Hello all!! My wife and I have been interested in getting backyard chicks for a few years now and have finally begun building my coop from a reclaimed wooden swing set that was in my backyard when we bought the house. We are located in GA just south of Atlanta and I have a nice size fenced in backyard. I tore down an old wooden playset and left the 7ft 4x4's that were already concreted in the ground that I plan to use for the chicken run. We have begun building the coop over the last few weeks to get ready for next Springs chicken season. I just wanted to introduce myself and share my process and as I have been lurking on this website and forums for a couple of years now. This is my 1st post as I just made an account and I look forward to learning as much as I can from you guys ans this is a new venture for me and I am really excited about the whole process. I will add a post in the coop design area to get some criticism and pointers to make sure I am doing things correctly and I hope you guys guide me in the right direction. Thanks again and I look forward to the pointers and info Derek rekles75
I have only had my chickens for about 6 months now, so I am new too. I would love to see your progress and read what others have to say!
Welcome from NE Kansas!! I had an old swing set I gave a way and now after reading your post should of thought twice about it!!
Greetings from Kansas, Derek, and . Great to have you aboard. Nice that you already had the base for your coop all set. Enjoy your flock and ask any questions you have along the way!
My suggestion is build as big as you can. The space always looks big until you get it finished and start putting in feeders and waterers and roosting bars. I wish I had space to store my feed barrel inside the coop.
Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you. Little Fuzzy is right... build bigger than you think you need.
Nice to meet you Derek, Yes, do build bigger than you think you will need. You may think you only want a certain amount of chickens but, when "chicken math," kicks in you will be getting more and more. Better to have a large coop than adding many additions. BTW rule of thumb is to allow 4-5 sq. feet per bird inside the coop, excluding nest boxes & roosts. Outdoor run should allow 10 sq. feet per bird. plus
Welcome to Backyard chickens Derek! I agree with all the above posts! I started out with a 8'x8' coop and now wish it was more like 25'x25'. lol. Creative using a swingset for a coop and all! Good luck and I can not wait to see your progress with it!
