My coop plan for the physically challenged, did I forget anything?

[classicsredone]

I like the idea. Right now we have a tractor, and most days my husband has to move it. I am so glad that we do not need to close up the top of the tractor and can leave the ladder down. It takes awhile for me to get up and moving in the morning, and the birds prefer not to wait for me. In fact, if they have to wait, I get some seriously nasty looks and squawks.

 

[Wise Woman]

I will probably be leaving the coop door open as well once this is built. But the run door that connects to the big run will have to be closed daily. I am thinking of putting an automatic door on this one. The coop door will probably be covered with strips of shade cloth. So as long as the food and water is taken care of I won't have to get up at the crack of dawn to let them out. They will just have to wait until I get up to go into the big run.

 

[bryan99705]

Looks like a good plan but would suggest a hinged tip up roof on the brooder so you can see in without having to bend over or risk them jumping out when you just wanna look

How big will the brooder be? Is it going to be insulated? Might consider building in curved corners instead of 90 deg ones to prevent piling? (beats going to all that work and still have to temp in cardboard)

 

[Wise Woman]

Great idea on the hinged roof. I wanted doors for cleaning purposes but I see no reason why I can't have a hinged roof as well. Yes I will insulate it. I don't have chicks very often so 90% of the time it will just be open floor space for the big girls. It will be 5 ft long and about 1 1/2 ft deep and about 2 ft high. I had wanted to put windows in the doors like on the coop, but don't know if that would be warm enough for chicks when I do have them. Any thoughts on that? It would be plexiglass. Rounded corners is a great idea too. I will put that on my list. Again, thanks for all the input. I would hate to build this and then 3 months later start saying I wish I would have done this or that differently. I won't get a second chance to do this coop. I get paid next week and am looking forward to my first trip out for coop materials! I still don't know who will be building it though. I will just have to wait and see. I think my husband is taking a new job and if he does, he will have to be putting in a ton of hours as he will be one of the partners. I am hoping he gets enough of a raise that I can hire someone to do the stuff he won't be around to do. Some I can do, but physically, I just can't do as much as he can and I am not going to hurt myself trying. So I better get this plan done and ready to build.

 

[Carols Clucks]

I like your opposing door design. I did that with Moms coop so we could push an easy rolling wheel barrow under the doors on one side and then just push everything out with an old tool I found with a nice long handle. We can clean off the floor in a few seconds.

 

[bryan99705]

To section off the brooder, how about a groove that you can slide a divider into when chicks are in it? To be real trick you could have a second divider made as a frame with wire so the tweens can meet the flock without being beat up or it can be a hospital area for injured birds