my dogs, with very little grass anywhere, so I have multiple options as to which part of the yard I dedicate to my chicks, but I am really stumped as to what would make the most sense for me and for them.
I have some pictures attached below with descriptions of what you're looking at but here is a basic over view.
From the back of my house I have a room with 2 sliders on the 2 corner walls leading out to my back yard. I call this my sunroom due to the large amount of light it gets. This in on the northwest side of my house. Continuing along the houseline in the backyard to wards the east, you get to a small "cubby" area between my garage and kitchen with a door that goes into the mudroom. The mudroom is used as just that...the entrance into my home from the front before you walk into my kitchen. The cool part about this cubby area is that it has a great view of it from my bay window at my kitchen table.
Coming further east from the "cubby" is my garage with a regular sized door going into it and then around that corner is what I call an alley way to the front driveway. This whole area is fenced with one side being chain-link leading up to a stockade gate. The other side is the side of my garage.
Now that you have the landscape, here are some pics of it with my thoughts on the pros and cons of having the coop and or run in that area:
NOTE: Ignore all the crates and fencing and "crap" everywhere...it is all just the conglomeration of items and ways to give the girls some temporary roaming space!!
This is the view from the backyard towards the house on the northwest corner, the sunroom, which is 8x10. You can see that there are 2 sliders out of it one facing north one facing west.
the west slider has the picket fence along it with a gate leading to my front/side yard where my garden currently is. The picket meets up with the chain-link that surrounds my whole yard. The span from leaving that slider, along the picket to the chain-link is approximately 28 feet.
From the north slider out to the chain-link, where there is a gate to a gully, is well over 40 feet, which is the entire length of my back yard, in that area. As I said, ignore that piece of fencing and the random pole, etc...all just attempts at containment.
The other pic shows a view from in the sunroom out the 2 sliders.
This is a view of the "cubby" between the kitchen bay window and the garage. You can see the open garage door and then the alley way along the east side of the garage, which is also has the chain-link fence all the way up to the stockade gate.The "cubby" area itself is 9 feet wide from window to garage wall and 7 feet out towards corner of house but obviously could be continued further.
The fact that there is easy access in and out through the mudroom door seems ultra convenient and being able to possibly continue it out towards the garage seems great too!
The last pic shows the "alley" next to the garage. *Again please ignore all the pallets and junk trying to make temporary blockades!
It is 15 feet from the garage to the already existing chain link fence and from the corner of the garage towards the stockade gate is 22 feet, again it can very well extend past the garage corner if needed.
My thought here are that I have one solid wall already (the garage) and easy access through the stockade gate, but that leads into my unfenced driveway area.
Also there is not much of a view and I realize it will only get good morning sun and the rest will be spotty due to tree coverage and the house itself.
That also brings the question of whether or not to build the coop inside of this run area or do I just use it as the run and perhaps use the garage as a coop??
The garage itself inside is 12 ft wide and I have it blocked to a depth of 9 feet but I could bring it back more. The ceiling is 8+ feet and the obvious perks are that it is well protected and contained but not much light. It only has the front garage door small windows so the only other light would be when the door is open or from artificial lighting. The other downside is significant loss of garage/storage space.
This shows 2 views from out of the bay window into the "cubby" area. I would be able to see into the coop if I build it accordingly but also I could see the area towards the garage if I decide to make use of the alley as a run. I would love to be able to look out at the girls each day right from my kitchen since that is where I spend most of my time!
Other thoughts are if I use the cubby and alley area, the garage can be merely a backup plan in really harsh weather or while I am building. It also gives me 3 ways to get in and out of the coop and run area.
BUT, will having them so close to the house there be an issue?
SO...back to the other side:
The other side of the house, sunroom on the northwest side will get significantly more light throughout the day with spots of shade from the trees. But I am not in a huge hurry to have the girls INSIDE my sunroom again (that is where they lived, in a large kiddie pool, while they were 2 weeks old and I was figuring this all out!) Therefore with that option the large outdoor area would definitely have to be for the coop and run all together. The other plus over there is that if they were to escape there is the safety of the front yard and the woods and gully as opposed to the street and neighbors on the east side.
Plus my garden is right there and the back gate is where we typically dispose of yard waste and where I am most likely building my compost pile.
UGH! Decisions decisions!
There are so many of you on here with great advice and experiences that I have already learned a TON and I wish I could snatch some of you up to come take a look in person to help me make my choice!
Hopefully the pics can adequately show what I am working with and this will all get moving forward soon!
The Princesses are getting big and need their castle up and running soon!
Thanks in advance for any and all advice, believe me it is VERY appreciated!
~ The Chick-O-Pee Chicks
