MY DREAMS ARE COMING TRUE but I need some help :)

[Chickadee95]

Hi! I'm in the 4-H and we've decided to move our 4, 4 month old pullets closer to home (currently they're kept at a 4-H coop in cramped conditions). We're going to put them on a neighbor's farm , he's been very nice about it.
We're really in a rush to move them out of the community coop and into better conditions. So we ordered this coop: http://www.chickencoopsource.com/chicken-coops/chicken-coops/extremehenhousecoop.cfm
and got free shipping + 30 bucks off, for a total of $531.
How does this coop look to you all? We realized after the fact that it's about 3 feet tall, but 10 feet long. We will have 3 BOs and 1 EE in it. (My babies

) We will give my birdies as much supervised ranging time as possible.
We're adding hardware cloth around the perimeter for extra pred-protection.

Also I'm wondering about adding windows-right now I don't think it has any. Possibly popping out that glass on the door and adding hardware cloth is an idea.

Before we build this whole thing, does anyone have any other things that we might want to add? I don't want to not be able to reverse something after the fact.

I really wish we'd had some more info on the coop available before we bought it. But now it's coming, and I know I'll love it, and my chicks will too because anywhere is better than where they are now!!

I think I'll have more Q's later, too

The Mega Coop is coming Aug 21st - CAN'T WAIT.

thank you
~Charis

 

[chickenlover89]

that looks great for your 4 pullets, but when you have to clean the run, it might be hard.

 

[Mass Mike]

I'm sure you and the girls are gonna enjoy the new digs. congrats. You are going to want to be able to shut the coop door (to the run) at night without having to climb inside the coop. It doesn't say anything about this functionality in the product description. If it doesn't have a solution, you may want to look into retrofitting something. A simple pulley, rope, and cleat will make life MUCH easier on you. Have fun setting it up!!!

 

[Chickadee95]

Thanks for the feedback!
I'm curious though, how do I clean a run? Sweep out excess dust and poop?
Also, I found this log in my backyard, peeled off the bark, and wala! I think I have a future chicken perch for my run

It juuust started to decompose but barely, so I feel good about it. Here's a pic:


Also considering adding a "front porch" to their little pop door, if there's enough room. AND it looks like there's a wondow on the back for ventilation after all!

Here's my girls (from top clockwise: Prometheus, Minnie, Icarus, and Angel)

Gosh I'm so excited, we're naming the coop "Cheep Therapy." EEEEEP can't waaaaiiittt.

 

[chickenlover89]

Thanks for the feedback!
I'm curious though, how do I clean a run? Sweep out excess dust and poop?
Also, I found this log in my backyard, peeled off the bark, and wala! I think I have a future chicken perch for my run

It juuust started to decompose but barely, so I feel good about it. Here's a pic:


Also considering adding a "front porch" to their little pop door, if there's enough room. AND it looks like there's a wondow on the back for ventilation after all!

Here's my girls (from top clockwise: Prometheus, Minnie, Icarus, and Angel)

Gosh I'm so excited, we're naming the coop "Cheep Therapy." EEEEEP can't waaaaiiittt.

they're beatiful! how big of a "front porch"? And you shouldn't need to clean the run very often, but you could sweep/shovel everything out (or just the poop, i heard some people do that) and if you get everything out than replace it

 

[KDK1]

It appears to have hardware cloth on it already... mouse over the picture on the website.

 

[Red Barn Farms]

One suggestion is getting bags of sand to fill the run area. As far as run area cleaning goes just using a rake and shovel works for me. I cannot tell from the image or when reading the description but if possible I'd hinge the top of the run so I could open it up to make cleaning a bit easier.

 

[Chickadee95]

Wow I love the hinging idea! That would be factastic.
I'm thinking that for now I'll leave it as grass and then when they eat it down to nothing add some sand. They love their grass.

KDK1 I want to add some extra protection under the ground so that nothing can dig in.

And a front porch would probably only be about a square foot. It probably doesn't need it, we'll see though.

Thanks for answering!!

 

[Fishbone]

I'd plan on some better latches.
What come s with it may be adequate to keep them in but not pred proof.

A foot wide skirt of hardware cloth screwed to the coop would help prevent diggers.

 

[BeulahBreezes]

I have a coop that is similiar to yours.......I use the pine shavings on the floor. I use the deep litter method, and have a long handled children's garden rake.......just perfect for cleaning out the poop. We added a 'back porch', by cutting thru the fencing behind the ladder. Then we attached more 1/2" hardware cloth....makes more room for my 4 chickens. We added more latches also...to the poop drawer as well as the main door to keep the critters OUT! If your have anymore questions, you can PM me here, be glad to help you! ~Beulah