Our new hot weather coop

[andycowboy]

I have to agree with all - great job and great-looking hens! And seeing the waterer and feeding systems once again being used by yet another, I'm going to have to incorporate those into the new coop about to be built - sure looks like a lot of saved floor space, and a lot less clean-up!. One question...even though there's no real vacuum created - I think - what keeps the water from simply dripping out of the nozzles? The design of the nipples, maybe?

Thanks for sharing! Have a great day and God bless!

 

[t/m]

Andycowboy: yes it is the design of the nipple, it has to be moved (pecked) for the water to drip. We love ours, use them from hatch to adult.

 

[t/m]

Paul_A: beautiful work, great pics and information. I know you're enjoying your girls!

 

[Rhoise]

Nice coop! Nice chicks too ;-) love BR's and RIR'S!

 

[Rhoise]

Nice coop! Nice chicks too ;-) love BR's and RIR'S!

 

[FeatherPainter]

I love your whole set-up, but especially the screen to keep out mosquitos.

 

[Paul_A]

This is very similar to my current plan. Good idea about the removable panels. Why the insulation under the roof? Does it keep the heat away from the coop?
We don't have a garage so I'm not sure what we'll do during a hurricane. We have wind and flood to deal with.

Three reasons. It may keep the coop cooler although I didn't measure the temp with or without the panels so I don't know for sure. Also I noticed how loud this roof is in a downpour so now it is quieter for the girls. Most importantly for me was I didn't want the hassle of screening each opening the wavy roof causes so slapping an insulation board to the underside was a quick and easy fix.

If a storm was coming and I didn't have a garage I would bring the girls into the house, take down the coop and stake and rope the panels to the ground. Or if you have windows the right size use the plywood off the coop to cover up your windows.

 

[AlabamaSweetpea]

I've got the same situation ... building a coop that is predator proof and one that will "hopefully" withstand a hurricane. I won't be able to dismantle mine, so I'll wind up putting the girls in the dog crate on the enclosed porch.

I've also wondered about mosquitos, but thought screen might restrict air-flow and also, I thought the chickens would eat the mosquitos.

 

[KingR0o5t3r]

Looks great! Did you know that you can put the water nipples right in the bottom of your buckets, and just hang the bucket in the coop? or you could set in on something so that the middle of the bucket is open to the hens. Your system works great im sure, but not buying pvc saves you a few bucks

 

[Runawaylobster]

I have two coops, and no garage so I have a problem if we get a hurricane. The first one is an A frame so the
base is much wider than the top, and I am hoping that this will give it more stability. The second one is just
a pvc hoop run with a separate small chicken house inside. My plan here was to try to reduce wind resistance
so the coop is constructed to be flexible, and I use a tarp as a rain cover over about half of it. In a hurricane I
can remove the tarp and bring inside the little chicken house.

The big problem I have is that my yard is only a small amount of topsoil with coral rock underneath and staking
things down is a major mission... I had to rent a demolition hammer to make the electric fence !!....

as far as the birds, well I will have about 40 chickens by next hurricane season and no garage ... don't know how
I am going to deal with this.. maybe I can rent a storage facility to put them in for 24 hours... !!!

i love your dismantling Idea, if I had a garage I'd do the same thing..

Actually, if we get a big storm even the garage would probably not help...,I've cleaned up after a few and it
never ceases to amaze me how much damage the wind can do...