- Dec 21, 2010
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**Updates on page 2**
A while back I got this crazy idea that we should get some chickens. I'm always trying to "expand my horizons" and my poor hubby is just along for the ride. After some reading and a lot of time on BYC, we decided to take the plunge. We're planning on 4 chickens, probably Rhode Island Reds or RIR sex linked with Barred Plymouth Rock (I thinks that's the right term). We'll be brooding them inside until they feather out and their new digs are ready. My kids are soooo excited - they tell everyone they see that we're getting chickens. There's no turning back now!
I scored a cut little 4 x 4 cedar playhouse on Craigslist. It's 6 ft tall at the peak of the roof. It currently has 2 doors, one on the front and one off to the right side. The walls of the left and back side both have openings for windows. There's also a cedar awning that goes over the front porch but DH had already removed it when I took these pictures.
We're also in the process of tearing down and rebuilding our deck. What a perfect time to build a chicken coop and run!
We reused a section of the old deck for the floor of the coop. It will eventually have linoleum covering it.
The base of the run was constructed using more lumber from our old deck. It has 3 panels of cattle fencing which gave us a 12L x 8W x 6H run. We had some extra welded wire in the backyard so DH used that to close in the back of the run. The run will have a plastic roof and welded wire on the sides to keep out predators. The man door to the run will be on the same side as the coop. Seems like more work to me but it was hubby's idea and he's the boss man!
The coop is elevated off the ground using left over cement blocks, again from the old deck. We'll be covering the gap between the coop and ground with welded wire.
My handy hubby got all of this done on Sunday! We're planning to have the man door on the side of the coop and use the front door (under where the awning will be) as the space for bumped-out nesting boxes. That's the doorway that our dog is standing in front of in that last pictures (she's an excellent inspector). We're thinking of doing one on top of the other but haven't decided for sure yet. The roost will be along the back wall with a poop try that slides out for cleaning without having to enter the coop. All the windows will be covered in welded wire. My dad just gave us a ton of plexiglass so we're going to make window covers with them prevent drafts in the winter. We live outside of Seattle so wet weather will be our biggest issue. We're still working on the design for the chicken door; we'd like to have it automated.
We're totally new to chickens and are totally making this up as we go along. If you see any fatal flaws, don't hesitate to tell me!
A while back I got this crazy idea that we should get some chickens. I'm always trying to "expand my horizons" and my poor hubby is just along for the ride. After some reading and a lot of time on BYC, we decided to take the plunge. We're planning on 4 chickens, probably Rhode Island Reds or RIR sex linked with Barred Plymouth Rock (I thinks that's the right term). We'll be brooding them inside until they feather out and their new digs are ready. My kids are soooo excited - they tell everyone they see that we're getting chickens. There's no turning back now!
I scored a cut little 4 x 4 cedar playhouse on Craigslist. It's 6 ft tall at the peak of the roof. It currently has 2 doors, one on the front and one off to the right side. The walls of the left and back side both have openings for windows. There's also a cedar awning that goes over the front porch but DH had already removed it when I took these pictures.
We're also in the process of tearing down and rebuilding our deck. What a perfect time to build a chicken coop and run!
The base of the run was constructed using more lumber from our old deck. It has 3 panels of cattle fencing which gave us a 12L x 8W x 6H run. We had some extra welded wire in the backyard so DH used that to close in the back of the run. The run will have a plastic roof and welded wire on the sides to keep out predators. The man door to the run will be on the same side as the coop. Seems like more work to me but it was hubby's idea and he's the boss man!
The coop is elevated off the ground using left over cement blocks, again from the old deck. We'll be covering the gap between the coop and ground with welded wire.
My handy hubby got all of this done on Sunday! We're planning to have the man door on the side of the coop and use the front door (under where the awning will be) as the space for bumped-out nesting boxes. That's the doorway that our dog is standing in front of in that last pictures (she's an excellent inspector). We're thinking of doing one on top of the other but haven't decided for sure yet. The roost will be along the back wall with a poop try that slides out for cleaning without having to enter the coop. All the windows will be covered in welded wire. My dad just gave us a ton of plexiglass so we're going to make window covers with them prevent drafts in the winter. We live outside of Seattle so wet weather will be our biggest issue. We're still working on the design for the chicken door; we'd like to have it automated.
We're totally new to chickens and are totally making this up as we go along. If you see any fatal flaws, don't hesitate to tell me!
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