We FINALLY moved the chickens into their new coop last Thursday. It was long overdue. We've been "free-ranging" our chickens in our garage for the last couple months, something I would STRONGLY advise against!
The interior of the coop is all done except for rigging the pulley system for the pop door. Things have turned out pretty well, and the chickens seem to be enjoying it. They caught on to the loft pretty quickly, and my concerns about them not being able to get down from the roosts in the loft were unfounded. The platform I made, like I learned from JoeBryant, works fine; they hop from the ground to the platform, then up to the roosts in the loft, and vice versa. (I would also like to thank everyone else for coop ideas I've gleaned here on BYC!) I cleaned the droppings trays for the first time today, with a big "harvest" of poop for the compost pile. And 2 of the 3 that are laying are using the nest boxes.
Here are a couple pics... I'll post more pics once the exterior's all painted.
Our little flock in their new coop:
Inside looking out front door:
Roosting loft with droppings trays:
Nest boxes:
The interior of the coop is all done except for rigging the pulley system for the pop door. Things have turned out pretty well, and the chickens seem to be enjoying it. They caught on to the loft pretty quickly, and my concerns about them not being able to get down from the roosts in the loft were unfounded. The platform I made, like I learned from JoeBryant, works fine; they hop from the ground to the platform, then up to the roosts in the loft, and vice versa. (I would also like to thank everyone else for coop ideas I've gleaned here on BYC!) I cleaned the droppings trays for the first time today, with a big "harvest" of poop for the compost pile. And 2 of the 3 that are laying are using the nest boxes.
Here are a couple pics... I'll post more pics once the exterior's all painted.
Our little flock in their new coop:
Inside looking out front door:
Roosting loft with droppings trays:
Nest boxes:
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