Here is our "city" coop. (We also have a farm of free range chickens and goats!) The cage is our brooder cage and we were introducing the youngin's to the city flock. We have 24 backyard free range chickens living here.
The run wasn't quite done, needs the wire, but we only use it if we're going to be away for a couple of days so we don't have to enlist chicken help for opening and closing the coop at night.
The coop is made from shake shingles and plywood. The chicken door is hinged at the top and opens inward and holds itself up when you close the door. The chicken door to the run is in the floor and is a hole that has a piece of wood that slides over it and is weighed down with a concrete block when not in use. It has the same kind of ladder as the front chicken door. The front of the coop is 2 large doors that close to make the front.
(These are 2 of my mamas sitting on 12 eggs each!)
When you open the large left door the nesting boxes are built right there at the opening and you just reach into the boxes. There are 2 roost bars at the same height and 1 foot apart in the back of the coop. At the front there is chicken wire at the top triangle. (You can see this in the nest boxes picture. When it's cold we put a cut-to-size piece of plexiglass in place for protection.
We've really liked this design for a small area (such as backyards in town), it has worked with no chicken problems and no predator problems for 9 months!
The run wasn't quite done, needs the wire, but we only use it if we're going to be away for a couple of days so we don't have to enlist chicken help for opening and closing the coop at night.
The coop is made from shake shingles and plywood. The chicken door is hinged at the top and opens inward and holds itself up when you close the door. The chicken door to the run is in the floor and is a hole that has a piece of wood that slides over it and is weighed down with a concrete block when not in use. It has the same kind of ladder as the front chicken door. The front of the coop is 2 large doors that close to make the front.
When you open the large left door the nesting boxes are built right there at the opening and you just reach into the boxes. There are 2 roost bars at the same height and 1 foot apart in the back of the coop. At the front there is chicken wire at the top triangle. (You can see this in the nest boxes picture. When it's cold we put a cut-to-size piece of plexiglass in place for protection.
We've really liked this design for a small area (such as backyards in town), it has worked with no chicken problems and no predator problems for 9 months!
