Need advice about adding on to coop...

[kimmerjo]

I have one coop that is 8x8. I currently have 5 Silkies and one is sitting on 9 eggs due any day now!!!! So out the back of the coop is run. it is about 8'x60' made out of a batting cage net . This run doesn't connects to the coop there is about 8x12 foot area between the coop and run. I am debating building an enclosed hwc run to connect to the batting cage run OR extending my existing coop?? I admittedly have caught that "chicken fever". Has any one added to an existing coop? And is it hard to do?? My hubby really isn't the " grab the nails and hammer" kind of man so I will be doing it mostly myself!

 

[kimmerjo]

 

[kimmerjo]

 

[thomasboyle]

Building a coop can be a lot of fun and highly rewarding. Its not rocket science (its a coop after all!) so don't fret if things are not perfect, not 100% straight etc. You'd be surprised how out of square your house is! Professional builders make plenty of mistakes, they just know how to cover them up better than the rest of us! There are plenty of books on how to build sheds, so check on out online or at the library. If your existing coop is cramped on room - people room, storage room or chicken room, adding on is the perfect way to fix those issues. We added a run to our coop, it didn't work out so well, so we tore it down and re-did it a different way. Now we are planning to build a new coop and move the existing run about 150' from its existing location. More opportunity to improve both skills, plans and design.

 

[kimmerjo]

That is so cute! Love the ducks my husband said no ducks allowed I think I will add on an addition to my coop. Extra room never hurt anything. Thanks

 

[thomasboyle]

Ducks are very messy, but they are such fun birds to have around. You learn where we get our sayings from "sitting duck", "get your ducks in a row" etc. They provide the comic relief for my small farm. I have a 2 acre natural pond in the back yard, and the goal was to have mallard ducks on it. But the local predators had other ideas, and the ducks are much safer in with the chickens, and outside protected by the electric fence. My goal is to fence in the entire pond area, and then try to get ducks on the pond again.