Our first attempt at building a coop/run....ITS FINISHED! :D

[Lavisy]

Hey everyone. We bought our first chicks nearly 6 weeks ago and will be soon ready to go outside. (If you want a stab at sexing them follow this link

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=419944 ) Because of this my wonderful partner is feverishly getting the coop and run all finished for them. We would really appreciate your thoughts as the build goes on, should be only a few more days until its all done.

We looked around for flatpack store coops but they are sooooo expensive for the size they are. So we decided to build the run ourselves. It will end up being the same kind of price but is much much bigger. The wire will be 2.5x2.5x1.6 so its pretty sturdy with small squares. thats where most of the cost is going! There will be a door to get in and the actual coop we decided to buy from ebay. We are not carpenters and we found a good deal on a coop which had nesting boxes attached and has a slide out tray at the bottom for easy cleaning.

Firstly the base went down. It is 2m x 3m and will be 1.8m high, so we will be able to walk in. They are all bantams so should be a good size.

Then the posts went up.

Being in the Perth suburbs we had to comply with the city councils terms. This meant it had to be 30feet away from any house and 1m from any boundry. Also we are only allowed 6 hens, no roosters.
It is lucky we have quite a sizable garden for a metro area otherwise we wouldnt be able to keep chooks!

We will post more photos as the build goes on, what do you guys think so far?

 

[Moabite]

I think it will be plenty big for 6 hens. I was getting between 4 and 6 eggs per day with my 6. They seem to be pretty comfy in this little set up.

 

[Lavisy]

Thats such a cute set up! Looks very cozy with that light on.

What is the roof made out of?

 

[shadowman]

Quote:
Boy with those restrictions in effect, it really narrows down on the "chicken ranchers"! It looks like your run will be able to withstand a hurricane!

 

[Lavisy]

OK well our new chicken home is complete! We love it so much that we spend ALOT of time out there just sitting with the chooks enjoying them jumping on and around us. Its so therapeutic!

So here is our final design. Its still to have the finishing touches added, but we will do them over time.

What do you think!?

2 photos of the overal shape and design

Inside

And a few of the chooks enjoying the coop as well as the run

You can now see we have 3 roos, so if anyone would like another roo in WA, let me know.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

I like!

 

[BooBear]

That is a nice setup. Chickens look like they are really enjoying their home you made for them.

 

[justbugged]

You have a lovely set up for your birds.

Moabite's coop is covered with a truck canopy. I now wish I hadn't give way the truck canopy that I had. Here in Western Washington we need to have some cover, because of all the rain.

 

[Lavisy]

Thanks guys! We love the set up.

We especially love the sand in the run floor. Our garden is made up entirly of it being in Oz so we didnt have to put anything extra down. We also put sand in the coop which is awesome, the poops just dry up really easy so we can just scoop it up. Keeps the whole thing really clean.

 

[suburban]

Your set up looks great. We have the same restrictions here but did use our boundry fence to complete the run. We just made sure the coop was following all the rules.
We already have plans to expand!