My urban coop [Chickens moved in! Updates on page 6]

[OvertheHenHouse]

Quote:
Congrats - great design, great build - nicely done! And the best part is - they went inside on their own! You did good -

 

[JD4570]

Absolutely magnificent! A piece of art.

 

[rpchris]

UPDATE:

So it's been almost 3 weeks since I moved the chicks into their new coop, they are now almost 8 weeks old and still growing like crazy. I'm noticing their "faces" getting redder and their combs growing out. They all have beautiful coats of feathers.

The coop design appears to be successful. The chicks easily navigate the space, use the interior ramp to get to the roosting area and get themselves on and off their roost. They also stay out of the nest boxes for now which is nice. We've just had several days of steady rain and nightly temps down into the 30's but the coop remains dry and the chicks don't seem to be bothered by the cold. I have a webcam installed so I can watch them at night and they huddle together on one end of the roost and puff themselves up and sleep.

The automatic pop door is working like a charm. It reliably opens every morning and closes every evening and the chicks have all figured out to go inside before sunset, get a bite to eat and settle onto the roost (usually with a fair bit of pushing and shoving) before the door closes and the interior light turns off.

Cleaning the coop has been no problem. Every couple of days I take out the poop trays under the roost, dump the shavings into the compost bin, hose off the tray if it needs it, let dry and reinstall with new shavings. It takes 5 minutes. The lower portion of the coop doesn't have much poop even after 3 weeks. I'm using the deep litter method for now, but the shavings look brand new so I haven't added any fresh shavings down there yet. I just stir them occasionally.

The interior ramp gets messier than I imagined it would so I am hosing that down every day or two. Why can't chicken go up and down without stopping to poop midway? Why do all the other then insist on walking through it? Their poop really sticks to the painted ramp so I'm looking for an easier to clean surface for that. I may cover it in the same rubberized carpet runner material I am using elsewhere. Nothing seems to stick to it, poop just falls off their roost without me having to scrape it.

The sand in the run is working out great. Even after all the rain, the run was free of any puddles and I haven't noticed any smell at all.

So all in all I am happy with the design so far. It is working well for my small space.

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

Sounds great! Wish I had electricity to my coop - I'd love to watch chicken TV on a chickcam

 

[GoldDogsMom]

Rick, Glad to hear your girls are doing well! I would love to see some pics of them now that they are a little older! My 12 have also adapted well to the changing weather are seem very content in their new coop and run! (oh and they poop on their ramp too!

)

 

[Pharm Girl]

You'll likely give up on cleaning the ramp eventually. I did. All my washing warped the darned thing, and it never closed right again. I throw some sand on it when I'm cleaning so the poop doesn't stick so hard. It's a winless battle in my opinion.
That said, I'm glad everything is running so smoothly. You really did your research before building.

 

[danaalex]

can you explain how you did your windows? i have three "windows" that are covered for now with fine wire mesh, but as temps drop my plan had been to make windows i could open and close. i just haven't figured out HOW yet. yours look like the exact thing i wanted to do. i have the plexiglass and i can see the frame, but how did you put it all together?? i was going to give up doing actual windows and made myself a list of new supplies i need for my "new plan," but i just stumbled upon your post......

i'd appreciate it! i LOVE your coop. it is so insanely adorable!! i love the style and the color, and the architecture of it all. really fab!!!

 

[Steadfast]

A very well thought out coop.
I like the unusual coops Best!

...Great Job!

 

[rpchris]

Quote:
I started with a simple box frame made from 1"x2" lumber glued and nailed on the ends. For the windows that have divided panes I also added in the vertical divider. Like this:

I have the box frame sitting in the window opening here just to be sure it fits.

Then I added the two horizontal dividers so I had a box frame with 4 panes. Sorry don't have pics of that step.

In each of the panes in the box frame, I added 1/4 round moulding which is mitered at the corners. This holds the glass from failing out of the front of the box frame. I cut the plexiglass to fit in the openings and put that in. Then added another set of 1/4 round mould from the back to hold the plexiglass in place.

Does that make sense? If not, I can take some better photos.

 

[rpchris]

Quote:
Here they are almost 8 weeks old. 1 Barred Rock, 1 White Rock (or maybe a Leghorn?), 1 Red Star (Sex link), 1 RIH, 1 Buff Orpington.

3 of the girls

The white rock and the barred rock

The Barred Rock getting red in the face

The Buff giving me the stink eye.

The White Rock and the Buff

The RIH

The Red Star

The Buff loves to be held or perch on my shoulder.