New Coop

[Creteloc]

I was naive at first and bought a DIY coop off of Amazon. After posting it on here, I learned that it was WAY too small. The living space dimensions are 26.5”(L) x 23”(W) x 30”(H) and I now have 4 hens. Here's the pre-fab.

I have very limited space, and due to city regulations I had to put the coop flat against a fence to keep it far enough away from surrounding houses. This is what I came up with. It's two resin sheds measuring 53" (L) x 32" (W) x 40" (H) each. They are bolted together with a walkway between them. I have little ramps to help the hens get between the two, but they aren't in quite yet.

I also apologize for the messy area. I still had my husband's tools and supplies sitting around.

They look pretty empty still but I have no need for nesting boxes for another couple of months and I haven't moved their food and dust baths in yet.

I'm done just in time too. It snowed today for the first time, so winter is here! They slept on their new roost last night. I hope they like it better than their PVC roost I made them earlier. Their coop is hooked to an outdoor run. So they spend the dark hours locked in their coop and during daylight hours the door is open and they can roam from coop to chicken run.

It's not nearly as nice as the ones I see on here. My poor chickens got stuck with a computer tech / cybersecurity Mom and not a handy with tools kind of Mom.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Do you still have the prefab or did you return it? You could maybe mod them together somehow, so that you can use the nest boxes in the prefab and the tiny run.

 

[NancyNurseCxMama]

Is there any ventilation?

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I’ve come across this blog a few times when looking for options for coops. It’s a very nice set up for a small plastic shed.

http://www.toastyfrog.net/2010/05/07/my-diy-chicken-coop-and-run/

 

[Creteloc]

The pre-fab is out there right now and has their food and supplies in it. There is ventilation. There's a 10x8" vent in the far left one and a 6x4" vent and 5 2" holes in the right one.

 

[CPT]

This looks great! It's a good idea......I think I'm in need of another coop, only for my 5 turkeys. The temps have been dipping lately and I put my turkeys in the coop with my 9 chickens. They all fit, bit it's a bit *cooped-up* in there. Thoughts?

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I’m sure you could attach the prefab to the two sheds somehow. I had read another one of your threads where you stated you had a larger run for them. Could you somehow work it so that it’s accessible to the chickens within the run or by adding hardware cloth to open areas to make it all one chicken coop/run? On one other post that I’m following, there is one prefab where they added a run extension on two sides to extend the area the chickens access.

This post shows how two prefabs can be combined to make a nice set up.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/they-are-in-their-feathever-home.1206349/

Even though you said you had no skills, you’ve got some as you put the two sheds together and made roosts!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

This looks great! It's a good idea......I think I'm in need of another coop, only for my 5 turkeys. The temps have been dipping lately and I put my turkeys in the coop with my 9 chickens. They all fit, bit it's a bit *cooped-up* in there. Thoughts?

Hi CPT,
Maybe start a new thread. You will get more answers specific to your concerns.

 

[Creteloc]

I will look into attaching the pre-fab when I'm done. Come about Wednesday, my pullets will be done with quarantine and will be using the pre-fab as a home for integration. I'm going to put it alongside the run of the main coop so the other two chickens can see them. Once everyone's in the same coop though I can combine them and still use the housing part as storage for their food/grit/etc and they can use the run to play in.

 

[aart]

4 birds total, including the new ones you plan to integrate soon?