New flock and coop!

[kaperi]

Hi there!
since moving out of the country for three years, I missed my chickens so much!
i just moved and could finally get myself a new coop and some new chickens.
i used to have a big handmade coop with a large fence in the woods, and four dogs to make sure no predators approached..
But now only one of my dogs remains (and she’s the small one) and my coop is not as big.. I wanted your opinion on it.. the size and all.
I feed my chickens fresh vegetables everyday and used to love taking them out to wander around, but here I’m so afraid to have one of them get eaten, you’re thoughts

i have an ameraucana splash, a lavender one, a plymouth mix that is still young (3 months) and a Sussex

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Your birds are beautiful! I love that splash.

Do you have a buried apron around the run? I'd be concerned about nighttime predators, if not.

I'm sure you know, free range chickens are a quick and easy meal for most any predator. You could set up some poultry netting to give them an area to range in without much worry.

 

[Alaskan]

That looks like a good size for 3 hens, EXCEPT for snow....

Not sure what you will do for snow....

Maybe put a quick roof over the run, just a simple shed style with a super steep slope so that snow falls off quickly before the weight breaks the run.

 

[BleuSaphir]

Look great! Cozy!

 

[Angelika Whitfield]

I like the look of the coop itself, I would make the run much bigger, with a solid roof for rain and snow, with much more durable wood then those furring strips you have right now, that wood will be rotten by spring
question: how the heck do you open and close the coop door ? the only way to it that I see is by crawling on all 4th's into the pen, tell me that isnt so...., enjoyed the pics

 

[kaperi]

Your birds are beautiful! I love that splash.

Do you have a buried apron around the run? I'd be concerned about nighttime predators, if not.

I'm sure you know, free range chickens are a quick and easy meal for most any predator. You could set up some poultry netting to give them an area to range in without much worry.

Thank you very much! For the predators, I always close the coop entirely at dusk when they get if and perch themselves in it, I took a picture and they seemed comfy so I think for daytime, the outdoor cage would be ok.. what is poultry netting?

 

[kaperi]

That looks like a good size for 3 hens, EXCEPT for snow....

Not sure what you will do for snow....

Maybe put a quick roof over the run, just a simple shed style with a super steep slope so that snow falls off quickly before the weight breaks the run.

that’s actually a great idea to put a shield on top of the cage so they can roam outdoors in winter, because I can’t leave them secluded in the coop.
I’ll actually be going to see them morning and night to open and close the coop door so I’ll keep a little shovel to make sure snow doesn’t accumulate on top of it.
thanks for thé tip!

 

[kaperi]

I like the look of the coop itself, I would make the run much bigger, with a solid roof for rain and snow, with much more durable wood then those furring strips you have right now, that wood will be rotten by spring
question: how the heck do you open and close the coop door ? the only way to it that I see is by crawling on all 4th's into the pen, tell me that isnt so...., enjoyed the pics

Actually I didn’t see that when I went to buy it, but I didn’t find any other way than, yes crawling and stretching to close it from the inside.. any ideas? My other coop I had made myself but I had help, I’m a single woman and not much of a builder in my own so I and figure out a solution that would make my life easier

 

[piminuse]

Your birds are beautiful!

Re: the door. You might be able to attach a little string to the latch and thread it through the outside so you can just grab + pull to open and then tie it off to keep it open?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is that little square window (that's closed up) the only source of ventilation or is there more under the roofline? If that's it, you're really going to want to find a way to add more that can be kept open 24/7, to get moisture build up out of the coop especially during the winter.

How much time do they get out of the run vs in the run? Even with a small flock that's a pretty tiny run space, so I'd want to expand that.