I need advice on buying a coop. My husband and I would take forever to build one ourselves and I need one in May when I'm getting some more pullets. There is someone nearby that builds coops and we went to look at them today. Here's a picture of the one I'm interested in:
And one of the inside:
The coop is 6' x 10'. As you can see, it's meant to be both a coop and run, but I really only need a coop since we already have 450 square foot run. I was thinking that the wired end would be nice for air flow in summer and could be covered with plywood panels and plexiglas windows in winter. There is some ventilation near the roof that you can't see in these pictures as well. Of course, I'd also need to add a pop door as well.
My current coop is a Ware Chick-n House so this would be a huge improvement. I currently only have three chickens, but would like more.
I should probably also add that, despite the good-sized run, my chickens rarely leave their tiny coop. We had a hawk kill a chicken a couple months ago and my head hen steadfastly refuses to leave the coop for any length of time unless I'm out there. I'm hoping that a partially open coop with an obvious roof should help her adjust to the outdoors again. (My run is covered--the hawk attacked when they were out free-roaming--but I can't expalin to a chicken that the wire over her is enough to protect her.)
If you've gotten this far, thank you.
My questions are:
1. Does this seem like a reasonable coop?
2. This coop has a open bottom. It has a treated wood frame on the bottom and I plan to place it on a frame of stepping stones to keep it off the ground. I can make it predator proof, but will it be too damp in winter? I plan to use the deep litter method.
3. I live in the Gold country of California. It's certainly not Alaska, but we do get some snow in the winter. I plan to have about 10 chickens in the coop. In good weather, I feed and water them in the run, but I want to be able to feed and water them inside in bad weather.
Antoehr alternative would be small Tuff Shed, but I like this coop more.
Thanks for any help making this decision!
And one of the inside:
The coop is 6' x 10'. As you can see, it's meant to be both a coop and run, but I really only need a coop since we already have 450 square foot run. I was thinking that the wired end would be nice for air flow in summer and could be covered with plywood panels and plexiglas windows in winter. There is some ventilation near the roof that you can't see in these pictures as well. Of course, I'd also need to add a pop door as well.
My current coop is a Ware Chick-n House so this would be a huge improvement. I currently only have three chickens, but would like more.
I should probably also add that, despite the good-sized run, my chickens rarely leave their tiny coop. We had a hawk kill a chicken a couple months ago and my head hen steadfastly refuses to leave the coop for any length of time unless I'm out there. I'm hoping that a partially open coop with an obvious roof should help her adjust to the outdoors again. (My run is covered--the hawk attacked when they were out free-roaming--but I can't expalin to a chicken that the wire over her is enough to protect her.)
If you've gotten this far, thank you.
My questions are: 1. Does this seem like a reasonable coop?
2. This coop has a open bottom. It has a treated wood frame on the bottom and I plan to place it on a frame of stepping stones to keep it off the ground. I can make it predator proof, but will it be too damp in winter? I plan to use the deep litter method.
3. I live in the Gold country of California. It's certainly not Alaska, but we do get some snow in the winter. I plan to have about 10 chickens in the coop. In good weather, I feed and water them in the run, but I want to be able to feed and water them inside in bad weather.
Antoehr alternative would be small Tuff Shed, but I like this coop more.
Thanks for any help making this decision!
