Our First Coop

[aart]

Sweet!!
It's fantastic to see young girls learning to build!

Do you plan on removing ramp to close a door or....?
It's rather steep, might be better attach with hinge below door and put something under the low end(I use 16" tall concrete blocks) to reduce steepness.

Is the larger building the coop or just the smaller 'addition'?

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

The coop looks great, but I have to agree with Aart on the steep incline of the ladder. And just curious, you mentioned you were in the tropics, you don't have any predators at all? You must at least have snakes?

 

[808momof4]

Sweet!!
It's fantastic to see young girls learning to build!

Do you plan on removing ramp to close a door or....?
It's rather steep, might be better attach with hinge below door and put something under the low end(I use 16" tall concrete blocks) to reduce steepness.

Is the larger building the coop or just the smaller 'addition'?

We tested the steepness with the birds before we settled on it. They are able to go up and down really well. Might that change as they get older? Larger structure is our 4 kids' playhouse. Smaller structure is a 45 sq. ft. Coop with 4 nesting boxes planned.

 

[808momof4]

The coop looks great, but I have to agree with Aart on the steep incline of the ladder. And just curious, you mentioned you were in the tropics, you don't have any predators at all? You must at least have snakes?

We live in Hawaii. There are no snakes. We also don't have squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, deer, etc. Our largest wild animal is a pig and our largest bird is a tie between a rarely seen miniature owl and wild parrots.

 

[TropicalBabies]

We tested the steepness with the birds before we settled on it. They are able to go up and down really well. Might that change as they get older? Larger structure is our 4 kids' playhouse. Smaller structure is a 45 sq. ft. Coop with 4 nesting boxes planned.

I have a few larger breads (Buff Orps and Brahma) that were not real keen on their ramp as they got bigger (rounder) but smaller chx were ok with, though i did not has as much slope as you do now. My solution was to put a stump (or stool) at the bottom of ramp to soften the pitch.

 

[aart]

Might that change as they get older?

Yep.
Can probably climb up it....but will likely fly down....which might be just fine.
Just something to think about.......plus is it in a door way that will be closed?

 

[Cryss]

We live in Hawaii. There are no snakes. We also don't have squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, deer, etc. Our largest wild animal is a pig and our largest bird is a tie between a rarely seen miniature owl and wild parrots.

I got curious about this and went googling. Look what I found, on BYC no less!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/predators-in-paradise.683495/

 

[TropicalBabies]

I got curious about this and went googling. Look what I found, on BYC no less!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/predators-in-paradise.683495/

It varies from island to island. We don't have hawks or mongoose on my island. The photo looked to be of an invasive Barn owl, those were introduced way back. Our little Pueo owl, about as big as a Bantam or healthy teenage chicken,

is native but the Owls hunt in the eves and nights so I don't see then as a real threat. For me here on Kauai, it is loose hunting dogs, hungry feral cats, annoyed neighbors. Mostly, I fear parasites and heat.
(PS. Love you avatar!)

 

[Cryss]

(PS. Love you avatar!)

Thanks! That was my first rooster, Mr. Marvin Roo, that I gave back to my breeder. He guarentees gender. She is Eggsmerelda. I was so please with this picture.

 

[808momof4]

I got curious about this and went googling. Look what I found, on BYC no less!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/predators-in-paradise.683495/

Yeah. The Big Island has the native Hawks. We are on Oahu near Honolulu. We don't even get the Pueo over here (which is a small owl the size of my chickens right now at 6 weeks LOL). We have feral cats on Oahu, but not many up where we live. And I can't remember ever seeing a stray dog. We get a wild pig behind our house every once in a while LOL