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very impressive carpentry skills, the lino is a good touch. Not surprised the seller wanted to get rid of 1 more
One feature I can highly recommend even if you don't need it is to add a feeding tube. What you do is get some drain pipe and a couple of bends, you attach it to the outside of the coop so the pipe runs down towards the feeding tray. Then you can pour feed into the tube and don't even have to go into the run, the bends need to be slightly downwards, like on drains. Eggs can be taken from the outside too so it makes sense to make it a tad easier to maintain it. just place a lid over the drain when you have filled it up.. A similar design can be made for water but for water there already are great bucket type automatic waterers
very impressive carpentry skills, the lino is a good touch. Not surprised the seller wanted to get rid of 1 more
One feature I can highly recommend even if you don't need it is to add a feeding tube. What you do is get some drain pipe and a couple of bends, you attach it to the outside of the coop so the pipe runs down towards the feeding tray. Then you can pour feed into the tube and don't even have to go into the run, the bends need to be slightly downwards, like on drains. Eggs can be taken from the outside too so it makes sense to make it a tad easier to maintain it. just place a lid over the drain when you have filled it up.. A similar design can be made for water but for water there already are great bucket type automatic waterers
Thanks for the idea of the outside feeding tube but I prefer to have no penetrations through the expensive 19ga galvenized 1/2”square hardware cloth I encased the coop & the run in. I tried to build the enclosure the best way I could to keep predators out. The same hardware cloth used on the pen was also installed on the outside (underground ) around the perimeter of the coop/run to keep unwanted animals from digging under.very impressive carpentry skills, the lino is a good touch. Not surprised the seller wanted to get rid of 1 more
One feature I can highly recommend even if you don't need it is to add a feeding tube. What you do is get some drain pipe and a couple of bends, you attach it to the outside of the coop so the pipe runs down towards the feeding tray. Then you can pour feed into the tube and don't even have to go into the run, the bends need to be slightly downwards, like on drains. Eggs can be taken from the outside too so it makes sense to make it a tad easier to maintain it. just place a lid over the drain when you have filled it up.. A similar design can be made for water but for water there already are great bucket type automatic waterers
Back in 1995, my younger son (12) had Show Rabbits that we kept in an enclosed chicken wired pen outside. One night a pack of dogs busted through the door and destroyed about 7 of them. We were in shock. I decided then that I needed to learn how to make a pen stronger to withstand the claws of unwanted animals.
I don’t mind going in the pen to give the birds their fermented grain or fodder. Often times I’ll pick them up and pet them or sweet talk them. It’s also good to check their bodies out for possible mites or other health issues that could be going on. They are getting use to us handling them.
Our 2 feeders (one at both ends) are made of pvc pipe with a 2 1/2” slot shaved off the length and a cap put on both ends. They are suspended off the ground and are not attached to the cage walls. We also have 2 water buckets (one at each end) with several Chicken Nipples that are sitting on cement blocks. So far it’s been working out pretty good this way.
After I put the girls to bed at night and close their guillotine style sliding door, I rake out the pen, refill the feeding pipes, grit & oyster shell stations and remove their water buckets. In the morning before I open the coop door to let the girls out I put the water buckets back in the pen with fresh clean water.
This coop was design that you don’t have to bend over to clean it out. The door opening is at waist level. On the side of the coop, the single door nest boxes open at shoulder level and it’s face opens to gain access to the eggs and cleaning out the nesting boxes, instead of having the roof opening up. This design helps keep the nest boxes bone dry.
