My coop and run

[georgiashens]

Hi, I got my first chickens today and I’m looking for some opinions on my coop and run. I think it turned out great and my new girls seem to love it! They have access to the run all day every day and when the settle, we may even try free roaming them around the garden (of a lot more research needs to be done before we decide).

 

[Stravager]

It looks like a nice setup! I would personally swap out the bowls of food and water for something that they can't stand in and poop in, like a hanging feeder/waterer or something with a sharply peaked cover. The grass run is going to turn into mud/dirt pretty quickly with them scratching around in it on a regular basis if you can't move it around on the lawn.

 

[georgiashens]

It looks like a nice setup! I would personally swap out the bowls of food and water for something that they can't stand in and poop in, like a hanging feeder/waterer or something with a sharply peaked cover. The grass run is going to turn into mud/dirt pretty quickly with them scratching around in it on a regular basis if you can't move it around on the lawn.

Thank you! I’m going to be ordering new feeders and drinkers very soon but I forgot to get it before we got them!

 

[Bananabread]

Agree, looks like a nice set up. Not sure what sort of predators you have in the area, but if not already, you should lay down a hardware cloth skirt to prevent digging under the fence. The run for instance, looks quite straightforward for a midnight creature to tunnel under into the coop for instance. You may never see any signs of it until it's too late. just my two cents

 

[georgiashens]

Agree, looks like a nice set up. Not sure what sort of predators you have in the area, but if not already, you should lay down a hardware cloth skirt to prevent digging under the fence. The run for instance, looks quite straightforward for a midnight creature to tunnel under into the coop for instance. You may never see any signs of it until it's too late. just my two cents

The run with sand on top is on top of concrete and the run onto the grass has a lockable door so if they do burrow into that, they cant access the other run that the coop is on. The coop also has a lockable door which they will stay in all night. Do you think predators are still an issue? I would be happy to modify if needed

 

[lagrange chicks]

I like it, very nice. I do see zip ties, you do have the fence stapled also? A coon could chew plastic zip ties and or the zip ties break down from uv.

 

[rosemarythyme]

More ventilation in the coop would be great too, especially since the run surrounding it is roofed over so that should provide a lot of climate protection. I only see one tiny circle vent in the front there. Depending on where the roost sits inside the coop I would strongly consider opening up the entire triangle under the gable around that tiny circle and replacing with hardware cloth, both front and back if possible.

 

[The cheek coop]

Very nice!

 

[georgiashens]

More ventilation in the coop would be great too, especially since the run surrounding it is roofed over so that should provide a lot of climate protection. I only see one tiny circle vent in the front there. Depending on where the roost sits inside the coop I would strongly consider opening up the entire triangle under the gable around that tiny circle and replacing with hardware cloth, both front and back if possible.

There’s quite a large amount of ventilation at the back of the coop, you just can’t see it in the picture

 

[georgiashens]

I like it, very nice. I do see zip ties, you do have the fence stapled also? A coon could chew plastic zip ties and or the zip ties break down from uv.

yes the run is drilled together, we just put zip ties on to initially hold it together while we drilled and thought we might as well keep them for extra protection