- May 21, 2013
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I finished my coop/run a few days ago minus cleaning up the mess I made in the process
Finished coop is around 5' tall at the roof 4.5'(L)x4.5'(W)3.5'(H) for the hen house with around 1.5' underneath in addition to the run which is another 9'(L)x4.5'(W)x4'(H) so total is about 13'5'(L) but that additional length is only 1.5' tall and currently blocked off until they start putting themselves away at night. I don't feel like crawling under there on a nightly basis since that seems to be the spot they like the best.
This is my first time raising chickens, what do you think? There is still a few spots I need to secure the chicken wire better but it's functional as is so I will just worry about that in a couple months when I build the nesting box. I'm happy with the outcome but thinking I should have made the run a bit taller, it's kinda a pain getting around in there but I don't really have a need to go in there except for when I remove the chicken wire to allow access under the house once I know they'll go to bed on their own. Other than that I actually plan on removing the small feeder/waterer in the run. I just have those out there while they're small and getting used to having access to both inside/outside. I hope to teach them the food&water is in the house because those are much easier to fill in there. They didn't waste any time dirtying it, that's for sure. They've actually been living in it for a few weeks, that's when I finished the house, but I just finished the run a couple days ago so now they have access to the outdoors. You can see what these things have done to it in only 3 weeks time, they're much dirtier than I expected but that's ok because they keep me entertained. I put the chicken wire on the inside to avoid getting snagged on it when mowing around it etc. I'm glad I did it now but it was definitely more work while doing it. I have a door I need to put on their access to the outside, I just need to figure out if I want it to be sliding or hinged. You can criticize with things you feel I should have done differently, it will help me for the next time I build one. This is a temporary coop, I don't "plan" on living here long term. It was built with free/recycled 2x4's.
Finished coop is around 5' tall at the roof 4.5'(L)x4.5'(W)3.5'(H) for the hen house with around 1.5' underneath in addition to the run which is another 9'(L)x4.5'(W)x4'(H) so total is about 13'5'(L) but that additional length is only 1.5' tall and currently blocked off until they start putting themselves away at night. I don't feel like crawling under there on a nightly basis since that seems to be the spot they like the best.
This is my first time raising chickens, what do you think? There is still a few spots I need to secure the chicken wire better but it's functional as is so I will just worry about that in a couple months when I build the nesting box. I'm happy with the outcome but thinking I should have made the run a bit taller, it's kinda a pain getting around in there but I don't really have a need to go in there except for when I remove the chicken wire to allow access under the house once I know they'll go to bed on their own. Other than that I actually plan on removing the small feeder/waterer in the run. I just have those out there while they're small and getting used to having access to both inside/outside. I hope to teach them the food&water is in the house because those are much easier to fill in there. They didn't waste any time dirtying it, that's for sure. They've actually been living in it for a few weeks, that's when I finished the house, but I just finished the run a couple days ago so now they have access to the outdoors. You can see what these things have done to it in only 3 weeks time, they're much dirtier than I expected but that's ok because they keep me entertained. I put the chicken wire on the inside to avoid getting snagged on it when mowing around it etc. I'm glad I did it now but it was definitely more work while doing it. I have a door I need to put on their access to the outside, I just need to figure out if I want it to be sliding or hinged. You can criticize with things you feel I should have done differently, it will help me for the next time I build one. This is a temporary coop, I don't "plan" on living here long term. It was built with free/recycled 2x4's.
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