My coop and run build!

[adirondak5]

Very nice , you did a good job .

 

[JoeInPA]

Very nice , you did a good job .

Thanks, I appreciate it.

The chickens seemed to do okay last night, it was about 45-50°F outside last night. They didn't really want to come out if the coop this morning, I sort of had to coax/chase them out. So my next step is getting this moved to it's permanent location and attached to the run so I can just open the door and let them come out as they please.

 

[JoeInPA]

The chickens seem to be adapting to their coop pretty well. I'm going to move the coop and the run to their permanent location tomorrow. I'm tempted to purchase an automatic coop door, but the sliding door I built has loosened up a lot and seems to be getting better. The automatic doors are pretty expensive and I really could use a new chainsaw. So I may wait and see how things play out.

Here is my backyard from my neighbors' driveway. You can see where the coop is currently along the back side of the yard. The red area is where the coop and run are going to go.

I'm also planning on covering the run with some polycarbonate roofing to provide cover from the snow and rain as well as some shade. It's not snowing yet so i may not do that for a little bit yet.

 

[aart]

Don't put it too close to the driveway...do you use that place to pile snow?

 

[JoeInPA]

Don't put it too close to the driveway...do you use that place to pile snow?

Picture doesn't show it well but it's at least 20 feet from the driveway. I plow snow with a tractor in the winter and it gets piled up on the opposite side of the driveway.

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

I’ve been reading through and your coop looks great! I love how it’s turning out

The chickens seem to be adapting to their coop pretty well. I'm going to move the coop and the run to their permanent location tomorrow. I'm tempted to purchase an automatic coop door, but the sliding door I built has loosened up a lot and seems to be getting better. The automatic doors are pretty expensive and I really could use a new chainsaw. So I may wait and see how things play out.

Here is my backyard from my neighbors' driveway. You can see where the coop is currently along the back side of the yard. The red area is where the coop and run are going to go.

I'm also planning on covering the run with some polycarbonate roofing to provide cover from the snow and rain as well as some shade. It's not snowing yet so i may not do that for a little bit yet.

View attachment 1919812

Going off of this, in the photo it looks like there’s a dip in the land where you are placing the coop? I’d be worried about spring when the snow melts and the rain comes, if it is a sunken in portion of land. I had to change the placement of my coop plans as I was going to put them on a lower ground level because it worked with our property layout but it would have been a swamp in the spring for my poor girls!

 

[JoeInPA]

I’ve been reading through and your coop looks great! I love how it’s turning out


Going off of this, in the photo it looks like there’s a dip in the land where you are placing the coop? I’d be worried about spring when the snow melts and the rain comes, if it is a sunken in portion of land. I had to change the placement of my coop plans as I was going to put them on a lower ground level because it worked with our property layout but it would have been a swamp in the spring for my poor girls!

Thank you, I'm pretty happy with it so far. It will be much better once I get it into place.

There actually isn't a 'dip' per se, but there is a slight hill on the driveway side. I will get a photo later looking from the other side to illustrate better. The entire yard is on a slight slope downward so drainage shouldnt become an issue as the coop and run are still on the higher side of the yard.

 

[JoeInPA]

I thought I'd do a quick update on this to let everyone know how it's going.

Here are some current pictures-

I have the run moved to it's permanent location but I still need to get the coop moved over. The coop is quite a bit heavier. I think I'm going to have to put it on some wheelbarrow wheels to move it.

That said, despite having the coop and run about 15 yards apart, things are going very well. The chickens usually come right out and go right to the run in the morning, and they usually run right back into the coop in the evening. Every once in a while I have to chase them around a bit but not very often.

The coop stays very dry. We've had some 40° nights and the chickens have been fine. We've also had some torrential downpours and the coop has remained completely dry. Odors haven't been an issue, the coop seems to have great ventilation with just the soffits open. I've only had to add bedding once. I'm still not getting any eggs so the nest boxes are not in place right now. You can see my quickly constructed ramp in the photos but the chickens don't always use it. Sometimes they just fly in/out.

The sliding door has become easier to open now that it is "broken in" and while I still plan on adding an automatic chicken door, it doesn't need to be a priority.

The run has had a couple things done, primarily being moved to a permanent location and set level. I waited for the chickens to pick away at the grass until there wasn't much left and today I added straw as ground cover. Originally the top of the run was covered with chicken wire and about 3/4 of it were covered with a tarp. Well with those torrential downpours we've been having, the tarp kept filling with water and it was a chore to go inside and empty it. The tarp also leaked several times leading to ruined food. So I removed the chicken wire and purchased some corrugated polycarbonate roofing and covered the run with it. Not only does the polycarbonate look better than chicken wire and a tarp, but it will provide better more shade, and better cover from rain, snow, hail and hopefully the eyes of predators (i.e. hawks).

Speaking of predators, I haven't had any problems. Other than the one thwarted hawk attempt, nothing has bothered the chickens in the coop or run. I'm not celebrating because I know there are still predators around but I'm not complaining either.

The biggest thing right now is to get the coop moved over. I have to reinforce the legs on it first as I'm not sure they are sturdy enough as is.

Anyways that's pretty much the update.

 

[JoeInPA]

I got the coop moved into place today. It was a bit of work but its done now. I still have to actually attach the coop to the run, not quite sure exactly how I'm going to do it, but it isn't rocket science. I'll figure it out as I go.

Last night was the first night that all 5 birds were in the coop together. They did well. They slept in separate groups but there were no signs of fighting.