ERnoleGuy
Songster
So, I have my coop & run finished for the most part. I still need to put the final roof covering on (using Ondura) and I think I may also put up some screen over the hardware cloth to keep out mosquitoes.
The following is a bit long winded, but I figured I'd type up anything that I thought people might have questions about. But feel free to just scroll down to the pictures if you want
A Bit About My Design
I live in St. Pete, FL where it is HOT all year round. We're lucky if it gets in the 40's for more than a day during the whole year. So I needed to design a coop that had a LOT of ventilation, but still was very secure from predators. As far as rain, I have a tarp on each side of the coop that I can fully drop down during heavy rains. Most of the time it stays like you see in the pictures though, and they just hop up on their roost and are rain free. However, mine really seem to like the rain. They play in it during the day.
My chickens are only in their coop at night and they range in their run from sun up to sun down. My coop is aprox. 6' x 6' and I have 9 chickens. At 4 sq ft a bird I am right on the mark.
My run is 6' wide by 15' long. You can see how I put the coop up off the ground and I hang the feeder & waterer (plus some oyster shell, free choice) under it to keep it all out of the rain. It also serves as a nice, comfy & cushy place to chill out in the shade.
My run and coop base support are all made out of 1.5" thick walled PVC pipe, painted red. I use sand now in my run. It's only been in there for a week but I am LOVING it. I used to have hay, but it decomposes way too fast and just kinda stinks. Also, when I would put scratch down, it kinda fell through all the hay to the bottom, then just started to germinate. So now, the sand stays mostly muck free and they love to dust bathe in it. Especially after I sprinkle down some fresh DE. I use pine shavings and a tiny bit of hay in my coop. I find one of my laying girls likes to have both to fashion her nest. But mainly pine shavings, as the hay degrades too fast normally.
For water in the coop, I have a recycled sweet tea jug with a no-drip nipple waterer on it. It took my chickies a while to figure that one out. So I still keep their chick waterer in there just in case. The coop has a 1/8" aluminum panel for the pop hole door. And I also have a bigger hinged door that is accessible from within the run for cleaning out the coop. On the back there is a hinged egg door that also serves as a working table when open.
I hope you all like it. Give me your feedback!
Oh, and I have a camera in the coop to that feeds to my TV so I can check on them during the night or just watch them for entertainment.
The following is a bit long winded, but I figured I'd type up anything that I thought people might have questions about. But feel free to just scroll down to the pictures if you want
A Bit About My Design
I live in St. Pete, FL where it is HOT all year round. We're lucky if it gets in the 40's for more than a day during the whole year. So I needed to design a coop that had a LOT of ventilation, but still was very secure from predators. As far as rain, I have a tarp on each side of the coop that I can fully drop down during heavy rains. Most of the time it stays like you see in the pictures though, and they just hop up on their roost and are rain free. However, mine really seem to like the rain. They play in it during the day.
My chickens are only in their coop at night and they range in their run from sun up to sun down. My coop is aprox. 6' x 6' and I have 9 chickens. At 4 sq ft a bird I am right on the mark.
My run and coop base support are all made out of 1.5" thick walled PVC pipe, painted red. I use sand now in my run. It's only been in there for a week but I am LOVING it. I used to have hay, but it decomposes way too fast and just kinda stinks. Also, when I would put scratch down, it kinda fell through all the hay to the bottom, then just started to germinate. So now, the sand stays mostly muck free and they love to dust bathe in it. Especially after I sprinkle down some fresh DE. I use pine shavings and a tiny bit of hay in my coop. I find one of my laying girls likes to have both to fashion her nest. But mainly pine shavings, as the hay degrades too fast normally.
For water in the coop, I have a recycled sweet tea jug with a no-drip nipple waterer on it. It took my chickies a while to figure that one out. So I still keep their chick waterer in there just in case. The coop has a 1/8" aluminum panel for the pop hole door. And I also have a bigger hinged door that is accessible from within the run for cleaning out the coop. On the back there is a hinged egg door that also serves as a working table when open.
I hope you all like it. Give me your feedback!
Oh, and I have a camera in the coop to that feeds to my TV so I can check on them during the night or just watch them for entertainment.
