Meat Chicken Coop

[MRVWyo]

Just wanted to post some pics of my new coop/run (although these Cornish X's don't run much unless I'm showing up with food). First, a big THANKS to Aart (https://www.backyardchickens.com/members/aart.175197/) for the article on the tractor run using cattle panels. It served as my basis for this permanent run build. I used a base of 4x4s in the corners, and installed a couple of 2x6s all around that I leveled. This is uneven ground, so the 4x4s helped a ton. Then I used 3 cattle panels in an arc, surrounded the lower part with 1/2" welded wire, and the top part with chicken wire. Everything is held together by wire and hog rings. Aart gave me the idea to do the frame in one end, and it worked to stiffen the structure. I had to quickly get the chicks the heck out of their brooder, so my quick fix to the back end was another cattle panel with welded wire and chicken wire. I had an old dog run gate that is perfect for my door. A shade cloth over part of it, a tarp on the end to block wind,. The bottom part of an old horse feeder is my structure to hang the food under a piece of chip-board to keep it dry. So far, so good. It has to keep them safe from predators (eagles and osprey, and the occasional 4-legged creatures here in Wyoming) for another few weeks until they become our dinners.... I made the thing expandable, and situated it near our layer coop, so when winter and 5 feet of snow hit us, the layers will have a safe place to go out to (will cover it with snow-proofing).

 

[3KillerBs]

Great build!