My wife & I took the plunge a few weeks ago and brought home some baby chicks from the feed store. Man, do they grow FAST! We are building a coop adjacent to an old shed in our backyard. Here are some progress pictures ...
The chosen site before doing anything ...
A little cleanup, a little framing ...
I had some 3/16" plexiglass left over from a previous project that I will use to close the windows off when weather dictates. I plan to leave the large triangular section open all of the time (the lowest recorded temperature here is 20F)
Brother on the roof sealing up the flashing, niece sweeping up inside, & puppy wondering what's going on!
Viola!
It still needs poop trays, roosts, a pop door, & nesting boxes. We plan to build 2-foot wide poop trays & fill them with Sweet PDZ which we read about here somewhere. The exterior nesting boxes will be on the far side of the coop. (I figure I have a few months to complete that job.)
Today I plan to dig the post holes for the run. We have racoons, possums, and coyotes here, so we plan to use 1/2-inch hardware cloth all around including a 1-1/2 foot apron.
We moved the girls in 4 days ago and they are LOVING the extra room. (5 turn 6-weeks old today, 1 turns 5-weeks old today, and 5 turn 5-weeks old Wednesday. The brooder box was getting a little crowded.) We plan to keep the heat lamp on at night until the younger ones are fully feathered out. Daytime temps are around 70F, so I have been turning off the heat lamp during the day.
This is our first time owning chickens and we are LOVING it so far. I can't get over how much time I can spend just watching them - fascinating creatures!
Thanks to all the wonderful people of this website who take the time to share their knowlege and advice. It makes it so much more comfortable for Newbies like us to dive in and enjoy.
The chosen site before doing anything ...
A little cleanup, a little framing ...
I had some 3/16" plexiglass left over from a previous project that I will use to close the windows off when weather dictates. I plan to leave the large triangular section open all of the time (the lowest recorded temperature here is 20F)
Brother on the roof sealing up the flashing, niece sweeping up inside, & puppy wondering what's going on!
Viola!
It still needs poop trays, roosts, a pop door, & nesting boxes. We plan to build 2-foot wide poop trays & fill them with Sweet PDZ which we read about here somewhere. The exterior nesting boxes will be on the far side of the coop. (I figure I have a few months to complete that job.)
Today I plan to dig the post holes for the run. We have racoons, possums, and coyotes here, so we plan to use 1/2-inch hardware cloth all around including a 1-1/2 foot apron.
We moved the girls in 4 days ago and they are LOVING the extra room. (5 turn 6-weeks old today, 1 turns 5-weeks old today, and 5 turn 5-weeks old Wednesday. The brooder box was getting a little crowded.) We plan to keep the heat lamp on at night until the younger ones are fully feathered out. Daytime temps are around 70F, so I have been turning off the heat lamp during the day.
This is our first time owning chickens and we are LOVING it so far. I can't get over how much time I can spend just watching them - fascinating creatures!
Thanks to all the wonderful people of this website who take the time to share their knowlege and advice. It makes it so much more comfortable for Newbies like us to dive in and enjoy.
