I bought the kit ( http://www.amazon.com/Pawhut-Deluxe-Wooden-Chicken-Backyard/dp/B00DE3YTSO ) at Tractor Supply on sale -for 179+ tax. I spent another 50$ on wood, tires, hardware, paint, and caulk. I had chicken wire already on hand. the paint was the cheap 5$ 'oops' paint from Depot.
first thing is to take everything out of the box and caulk the F**k out of it. I live in TX-so these coops will get a lot of abuse out in the fields. the kits are fine for in a backyard, like under an awning-but just arent solid enough without help for my situation. Every seam got a heavy coat of caulk.
The wire is set into grooves in the wood-this will allow rain to collect in there and then that just asks for it to rot away. I caulked it so much it looked like an old cabin. I also put on 2 coats of paint. when assembling parts there is also a layer of caulk. I think i went through 6 tubes of caulk.
I then bought some tires and added 2X4's to the bottom. I also put 1" chicken wire across the bottom then nailed wood strips on top of that. They can eat the grass but not have anything dig in. A small snake may make it in, but I havent had any problem with those here.
the kit says it is big enough for 4 chickens, but even if they were leghorn size it doesn't seem like it would be big enough-it is narrow and that causes more confrontation. I had 7 D'uccles in there for a week and they were ok with it but did not like the 'roosts'. those are only 1" off the floor. I am currently raising babies in it but will switch it over to silkies. 4-5 silkies may be fine in it. one thing -I added better locks to all the doors, i have a serious coon problem here and dont trust those bolt latches they came with.
first thing is to take everything out of the box and caulk the F**k out of it. I live in TX-so these coops will get a lot of abuse out in the fields. the kits are fine for in a backyard, like under an awning-but just arent solid enough without help for my situation. Every seam got a heavy coat of caulk.
The wire is set into grooves in the wood-this will allow rain to collect in there and then that just asks for it to rot away. I caulked it so much it looked like an old cabin. I also put on 2 coats of paint. when assembling parts there is also a layer of caulk. I think i went through 6 tubes of caulk.
I then bought some tires and added 2X4's to the bottom. I also put 1" chicken wire across the bottom then nailed wood strips on top of that. They can eat the grass but not have anything dig in. A small snake may make it in, but I havent had any problem with those here.
the kit says it is big enough for 4 chickens, but even if they were leghorn size it doesn't seem like it would be big enough-it is narrow and that causes more confrontation. I had 7 D'uccles in there for a week and they were ok with it but did not like the 'roosts'. those are only 1" off the floor. I am currently raising babies in it but will switch it over to silkies. 4-5 silkies may be fine in it. one thing -I added better locks to all the doors, i have a serious coon problem here and dont trust those bolt latches they came with.
Last edited:
