LtDanFan
Chirping
So for valentines day this year (yep, as in like a few short months ago…chicken math is real, yall), my wonderfully indulgent BF bought me a chicken coop. I think it said something like “ok for 2-4 chickens” (ie challenge accepted, haha and i bought one on sale for another “4-6” chickens). Once i had chickens, i realized that some of my chickens needed other chicken friends than the ones i offered (i believe in choice!!) and then i adopted a ‘crippled hen’ because she didn’t fit in to her original flock (ie no concessions were made for providing roosts that a hen with no toes and a stub leg can access so she had to sleep on the floor alone) and have since gained a “few” others. And of course, i didn’t pay attention to the actual number because the only math I've ever been good at is medical math so, whatever. Apparently the 4 hens, and 5 +5 pullets and now 2 cockrels old enough to live outside full time (finally) all desire to wedge themselves into the smallest (and most flimsy coop) i have so i need a better option. Prob the jumbo pekin duck that lived with them for over a month plus a couple of weeks until the duck flock was old enough didn’t help the floor or structural integrity lol.
Now we need a bigger coop. I am blessed with a very patient man that for some unknown reason appears to love me enough to make my dreams appear for me and as an added bonus he is super handy so able to make amazing things with his hands and a few power tools.
Here is a list of my needs:
Easy to clean
Easy to collect eggs- ideally from outside
Able to house 15-20 hens as a single building
Has to be weather resistant… we live in wisconsin and sometimes it gets reallllyyyy freeking cold for an obscene amount of time but i do not want to drag electricity all the way out to the coop as this would mean likely adding a meter to the property and running it directly off the electric pole which can be rather costly.
Wants:
although i don’t plan on adding youngins to my flock yearly, i wouldn’t mind if there was an easy way to do so when i need to every few years like to give them a place once weather improves. Maybe somewhere they and not older bigger birds could access and hide to help their integration into the larger flock. Or house a trouble maker or two, or separate one needing special medical attention.
Open concept as in they have a secure yard to forage in so the coop itself does not to be fully enclosed by a run if that makes sense, it can be a freestanding structure within the yard.
Am i being completely unrealistic?
Now we need a bigger coop. I am blessed with a very patient man that for some unknown reason appears to love me enough to make my dreams appear for me and as an added bonus he is super handy so able to make amazing things with his hands and a few power tools.
Here is a list of my needs:
Easy to clean
Easy to collect eggs- ideally from outside
Able to house 15-20 hens as a single building
Has to be weather resistant… we live in wisconsin and sometimes it gets reallllyyyy freeking cold for an obscene amount of time but i do not want to drag electricity all the way out to the coop as this would mean likely adding a meter to the property and running it directly off the electric pole which can be rather costly.
Wants:
although i don’t plan on adding youngins to my flock yearly, i wouldn’t mind if there was an easy way to do so when i need to every few years like to give them a place once weather improves. Maybe somewhere they and not older bigger birds could access and hide to help their integration into the larger flock. Or house a trouble maker or two, or separate one needing special medical attention.
Open concept as in they have a secure yard to forage in so the coop itself does not to be fully enclosed by a run if that makes sense, it can be a freestanding structure within the yard.
Am i being completely unrealistic?
