- Mar 12, 2012
- 25
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We now have 12 chicks. 6 are about a week or so from being ready to be outside and the other 6 have about two weeks to go.
We live in a neighborhood with a crazy neighbor and their dog, which has a habit of coming into our yard and attacking our pets (our cats, which are now indoor cats thanks to the last "incident"), so we can't let our girls free range without being close by them. We have to have an enclosed coop.
We have a very nice shed my father in law built about 10 years ago. It's got a nice concrete floor, siding, tin roof, windows and ventilated well. We're thinking of putting a large "doggie" door in the side of the shed and building our coop inside the shed. We're hoping it'll provide nice protection from the neighbor's dog and the occasional raccoon, as well as help keep the girls warm during our southern Ohio winters. They'll have a 12x7 enclosed run outside the shed.
With the coop inside, we're planning on using an area approx. 4 ft. wide x10 feet long. It'll be at least 6 feet high so we can go inside and walk around if needed. We are planning on framing this area in so we can have a door way to go inside, and also putting plywood around the bottom portion of the coop to cut down on any drafts, and also to allow us to do a deep litter method without it spilling out into the rest of the shed. We have space for at least 6 laying boxes. I figure with 12 hens, 4-6 boxes would be enough, right?
Does the coop and external run sound right in terms of size? Also, anything we should know about the coop that will be inside the shed? I had chickens when I was about 9 or 10, but we had a 4' fence and clipped our girls' wings, so they didn't fly away and they largely free ranged. They had a little house we put them in at night or when it snowed, but it was on the small size since they had an acre to play during the day. I just want to make sure I keep the girls happy and that we do the coop and run right for them. I would welcome any feedback on our plans and improvements, or things we hadn't considered! Thank you all!
We live in a neighborhood with a crazy neighbor and their dog, which has a habit of coming into our yard and attacking our pets (our cats, which are now indoor cats thanks to the last "incident"), so we can't let our girls free range without being close by them. We have to have an enclosed coop.
We have a very nice shed my father in law built about 10 years ago. It's got a nice concrete floor, siding, tin roof, windows and ventilated well. We're thinking of putting a large "doggie" door in the side of the shed and building our coop inside the shed. We're hoping it'll provide nice protection from the neighbor's dog and the occasional raccoon, as well as help keep the girls warm during our southern Ohio winters. They'll have a 12x7 enclosed run outside the shed.
With the coop inside, we're planning on using an area approx. 4 ft. wide x10 feet long. It'll be at least 6 feet high so we can go inside and walk around if needed. We are planning on framing this area in so we can have a door way to go inside, and also putting plywood around the bottom portion of the coop to cut down on any drafts, and also to allow us to do a deep litter method without it spilling out into the rest of the shed. We have space for at least 6 laying boxes. I figure with 12 hens, 4-6 boxes would be enough, right?
Does the coop and external run sound right in terms of size? Also, anything we should know about the coop that will be inside the shed? I had chickens when I was about 9 or 10, but we had a 4' fence and clipped our girls' wings, so they didn't fly away and they largely free ranged. They had a little house we put them in at night or when it snowed, but it was on the small size since they had an acre to play during the day. I just want to make sure I keep the girls happy and that we do the coop and run right for them. I would welcome any feedback on our plans and improvements, or things we hadn't considered! Thank you all!
