My Coop/Run !!!

[dogdollar]

Comments?

Thanks,
DD

 

[annie3001]

looks good. are you in a warm climate? are your chickens going to be locked up in the main coop top part at night?
if you do live in a cold climate, be sure to properly have warmth for the chickens. i like the run it looks good, my only concern would be preadtors, do you have many in your area.

good luck!

 

[Kansaseq]

Nice design for a few birds in warm weather. Do you have plexiglass or something to cover the windows in cold weather? Also, chicken wire won't keep out most predators. Unless you have a LGD, you may went to replace it with hardware cloth. Aside from that, I think it's very nice.

 

[elmo]

Well done on ventilation, that's for sure!

You'll need to keep an eye on the inside of the coop when it rains, though, to make sure your birds have a dry place to roost. I'm having some trouble in my open sided coop with rain blowing in from the sides.

 

[CoopCrazy]

Looks good I do agree with the past posters on improvements.. Also do you have or have a plan for nest boxes??? I have to say I really like the eaiting area under the coop.. Looks really nice

 

[kickinchicken]

The upper areas....are they covered with hardware cloth? And, you might want to switch out the chicken wire for hardware cloth...chicken wire only keeps chickens in, it keeps NOTHING out.

And for rain protection, you might want to make some removable plexi-glass panels that you can quickly attach when you know rain is coming.
Other than that, GREAT open air coop.

Are you in a warm climate? I assume so. It will be nice and breezy in there!

How many chickens will you have in there and will they be standard or bantam? We love chickie pictures in their new homes!

 

[CoopCrazy]

Ok i just have to say .. You REALLY did a good job with this the more i look at the pic the more cool ideas i see.. It looks lik,e you can close then into the coop, run, or underside of coop seperatly.. Very cool idea especially if you have an escape artist.. I love what appears to be pull out poo trays.. I think you did a great job getting creative with the roosts I love how they are attched to the ceiling ... Over all I think oyu did a great job

 

[dogdollar]

Thanks everyone, for the comments.
First of all, I am in Houston, Texas and the heat index here has already been at 105 for several consecutive days. When designing the coop, I figured my first and foremost enemy would be the heat, and designed accordingly. As it turned out, there is almost always a prevailing southeast breeze where I finally located the coop and so far, so good.....all of the chickens are weathering the heat, although on really hot days they are breathing with their beaks open. The floor to the roosting area pulls out like a drawer and is covered with 1/4" hardware cloth as a floor. This means I can wash away all of the droppings from the night's roost in about five minutes and return the drawer with very little fuss.
The taller structure, which I call the coop, is extremely robust and is as predator-proof as I know how to make it. The openings are covered with Poultry netting PLUS hardware cloth with firring strips screwed down over the exposed ends, staples, etc.
It's a work in progress, of course....nest boxes are being built and will be incorporated into the right side of the coop. Hardware cloth will be added on top of the existing poultry netting on the small run, and I am going to add a removable tin roof to the run that matches the one on the coop. I am also adding a 5' x 10' run which will attach on the end of the small existing run.
My problem right now is crowding. I designed this coop for six hens max, but wound up with nine and a rooster, so the additional run will be a huge help.
Thanks,
DD

 

[mgw]

Good job very good ideas and structure looks good in yard. P.S our coops are all works in progress hopefully for the better LOL

 

[dogdollar]

I finally added my nest boxes yesterday. Thank God, I have good chickens...they gave me eight eggs today and four of them were in the brand new boxes.

This coop has turned out better than I though it would. The chickens are a little cramped, but since there is a variety of places to go in the compound, they can isolate themselves if they are being picked on.

DD