New Coop!

[Chic_girl]

This is the new coop my dad and uncle finished just in time for Christmas and my birthday (It will probably be my birthday gift for the next ten years). It's 12-by-8 feet on the floor, and the attached hoop house is 6-by-4 feet as well. It's a major upgrade from the wire rabbit hutch my chickens lived in before, and was finished the day before the first snow and really cold nights!

Here's some pictures of the finished coop! I can't find construction pics, so I hope these will suffice.
<a href="https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4893947/album/6154052"><img src="https://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/6045766/width/400/flags/LL"></a>

This is the hoop house, showing the (closed) XXL pop door.
<a href="https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4893951/album/6154052"><img src="https://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/6045772/width/400/flags/LL"></a>

It has a small storage area for straw and feed, divided from the coop by chicken wire
<a href="https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4893932/album/6154052"><img src="https://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/6045747/width/400/flags/LL"></a>

It's home to 8 bantams- so the area is nice and roomy. (Their metal waterer froze overnight, so I had to replace it with the chick waterer)
<a href="https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4893933/album/6154052"><img src="https://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/6045748/width/400/flags/LL"></a>

I TOLD my dad that 12 nest boxes are far to many for 6 hens, but did he listen? NO. I guess its permission to get more hens!

<a href="https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4893938/album/6154052"><img src="https://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/6045753/width/400/flags/LL"></a>

Their makeshift roost is just an old shipping crate. I hope we can add actual roosts later.
<a href="https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4893938/album/6154052"><img src="https://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/6045753/width/400/flags/LL"></a>

The pop door is a little large and heavy, but it is on a nice pulley system. All I have to do is pull it up and loop it around a flag tie-off.
<a href="https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4893935/album/6154052"><img src="https://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/6045750/width/400/flags/LL"></a>

The ceiling is a sheet of transparent plastic roofing, so it lets in daylight. For night, we have a wimpy little battery light (in the lower left corner of the pic)
<a href="https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4893941/album/6154052"><img src="https://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/6045757/width/400/flags/LL"></a>

My ducks are soo jealous. They still have a little hutch! (The wood triangle in the back was what the chickens were in before the coop)
<a href="https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4893950/album/6154052"><img src="https://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/6045771/width/400/flags/LL"></a>

There are no actual windows, except the window on the exterior storm door. There are vents along the edges of the ceiling, and they are covered in 1/4 inch chicken wire to keep out starlings and sparrows.
I hope in the summer we can add some large windows on the sides to let in a breeze, and maybe some actual roosts. Any other ideas for improvement??
I hope to get some large-fowl hens in the spring, and I was wondering how many I could keep in the coop along with my bantams. Anyone want to guess?

 

[PEI chicken]

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!

Love your chickens, and now you'll be able to visit them in their coop. It is much larger than they are used to. Your ducks look great too.

 

[Chic_girl]

Thank you! It took almost 4 months to finish, and my dad started building it on the patio, and we were sure it would stay there forever. But him and my uncle managed to drag it across the yard with the tractor. Thank goodness. Imagine having roosters right outside your backdoor in the morning.


I tried to imbed the actual pictures in the post, but all those pics just confused the heck out of my computer. Sorry about all those links!

 

[KDK1]

Looks great but you might want to consider putting a 3 or 4 inch strip in the front of the nest boxes to contain bedding and eggs.

 

[Moogie]

Wow -Best Birthday Present ever! Love the skylight panel in your roof and the storage area for feed, etc. -wish I had room for that in mine! You have some very lucky chooks there!

 

[doulachicknmama]

love the walk in storage space, just getting my plans together so I may have to add that!