my new first-timer coop!

[Silkiebawkbawk]

My boyfriend built our coop and I'm super pleased with it so far.

We needed something VERY ventillated due to the Arizona heat. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it certainly gets the job done and was built in my mini-hinny's stall.. So it's a bit of a conversion coop. Matt already has plans for making a bigger better one.

MEN!

Front of the coop. The whole front is hinged so I can get in easily to scrape out under the indoor perch. The ramp is also independently hinged so during our big bad monsoons I can shut the girls in and use the ramp as a locking door.

The back view while it was still being built by my wonderful boyfriend. I LOVE the individual doors to each laying stall. (is that what they're called?) As you can see, then were integarated into the surrounding fence so I don't need to enter the run to collect eggs.

The back completed, with hinged and locking doors:

And my drake, Peewee inspecting the craftsmanship.

Thanks for lookin!

 

[allieloveschickens]

your coop looks great!! Now I want to see your lucky chickens

 

[Urban Chaos]

are either the coop or boyfriend up for grabs ?


J/K....that looks great. Your right on about having it that ventilated.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Very cool! What a nice boyfriend!

 

[pawsplus]

It looks great!

My only concerns:

- It looks like the pen extends beyond the covered area? If so, you're asking for hawk predation unless you add some kind of cover.

- Given that the pen is not covered securely, I would ramp up the predator protection on the coop itself BIG TIME. You have chicken wire in those ventilated areas--that will NOT keep a raccoon out for more than a few seconds. Assuming you keep the chickens locked in there at night, you may be able to get away w/out securely covering the entire pen, but that means that your coop needs to be Fort Knox!

 

[Silkiebawkbawk]

Quote:
hehe, no. He's actually my manfriend. We;ve been together 3 and a half years, so I doubt he's up to leaving now.

And the coop? No way!

 

[pawsplus]

Also, those "hinged and locking doors" . . . are those for egg collection? I would change the latches on those to something that really does LOCK, b/c a 'coon could easily lift those hooks out of the eyes (or just tear them out).

 

[Silkiebawkbawk]

Quote:
Thanks for the concern, we're honestly looking for any advice we can being newbies and all.

I swear I've had every animal on the planet EXCEPT chickens.. So i feel like a fish outta water trying to absorb all this information!

To answer your questions:yup, it sure does extend. Quite a bit actually, because it is Apple's old stall. It measures approx 10' x 12'. The coop itself is about 6' x 4' if I remember correctly. We've since added more securty features.

The whole bottom on the no-climb fencing is covered with chick wire that is buried approx 8-10". We don't have any raccoons. At all. But we DO have hawks and coyotes as we live at the base of a mountain. We plan on using cheapy plastic netting to cover the top until we have the money to just raise the corner posts a couple feet and properly enclose the entire top with hardware cloth.

Because we don't have the cover in yet the chickies go inside the coop at night.

 

[Silkiebawkbawk]

Quote:
We debated a more heavy duty locking system, but as I said, we have no coons. THey just dont come around here. Probably because there's not many trees for them to utilize. Mostly cactus.. And those aren't too cozy on coon feet! And yea, the hinged locking hatch doors are for me to collect eggs from.

 

[Silkiebawkbawk]

Quote:
Pics of my girls are in the introductions tab.

look for: "Hello from the face of the sun!"