- Thread starter
- #11
Bit of an update.
I have been letting some of the baby trees, weeds and ivy things near the coop grow a bit. Not exactly the best place for them since they are along a retaining wall and in a planter, but for this summer they are providing some shade. I'll decide what to do with them over winter.
In the meantime I feel like I have the Secret Garden Coop.
Added a new latch to the pop door. I had just been snapping the string to a loop on the wall to hold the door shut. But after doing that day in and out, it was getting a bit stretched and so the door could be lifted a tiny bit. Not enough for an animal to get in but eventually maybe.....
Much better!
Don't think I ever showed the outside of the pop door and ramp.
Also converted the run from 4 feet tall to 6 feet tall. Left the 4 foot door as I am way too lazy to fix it and only go in there to refill food or water every few days.
Have also added a bunch of posts for a larger run. The new area is going to be 16x24 plus there will be an additional 8x8 area coming off the current 8x8 run.
I just today started the fencing on one side.
Only ended up with a half hour to work by the time I got to it, so did not get very far.
I am using 1"x2" spacing 14gauge fencing along the bottom 2 feet. The top 4 feet will be 2"x"2 woven fencing (not sure of gauge). The posts are only about 4.5 feet high, so I will add some taller bracing along the corner or end posts, but do not plan on a roof so it should stand up well enough on its own.
I do plan on splitting this into 2 runs, each being 8x24. This way I can rotate back and forth which run the chickens are in to try to maximize green growth. It may end up being a "sacrifice" pen and a green pen. I have been letting them free range in my yard after work for a couple hours while my dog is laid up in the house with a toe injury.
Hoping to have that fencing installed by the end of next weekend. Have a group of 9 week olds in the brooder shed in the garage who are dying to move out and into the old pen (with the hardware cloth fencing, it will be the new baby/growout pen).
Also build some nestboxes for the coop finally.
They are super sized because I have a Jersey Giant girl and am planning on eventually adding some brahmas and orps. Gotta have room for the big bottoms.
I still need to paint the coop and do lots of minor changes. First things first, finish the big pen fencing. Then I will need to put up a temporary divider in the actual coop to keep the big kids from the little kids. Then cut a new pop door leading out the back of the coop to the new big pen.
The chickens approve!
I have been letting some of the baby trees, weeds and ivy things near the coop grow a bit. Not exactly the best place for them since they are along a retaining wall and in a planter, but for this summer they are providing some shade. I'll decide what to do with them over winter.
In the meantime I feel like I have the Secret Garden Coop.
Added a new latch to the pop door. I had just been snapping the string to a loop on the wall to hold the door shut. But after doing that day in and out, it was getting a bit stretched and so the door could be lifted a tiny bit. Not enough for an animal to get in but eventually maybe.....
Much better!
Don't think I ever showed the outside of the pop door and ramp.
Also converted the run from 4 feet tall to 6 feet tall. Left the 4 foot door as I am way too lazy to fix it and only go in there to refill food or water every few days.
Have also added a bunch of posts for a larger run. The new area is going to be 16x24 plus there will be an additional 8x8 area coming off the current 8x8 run.
I just today started the fencing on one side.
Only ended up with a half hour to work by the time I got to it, so did not get very far.
I am using 1"x2" spacing 14gauge fencing along the bottom 2 feet. The top 4 feet will be 2"x"2 woven fencing (not sure of gauge). The posts are only about 4.5 feet high, so I will add some taller bracing along the corner or end posts, but do not plan on a roof so it should stand up well enough on its own.
I do plan on splitting this into 2 runs, each being 8x24. This way I can rotate back and forth which run the chickens are in to try to maximize green growth. It may end up being a "sacrifice" pen and a green pen. I have been letting them free range in my yard after work for a couple hours while my dog is laid up in the house with a toe injury.
Hoping to have that fencing installed by the end of next weekend. Have a group of 9 week olds in the brooder shed in the garage who are dying to move out and into the old pen (with the hardware cloth fencing, it will be the new baby/growout pen).
Also build some nestboxes for the coop finally.
They are super sized because I have a Jersey Giant girl and am planning on eventually adding some brahmas and orps. Gotta have room for the big bottoms.
I still need to paint the coop and do lots of minor changes. First things first, finish the big pen fencing. Then I will need to put up a temporary divider in the actual coop to keep the big kids from the little kids. Then cut a new pop door leading out the back of the coop to the new big pen.
The chickens approve!
