I've done a lot of work on my coop this spring, and thought I'd post mostly to brag, LOL, cause I'm a lady and I did all the work myself! (actually built the whole run by myself, in 2011!) But also thought modern backyard chickeners might be interested to see an older coop design.
The enclosed part of this coop measures 12ft x 10ft. It has a door on both sides, under the tallest part of the roof. The coop is short, built so an average 5'6"-5'8"ish person can walk through without stooping- it can be a little bit of a pain to clean the short end, although if you stoop a little a rake can reach the shortest end easily.
The flooring of the run is basically a giant raised bed with concrete sides- which made it fantastically easy to predator proof the bottom and makes dealing with rain and mud much better.
I think the coop's foundation and beams may date to the 40's- that's when my house was built so it would make sense. (Although if anyone happens to know if this design came into popularity later, I'd like to know!)
When I bought the property in late 2010 this was just a rotting, leaking building used for storage- since then I did tons of repairs, added nesting boxes with reach-through doors from the outside, built the run (using the foundation from the original run), made new ventilated doors for the coop and run, made roosts, waterproofed like crazy, and then once it was dry, had an electrician add an electrical outlet. It's pretty cozy now!
The enclosed part of this coop measures 12ft x 10ft. It has a door on both sides, under the tallest part of the roof. The coop is short, built so an average 5'6"-5'8"ish person can walk through without stooping- it can be a little bit of a pain to clean the short end, although if you stoop a little a rake can reach the shortest end easily.
The flooring of the run is basically a giant raised bed with concrete sides- which made it fantastically easy to predator proof the bottom and makes dealing with rain and mud much better.
I think the coop's foundation and beams may date to the 40's- that's when my house was built so it would make sense. (Although if anyone happens to know if this design came into popularity later, I'd like to know!)
When I bought the property in late 2010 this was just a rotting, leaking building used for storage- since then I did tons of repairs, added nesting boxes with reach-through doors from the outside, built the run (using the foundation from the original run), made new ventilated doors for the coop and run, made roosts, waterproofed like crazy, and then once it was dry, had an electrician add an electrical outlet. It's pretty cozy now!
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