A couple years ago, I built what I termed a bear proof coop, that eventually turned into a bachelor pad for one rooster that ruled the yard for a couple of years. Squirrels were his favorite enemy, and he saved me a lot of ammunition. He somehow injured himself and I sent him to that coop in the sky.
Having the coop empty, my grandkids thought...chickens, and we are now the proud owners of 6 hens. The waterer already had 2 spouts, but I modified the feeder by adding another feeding port, built the same as the original with a schedule 10, short radius 90 degree all with most of the inside cut away. I left 2 "legs" to sit on the bottom of the bucket, cutting the rest away so feed will fall into the openings. I also glued and screwed a baffle of conveyer belting into the bucket, away from the openings to keep feed from settling into a part of the bucket out of the hens' reach.
Nests are currently 5 gallon buckets on their sides, screw attached to a plywood frame to prevent rolling or shifting in the floor of the coop. They only use 1, will lay on the floor in front, but not inside of the other. So, an exterior nesting box is being considered so maybe they will stop laying in the floor!
My run is part of the coop, with an 8x8 foot dog kennel repurposed, covered at the top with chicken wire. I have a couple cedar poles inside the dog kennel for roosting, as well. They patiently hang out on those roots waiting to get out in the morning, as they are free range when we are home or it is not flooding outside.
I saw a lot of discussions here about latches, number and types to prevent critter intrusion. I am using a single latch; a simple hasp, with a piece of 3/16 rod(because that is what I had)bent into an open twisted curl on one end, about 4"of straight rod, and a closed loop on the other. Twist the curl into the lock loop on the hasp and drop the straight part to allow the closed loop to rest in the hasp loop. No keys, one hand operation, and a critter will have to be able to figure out how, then be able to perform the operation of holding, picking up, and twisting the curl off.
Having the coop empty, my grandkids thought...chickens, and we are now the proud owners of 6 hens. The waterer already had 2 spouts, but I modified the feeder by adding another feeding port, built the same as the original with a schedule 10, short radius 90 degree all with most of the inside cut away. I left 2 "legs" to sit on the bottom of the bucket, cutting the rest away so feed will fall into the openings. I also glued and screwed a baffle of conveyer belting into the bucket, away from the openings to keep feed from settling into a part of the bucket out of the hens' reach.
Nests are currently 5 gallon buckets on their sides, screw attached to a plywood frame to prevent rolling or shifting in the floor of the coop. They only use 1, will lay on the floor in front, but not inside of the other. So, an exterior nesting box is being considered so maybe they will stop laying in the floor!
My run is part of the coop, with an 8x8 foot dog kennel repurposed, covered at the top with chicken wire. I have a couple cedar poles inside the dog kennel for roosting, as well. They patiently hang out on those roots waiting to get out in the morning, as they are free range when we are home or it is not flooding outside.
I saw a lot of discussions here about latches, number and types to prevent critter intrusion. I am using a single latch; a simple hasp, with a piece of 3/16 rod(because that is what I had)bent into an open twisted curl on one end, about 4"of straight rod, and a closed loop on the other. Twist the curl into the lock loop on the hasp and drop the straight part to allow the closed loop to rest in the hasp loop. No keys, one hand operation, and a critter will have to be able to figure out how, then be able to perform the operation of holding, picking up, and twisting the curl off.
