Our coop and run (lots of pictures!)*new pic on post#13

[bloom_ss]

Finally got our run finished yesterday so I figured I would post some pictures and see what you all think of it!

We just bought this house (our first!) in April and we discovered that city ordinances allow for us to keep chickens...as long as we don't have any roosters. So, we decided, "Why not!" and bought six chicks from the local feed store. After that it was a rush to get the coop and run ready for them.

First, we bought the coop from a local guy who builds them for a pretty reasonable price and he delivered it for us.

Then we primered and painted it:

Then put it in our backyard under the apple trees:

After that came the framing for the fully enclosed run:

Then the lower section of hardware cloth:

Then the door (which I built all on my own without my husband's help...hehe)

We had to add some extra boards across the top all the way around so the hardware cloth could be screwed in. The way we had it before, the 3 ft roll was a little short to fill the gap.

Putting up the top section of hardware cloth:

And finally we put up welded wire for the roof. We will probably put on some sort of roof before the snow starts falling though but right now this works out just fine!

Now I just hope we don't end up with any of the "girls" turning in to roosters! lol Thanks for looking!!!

~Stephanie

 

[BellevueOmlet]

That is beautiful, I love it. Thanks for sharing!

 

[SmokinChick]

Real nice. Great job with the run. Congrats

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

You could put the coop up on legs so they have a shaded area and a little more square footage. Also, looks like you'll need to cut out some vents high up on the coop walls. It'll get too hot in there otherwise. You could put up a roost in the run too, they'd probably enjoy roosting outside on a hot summer night. It's a great coop, just needs a little more tweaking. Congratulations on your first home!! That's very exciting!

 

[bloom_ss]

Quote:
Thanks for the input! I have been considering putting the coop up on legs, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it. I do want to put some vents in the coop and a roost in the run also I just haven't quite gotten around to it yet. So far it hasn't been too warm here yet. We are having a very late start to summer here in WA state and it has been pretty cool right up until yesterday. I think today it finally got almost to 90 degrees. As soon as the kiddies are in bed I am hoping to go out and put the vents in the coop but I am not quite sure where to put them yet. As for the roost, I think I'm going to put it in the corner that the water is sitting in currently. I'll have to shift things around a bit until I get it all settled though.

 

[monaname]

Great job!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Quote:
Thanks for the input! I have been considering putting the coop up on legs, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it. I do want to put some vents in the coop and a roost in the run also I just haven't quite gotten around to it yet. So far it hasn't been too warm here yet. We are having a very late start to summer here in WA state and it has been pretty cool right up until yesterday. I think today it finally got almost to 90 degrees. As soon as the kiddies are in bed I am hoping to go out and put the vents in the coop but I am not quite sure where to put them yet. As for the roost, I think I'm going to put it in the corner that the water is sitting in currently. I'll have to shift things around a bit until I get it all settled though.

4x4 posts cut the height you want to raise it, then frame it out and screw the coop to the legged frame.

 

[Sinfonian]

Looks great! Thanks for sharing.

 

[GardenGal]

Looks great! I found Pat's ventilation page really helpful. https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

 

[OkChickens]

Quote:
Thanks for the input! I have been considering putting the coop up on legs, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it. I do want to put some vents in the coop and a roost in the run also I just haven't quite gotten around to it yet. So far it hasn't been too warm here yet. We are having a very late start to summer here in WA state and it has been pretty cool right up until yesterday. I think today it finally got almost to 90 degrees. As soon as the kiddies are in bed I am hoping to go out and put the vents in the coop but I am not quite sure where to put them yet. As for the roost, I think I'm going to put it in the corner that the water is sitting in currently. I'll have to shift things around a bit until I get it all settled though.

Your coop looks great!

Most of the coops I have seen are raised were 18-24" or more off the ground. I would get an 8 foot treated 4x4 and 2 8 foot treated 2x4's and make the 4x4's the legs at 2 ft tall and then screw the 2x4's to the 4x4's to secure it then screw the raised base to the coop!

Also I would add some ventilation up high as well! Pats page has great info!

I would love to have the highs at 90. I think it hit 105 here in Oklahoma with 60% humidity most of the day!

Nate