Need help with finishing touches

[ColoradoMike]

Great coop! It's quite similar to mine, which has been occupied for a few months now.

A few things come to mind:

You'll want another vent/window across from the existing one for good cross ventilation - though it looks like you've already got it traced out.

We get some pretty torrential rains here in Colorado from time to time (we've gotten lots of rain this year) and I found that the pop-door location was such that a bit of rain blew into the coop while the door was open during the day. I'm planning on retrofitting some sort of rain/snow shield this fall so snow won't blow in during the winter. You probably won't have snow issues in cali, but you may well have blowing rain... I think I'm going to install a plexiglass shield over the wire fencing next to the door and extending up to the roof of my run to shield the open pop-door from the elements...

Also, as others have mentioned, you'll want more secure latches on your doors.

I've seen varying opinions on the roost shape, but flat and somewhat wide seem to prevail. I went with a flat 1x3 for our roost and it seems to be working great.

Regarding the 'poop board', I haven't figured out how to install one into our reach-in coop without sacrificing too much room for the girls. At this point, the night droppings are concentrated under the roost, so I can pretty easily perform some selective scooping to keep things relatively clean. I do this every few days or once a week or so.

Great looking setup - enjoy your birds and eggs! We got our first eggs this week!

Edit: Oh, and as someone else mentioned, you will most certainly want to be able to access you run, to rake it out, fill waterers/feeders (if you keep them in the run) etc.

 

[California Girls]

Thank you, I put evevrything down on a to-do list for my hubby. Can't wait to get crackin' on some eggs. My girls are 3 weeks old now. Thanks.

 

[mayden]

You might want to frame out your plywood door. I started out like that with mine and when it rained the plywood warped. So a simple 1X2 frame around the door and around the opening would make it sturdier with less warping and more secure.

 

[CityChook]

Paint it inside and out including the floor/roosts/nests. If you prefer to look of the wood, use linseed oil/mineral spirits (50/50) instead. It will pro-long the life of your plywood.

You need a good window. Plexiglass maybe? Closeable but still transparent to let in light. Seems like it's going to be pretty dark inside.

Another ventilation hole opposite the one you already have.

Do you have a way to close up the vents? In California you may not need it. I used to live in San Diego and the mist would blow in at night off the ocean and soak everything in it's path.... Don't know where you live.

Do you have shingles or something waterproof on your roof?

Agree with locks for your doors.
Agree with framing out your human door.
Agree with access to run, maybe in the end opposite from the coop.
Agree with roost size and directional change.

If you're going to do deep litter, put a 2x4 in front of the human door, slightly wider than the opening, to keep shavings from falling out each time you open the door. Probably too late to do much for your pop door.

 

[cmom]

 

[California Girls]

Wow, we have lots of work to do still. Thanks for everything.