My Chicken Coop for 5 or 6

[CrazyChickGirl]

Wow, I am so impressed. It looks great! Our local feed stores use the same containers for their chicks I also wanted to say that we have a similar screened door with a wood peice that is attached inside for warmth in the coldest months. So far it's worked out great!

 

[christinamae5]

My six babies are here! All six are Barred Rocks and they are doing great- they already figured out where the food was and how to work the nipple waterer..... So happy!

 

[shmeggs]

My coop now has three walls and a roof! Of wood at least- again, we are going to cover the whole thing in vinyl siding that matches the other sheds....thinking a metal roof tho??? I will also add a vent to the east and west sides of the coop- we get our storms from the north and south and I don't want it to be too drafty or get rain/snow inside.

From the inside....the two 2x4's are the perches. And I forgot to cut out the door- that's the little area with with 2x4 facing you on the left side of the picture. It will have a ramp that goes down to the run. I am going to cover the floor in vinyl and then was thinking instead of sand, to do Sweet PDZ stuff....have been hearing good things about it! I suppose if I don't like it, I can always go to sand...Do you think the perches are too high???? They are approx 18 and 20 inches above the floor....Everything I read said to put them above the nesting boxes, which they are, but it looks awfully high for a chicken to jump! Should I put a ramp inside to the perches????

The inside looks much more cozy now with walls. Also, please excuse the pink chalk- my two year old daughter was making it pretty for the chickens! =)

I have rhode island reds and I have a perch that is 18 inches they jump up on it with no problem. you should be okay with your perch.

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

They look great!

 

[RachRed]

This looks awesome! We are on a similar track. I'm building my first little coop...with the "help" of my two year old. I'll post some pics of my progress somewhere...

 

[christinamae5]

The nesting boxes were so much easier to side around than I expected! And yes, the trim and the siding are different colors! We bought the lighter color for the tool shed last summer and had a bunch left over....well, when we went to Menards to get trim for the chicken house, we couldn't remember which color we had gotten, and ended up with the wrong stuff.....but instead of doing it right and taking back that to get the other, we just went with it. And it really doesn't look that bad =) And a slight change to the design...I was originally going to put a door on the sided side of the pic below, to a ramp to go into the run on the other side of our privacy fence...but couldn't figure out how to ensure that the doorway in between didn't let them out or anything else in and still stay connected to the fence- it doesn't fit right up against the fence like I thought it would. SO- have made a hole in the floor of the coop and am going to have a ramp from that down to the ground. I will just put the run on the same side of the privacy fence to the right of where the coop will be- see the first picture of the base of the coop!

Two walls and the nesting boxes are sided.....wanted to finish the other sides and the roof, but then it started snowing again!!! UUUUGGGGG!!! Come on spring! Another problem is becoming very apparent- IT WEIGHS A TON!!!! Not sure how we are going to move it from this spot to the spot in the yard where it should actually go...ANY IDEAS???

 

[christinamae5]

I have rhode island reds and I have a perch that is 18 inches they jump up on it with no problem. you should be okay with your perch.

I plan on moving them to the big coop at the mid/end of May. Not sure how big they will be by then, but that's when the temp will stay above freezing for the summer here. Will they be big enough then to jump on the perches? Do I need to install a temp ramp for them?

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Well, I started building my coop. I have built things with my husband, like most of a house, but this is my first venture by myself. Its not perfect by any means, but its solid and sturdy, and most of all, its mine. I'm very proud of it! And I can NOT wait until my chickens are here!
Think this will be warm enough???? I could insulate the roof if needed.

Christinamae5: your coop is looking gorgeous. Good for you doing it on your own too. There's a great sense of accomplishment doing this sort of project with your own hands. (I did my own too.

) If I might chime in about the insulation as a Midwesterner. I think you'll want to pop in some foam boards with a paneling for some warmth retention. I'm not sure what you've had for temps this winter but I'm guessing it was pretty close to what we had in MN. I think we are on a "cold cycle" with these last two winters the way they were. Last year I put insulation in my ceiling. I got frostbit combs my first year. This year I put insulation on the walls and was glad I did. You don't have to warm your coop above freezing as you want to keep your birds winter hardy but I believe in not subjecting them to cruel temps and as you know in the Midwest we have that...

Do what you want of course. But any single comb breed you chose for chickens will no doubt get some frostbite. You can chose breeds less likely to get frostbit too with rose combs or pea combs.

Another thing that the insulation will do as well is keep the coop cooler on hot days. Situating it under trees and in the shade is always good too. I love your coop already and you wont regret getting those chickens. Have fun. Thanks for sharing your progress.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Whoop. I somehow missed the chick post! Congratulations! Love barred rocks! single combs...

 

[aart]

Nice job!

Are you going to add some ventilation? Ventilation is much more important than Insulation for deterring frostbite.
Where are you located? You can put it in your profile, helps folks make suggestions.