ygritte
Chirping
So I bought this little (6' X 5') a-frame coop off Craigslist for cheap, thinking it would be exactly what I needed for my five chickens. Unfortunately, I'm a newb in construction as well as chickens and didn't realize that the 2x1's the coop was originally built with were barely being held together, and where actually broken in places. It also had no ventilation in the top portion, and no roosting areas that would work for a LF. With bit more research I decided that a modified open air coop design was best for me, and healthiest for the chicks. Have a look:
Before After
We pretty much reinforced any 2x1 with a 2x4, whereas before it was rocking back and forth, now it's steady (and as heavy) as a rock. Need to get the tar paper, and a weatherproof roof back on still.
Before After
Probably the biggest change. We took the floor out! I hated how dark and stuffy it was... plus it wasn't near enough room for 5 grown chickens even just to roost at night. I think I'm still going to put in a ridge vent at the top when I get around to putting a roof on. the open floor concept also allows me to easily do deep litter even in such a small coop. score!
Before After
Just one last look. More 2x4 reinforcement, I also had to shorten and reinforce the door, it was practically falling apart, now it's stiff and secure.
I've moved it back to it's original spot, and have added about 12 inches of skirting on three sides (fourth side is on the fence...with bricks on the outside of the fence). I still need to add the roof, nest box, additional ventilation at the top, hardware cloth to overlay the existing chicken wire, and a better latch for the door, right now I just tie it closed with twine. We'll also be building a run that includes the coop and whole compost pile for the winter or if I can't let them out for whatever reason. Right now they spend their nights in the coop and days in the yard with the dog or if I can't leave the dog out (she goes with me a lot) in a 4'X10' portable run made out of pvc that I move around the yard for fresh greens.
I have the 6 week old chicks out there now and they love it, specially with all the leaves and old compost I put in to jump-start the deep litter. I'm in Colorado, and temps are still consistently getting down into the 20's at night and it hasn't bothered the birds one bit. They are all roosting on the high 2X4s, out of the wind... plus April is usually our snowiest month, so I'll be ale to see how the birds do with the cold/moisture a bit more before summer hits.
Price wise, this only cost the price of about 6 8ft 2x4s and some screws.
So there it is. What do you think?
Before After
We pretty much reinforced any 2x1 with a 2x4, whereas before it was rocking back and forth, now it's steady (and as heavy) as a rock. Need to get the tar paper, and a weatherproof roof back on still.
Before After
Probably the biggest change. We took the floor out! I hated how dark and stuffy it was... plus it wasn't near enough room for 5 grown chickens even just to roost at night. I think I'm still going to put in a ridge vent at the top when I get around to putting a roof on. the open floor concept also allows me to easily do deep litter even in such a small coop. score!
Before After
Just one last look. More 2x4 reinforcement, I also had to shorten and reinforce the door, it was practically falling apart, now it's stiff and secure.
I've moved it back to it's original spot, and have added about 12 inches of skirting on three sides (fourth side is on the fence...with bricks on the outside of the fence). I still need to add the roof, nest box, additional ventilation at the top, hardware cloth to overlay the existing chicken wire, and a better latch for the door, right now I just tie it closed with twine. We'll also be building a run that includes the coop and whole compost pile for the winter or if I can't let them out for whatever reason. Right now they spend their nights in the coop and days in the yard with the dog or if I can't leave the dog out (she goes with me a lot) in a 4'X10' portable run made out of pvc that I move around the yard for fresh greens.
I have the 6 week old chicks out there now and they love it, specially with all the leaves and old compost I put in to jump-start the deep litter. I'm in Colorado, and temps are still consistently getting down into the 20's at night and it hasn't bothered the birds one bit. They are all roosting on the high 2X4s, out of the wind... plus April is usually our snowiest month, so I'll be ale to see how the birds do with the cold/moisture a bit more before summer hits.
Price wise, this only cost the price of about 6 8ft 2x4s and some screws.
So there it is. What do you think?
