Our "Oak Abode" chicken coop

[South Dakota Guy]

That looks fabulous—good work! Those are some lucky chickens

Thank you! Last night was the second night that the chickens spent in the coop. In our small prefab coop, we are used to our chickens coming out in the morning and staying out all day until bedtime. This morning I got up about 7:30 am and there were no chickens to be seen. I went out to the coop and started talking to them and they all came out. They ate some food and scratched around for a bit then they all went back inside. They have been going inside and then coming out for a while all morning long. That tells me that they are very comfortable inside of the coop and that pleases me!

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Well done!

I have runs just like that.

The zip ties will break really fast in the weather. Replace them with wire to hold the mesh to the frame.

I put cage-mesh/hardware cloth around the bottom of my run so the bottom two feet are stiff close mesh. Partly this was because a young pullet stuck her head through the chicken-wire and got hung up and died so I wanted finer mesh down where small chickens might be. I think it probably improves predator resistance a good deal as well -- you can't pull on the hardware cloth and bend it upward to crawl under, it's too rigid, and if you're the size of a racoon you're not tall enough to grip the chicken-wire part and put your back into it while pulling.

I used J-clip type cage-clips, and lots of them, to attach the chicken-wire to the hardware cloth and to attach the chicken-wire sheets to each other so the join is close and strong.

Could you show me a picture of a J clip? I have never heard of them.

 

[aart]

The problem was that the coop entrance ladder was too slippery for them.

It's also rather steep.
Stick a concrete block under the low end to reduce the angle and keep bottom f ramp from rotting as quickly.

That was one reason I really liked the water box feature.

What kind of waterer is in that box?

 

[South Dakota Guy]

It's also rather steep.
Stick a concrete block under the low end to reduce the angle and keep bottom f ramp from rotting as quickly.


What kind of waterer is in that box?

Good idea about the concrete block. I have some bricks laying around that I will put under the bottom. While the ladder is steep, once we stapled roofing shingles between the rungs the chickens had no problem going up or down the ladder. I will post a photo of the waterer that we are planning on getting. The one we have now is similar but has the little nipples on it. It will go back outside once we get the new one.

This is the one that Oak Abode uses so I know that it will fit our waterbox. With our nipple fountain, only one hen at a time can drink when it is in the water box. Right now we have a small chick fountain outside that my wife changes at least once a day.

 

[GCrumb]

J-clip. J-clip pliers. Closed j-clip -- you capture strands of mesh from the sheets you want to join and close the clip to a circle.

Sometimes the wires slip out as you're closing it and then you just have this useless loop, which you drop and then have to hunt for 'cause if a chicken swallows it that's no good.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

J-clip. J-clip pliers. Closed j-clip -- you capture strands of mesh from the sheets you want to join and close the clip to a circle.

Sometimes the wires slip out as you're closing it and then you just have this useless loop, which you drop and then have to hunt for 'cause if a chicken swallows it that's no good. View attachment 3522657View attachment 3522660View attachment 3522662

Thanks!

 

[arizona_chicken_noob]

Almost no carpentry experience? You did fantastic! So impressive!

 

[Niteeyes]

Your coop came out great! I got the same plans, they were pretty easy to follow and worth the price. I modified the nesting box, moved the chicken door location and deleted the water box. I think the plans give you a lot of flexibility. I like the idea of the linoleum floor. I thought about doing that but, like you, I spent so much on materials already and I knew I was going to have to spend more on materials for the run ( I'm working on that now).
I closed off the nesting box section with cardboard to keep the chickens out of it until they are old enough to start laying. I don't want them to sleep in the boxes or poop in it.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Your coop came out great! I got the same plans, they were pretty easy to follow and worth the price. I modified the nesting box, moved the chicken door location and deleted the water box. I think the plans give you a lot of flexibility. I like the idea of the linoleum floor. I thought about doing that but, like you, I spent so much on materials already and I knew I was going to have to spend more on materials for the run ( I'm working on that now).
I closed off the nesting box section with cardboard to keep the chickens out of it until they are old enough to start laying. I don't want them to sleep in the boxes or poop in it.

We moved the chicken door from the left to the right. We just liked that better. We also reversed the slope of the roof to protect the chickens from the colder winter winds. My wife is only 5ft 2in so we had to lower the nesting box a little. It was either that or build steps to it for her.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Almost no carpentry experience? You did fantastic! So impressive!

Thank you!