waywind
Chirping
Hi all,
Thought I would share my recently renovated coop. When I initially built my coop, it was out of scrap flooring from my kitchen renovation, which was thin MDF with vinyl flooring. It wasn't ideal, but I was so keen to get started with chickens I made it work. Now I'm planning to have 2 more bantam chickens to finish my flock and with my knowledge of what chickens need increased over the years, I decided to upgrade the coop with new cladding and features.
Here's my old coop:
Here's the new coop!
Let me share some features: the main goal was to increase vertical space by extending my columns by 250mm; it made a huge difference in terms of feel of space. I'll be adding another roost for my new bantam birds. All the cladding is now 10-20mm thick chip board or plywood, which is a bit sturdier (and heavier).
I added some passive all year ventilation strips along the tops. Pop open windows on the right, back and left door, all secure with 12x12mm hardware cloth and flyscreen (just for fun, the flies still get in through the pop door). The rear wall is up against the brick wall, but I wanted the option to turn my coop around if I felt like it, which will make the windows more relevant then. The chickens enjoyed a really big window on the left side cause it's sheltered but they get fresh air at night, so I made it bigger with a sliding panel for those bad weather days.
Changed the nest box to open forward; easier to pull my broody orpingtons out for chicken jail! Also let's me use the top as a shelf for misc items.
I transferred my auto-chicken door I put together myself and made a proper box for all the components to sit in on the left panel. All the wires pop through a nice rubber seal, all tidy to the side. I had a little hobby fan that I put in the ceiling for some additional ventilation but honestly don't think it would do much haha. I had to make my chicken ladder easily removable, as it now attaches to the door. Just used some hooks, works pretty well and is quite sturdy.
And finally gave it a coat of paint for some fun. I'm a terrible painter at best of times, so I kept it relatively simple and didn't bother painting non-visible areas.
One other thing I'd like to note is that on the weekend of the renovation, it was mayhem when the girls couldn't nest in their usual boxes. They were yelling at me at their top of their lungs, wouldn't accept my alternative tub I'd put in the run for ages. I think this was the most stressful part of the build haha.
Here's becki giving me a pat on the shoulder well done
Thought I would share my recently renovated coop. When I initially built my coop, it was out of scrap flooring from my kitchen renovation, which was thin MDF with vinyl flooring. It wasn't ideal, but I was so keen to get started with chickens I made it work. Now I'm planning to have 2 more bantam chickens to finish my flock and with my knowledge of what chickens need increased over the years, I decided to upgrade the coop with new cladding and features.
Here's my old coop:
Here's the new coop!
Let me share some features: the main goal was to increase vertical space by extending my columns by 250mm; it made a huge difference in terms of feel of space. I'll be adding another roost for my new bantam birds. All the cladding is now 10-20mm thick chip board or plywood, which is a bit sturdier (and heavier).
I added some passive all year ventilation strips along the tops. Pop open windows on the right, back and left door, all secure with 12x12mm hardware cloth and flyscreen (just for fun, the flies still get in through the pop door). The rear wall is up against the brick wall, but I wanted the option to turn my coop around if I felt like it, which will make the windows more relevant then. The chickens enjoyed a really big window on the left side cause it's sheltered but they get fresh air at night, so I made it bigger with a sliding panel for those bad weather days.
Changed the nest box to open forward; easier to pull my broody orpingtons out for chicken jail! Also let's me use the top as a shelf for misc items.
I transferred my auto-chicken door I put together myself and made a proper box for all the components to sit in on the left panel. All the wires pop through a nice rubber seal, all tidy to the side. I had a little hobby fan that I put in the ceiling for some additional ventilation but honestly don't think it would do much haha. I had to make my chicken ladder easily removable, as it now attaches to the door. Just used some hooks, works pretty well and is quite sturdy.
And finally gave it a coat of paint for some fun. I'm a terrible painter at best of times, so I kept it relatively simple and didn't bother painting non-visible areas.
One other thing I'd like to note is that on the weekend of the renovation, it was mayhem when the girls couldn't nest in their usual boxes. They were yelling at me at their top of their lungs, wouldn't accept my alternative tub I'd put in the run for ages. I think this was the most stressful part of the build haha.
Here's becki giving me a pat on the shoulder well done
