Looking for comments, suggestions, questions, insults...

Thx for the comments, feedback and lack of insults :)

Just to answer a few questions from AART,
always worried about diggers but not too worried, I did run several layers of chicken wire under the coop foundation, plus my entire backyard is fenced in and we have dogs. Not saying it can't happen but so far no signs of trouble..

I do have the coop anchored 3' into the ground at 6 contact points. (I hope that will be enough)

the hardware cloth is actually sandwiched between the 2x4's all the way around the coop.

Thxs for the tip on the unused outlets, I will buy some covers next trip to the big box store...

The heat light was on just to get the little chicks comfortable in their new home outside, plus they were still kind of fuzzy. the light now points more straight down (away from the roosting bar) and shuts off at 8pm, will switch to a regular bulb soon and will probably keep the light timer on until 8pm through winter/daylight savings.. I plan on buying one of the heaters that goes under the metal waterer to prevent it from freezing during the winter so I figure that will add slight warmth to the coop.

The overall coop size is 4'x6' with a 1' overhang all the way around.

we have 6 birds, 3 redstars and 3 what we were told were supposed to be araucana but look more like americana (probably some crazy mix at this point)

@thomasboyle, thx for the tip on the clear shower curtains, I am already trying to figure out what to do for the winter months and will keep that in mind..
 
Made some changes, turned the southern facing window into an actual window so they will get natural light in the henhouse portion during the winter when everything is closed up tight. I also cut out the lattice to fit between the the posts and I plan on sandwiching plastic sheeting between the hardware cloth and the lattice to keep the snow and wind out of the run portion of the coop... AND I added a live webcam to the henhouse so I can can check on them during the big snowstorms without having the leave my house... It is working out pretty well so I am think about adding a 2nd webcam to the run so I can watch them out there as well.. link to webcam here: https://www.dropcam.com/p/coop1

Nesting boxes are temporarily blocked off as they are too young to put them to use yet. enjoy....
 
pbarr - beautiful coop! How old are your hens now? And how high is your ramp? Ours is 3 feet off the ground and my girls are 1.5 yrs old. They only come part way down and then jump and they all got minor bumblefoot. Do yours go all the way down or jump off the top?
 
Hey Peeps,

The Chicks will be 4 months on the 23rd. I'm not sure of the exact height of the ramp (not home to measure it right now) but it is a few feet high anyway. I have seen them do everything from jump off the top, to walk partway down, to walk all the way down... sometimes they walk partway down then jump over to one of the roosting bars I have up in the run. no signs of bumblefoot, I do have like 6" of sand in the run so I think that helps with a softer landing...
 
***Update*** Our first egg today, I think it cost us 2k to get this first one out of the way, so the way I see it the rest are free :)
it was one of our Redstars 4 months 9 days old today :) Thank you people from BackYard Chickens for your posts, comments, pictures and insight to help me get this whole project up and running..

Paul


 

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