Our little beach coop/run

[rottenrobe]

This is our attempt at a coop.. We live 3 blocks from the beach (San Diego) our run is about 16' and their coop is 42x30. They really like the sand!!! I would just drive down to the beach and put it in buckets. I still need to enclose the top of the run and paint the coop. But they've been out there for 3 weeks now.
I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to out the food/water in the coop or just keep it in the run. Any suggestions? Right now I put it out and take it in everyday. Thoughts?

 

[llandry]

I grew up three blocks in from the beach on the opposite side of the country from you! I'm a few miles inland now. I love your little coop and run. I used to leave the food out but felt that I was attracting predators to my run. On the jersey shore, we have a problem with foxes, racoon, possum, and stray cats and I've lost a few chickens to them. Now I just put it inside the coop which is completely predator proof. For awhile I was bringing it into the garage at night but my girls were really hungry first thing in the morning so now I leave it in the coop at night.

 

[JanetS]

Very nice! I like the beach sand idea. Is that chicken wire you are using on the run? Chicken wire is not strong enough to keep out predators. Hardware cloth is the best to use. We have a small feeder in the coop so the chickens have something to eat until I get out there and open their door in the morning. Their main feeder and water are in the run.

 

[rottenrobe]

Thank you for your suggestions.. Yes it is chicken wire right now which we plan to switch out (to keep the preds out) but they got big really quick and had to get out of my garage. We do lock them in at night (we've got skunks in the neighborhood).