My First Coop! (Pics) Suggestions please? :)

[C.Cherry]

I am thoroughly jelous.

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

You did a fantastic job!

 

[morelcabin]

That is really really nice! I love all the estra little touches, and the garden entry

 

[KellyGwen]

Quote:
I just painted the outside with the cheapest exterior latex Walmart had... I did have the colors mixed to match the main house though

I gave the "raw" wood inside on the partition wall and the feed bin a light spray of clear spraypaint to help preserve it a little... but I left the wood where the chickens will be completely natural and unpainted. I like the rustic look

 

[KellyGwen]

Quote:
I don't have ANY fence up yet. I'm getting it as a b-day present because the kind of fence I want is EXPENSIVE! I'm getting 6ft tall welded wire... over 100ft of it to make it all the way around. Because I have a lot of tree back there (which I really like, many are flowering and they give great shade!) I am getting some strong flexible netting that I am going to "tent" on the trees so I can walk in the run with my birds. (I am over 6ft tall, so I really need the high fence!)

The ground is really hard back there, so for now I'm not going to bury the fence... but I'll keep an eye out and may run a foot of cheaper wire under ground as a sort of skirting once summer wears on. I also put my dogs kennel right next to the run so that, at least during the day, she can bark at "intruders".

I am very conscious of aerial invaders since I saw a Coopers Hawk swoop down right in front of me and grab a robin out of a tree in our front yard! I guess they specialize in grabbing birds out of wooded areas... "hooray".

He let me take some pictures of him... please ignore the robin feathers at his feet!!!

 

[KellyGwen]

Quote:
It was hard to take those pics! There really wasn't a good photographic angle... That ladder you see in the pics is another "found" item. Right now it is propped up on a metal table frame that I screwed some 2x4's to as a low roost. It is pushed close to the wall for now (to make room for the brooding box) but once they are grown I am going to pull it out so that the ladder has a nicer angle for them to roost on. Its right near their new plexi-glass window (that also has a roost-sill!), so I think they'll love it!! The metal table is "probably" going to be fit with a fenced off poop-tray too... once I find one!

The other thing that you can't see in the pics is the heavy planked board that is going to be leaning against the wall under the window. I've noticed that in a lot of my friend/farmers coops some chickens LOVE to nest on the floor under a leaning board like that! So I figured I'd give them one too

 

[KellyGwen]

Quote:
Hahaha... what I didn't really show in the pics is that I have 2 of those nest box walls in there! Hahaha... I guess it's a good thing that on the second bank of nests I made 4 that were 2-3 times bigger than the normal ones... Maybe I can get a really great "chicken-pile" picture out of it

 

[raindrop]

Very nice coop!
I ended up with too many nest boxes in my first coop, we added a 1 x 6 on hinges to the bottom set (they never got used) and used them for egg carton storage. Later, my dad built a mini-run off the side/front of one of the low ones, added some steps in the front, and used it as a nest for the broodies so they had a place to hatch the eggs and spend the first few days with the chicks alone before they were turned out with the rest of the flock.
Welcome to BYC!

 

[mamarosa]

I also am attempting to give raising chickens a try. I would like to know for about 25 chickens how much room do I need for a coop and a run to give them PLENTY of room to run and be free. thanks

 

[lurky]

That is an awesome coop. As for the nest boxes, we took out the dividers to make it easier to all lay the eggs together. It really helped alot