PLEASE HELP I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO

[black_cat]

Pictures! FINALLY:

There are no doors besides what you can see in these pictures. I will say that the locking mechanism is pretty good. You can see where I've pushed some of the grit and shell through the HC for them, so that they can have it.

That's the door in and out of the coop from the run. You can see one of the RIRs lurking inside. I've only seen her come out once this whole time.
The roof on the run is my own creation, plywood covered with plastic sheeting. It's tilted so that rain would run off away from the coop.
As you can see, the birds don't look too good...you can see in the first pic that one of the RIRs is missing her tail...she and the one that stays in the coop both have clipped beaks. One of the RIRs looks the best..comb ok, pretty good feathers, only a little scruffy.

You can see her here, with the whitish feathers around the neck. I'm planning to hang the little grit and OS bins in the run, and also add in some of the mulchy stuff that's on the ground.

 

[RobertaD1]

Well, to me that coop isnt big enough.. the run is DEFINITELY too small! You will need that kennel to put that into so they can have more space!

 

[LadyAchee]

I would add a little ramp for them to get out of the coop. I agree if you can get a dog run or something to give them more space. Definitely warn others who may not know that these people will rip them off. The birds also kinda look like production reds to me.

 

[black_cat]

Well, to me that coop isnt big enough.. the run is DEFINITELY too small! You will need that kennel to put that into so they can have more space!

Yes, I agree it's too small. Guess who got overruled again with wanting a bigger coop? For the kennel thing, I'm thinking that I want some sort of chain link dog kennel with netting over the top. The kennel at first would be a safety measure in case they get out, but after we're all used to each other I will be letting them out in it regularly.

 

[black_cat]

I would add a little ramp for them to get out of the coop. I agree if you can get a dog run or something to give them more space. Definitely warn others who may not know that these people will rip them off. The birds also kinda look like production reds to me.

They seem to have no problem jumping in and out, and as it's hard to move stuff around, I"m going to leave it for now. I also think that it would get knocked over and take up space, and because there isn't enough space to begin with I don't think I'm going to add a ramp. We were told Rhode Island Reds, but I am not familiar with the breed so I don't know how accurate this is.

 

[keesmom]

The reds look like sex links. That is far, far too small a space for 4 birds. I wouldn't want to put just 2 in that tiny coop and run.

 

[black_cat]

The reds look like sex links. That is far, far too small a space for 4 birds. I wouldn't want to put just 2 in that tiny coop and run.

There's a lot of dispute over the breed. I agree that the coop is way too small, and i'm working on that.

 

[LadyAchee]

Who is over ruling you? Maybe screenshot multiple sources to show them how much space a chicken needs.. If I were you I would search Craigslist or similar for a dog run and put this inside. Put a tarp over the top. Open that door that I see on the side of the coop part and make that a ramp for them. Then they can forage and at night you can lock them in your current coop and run.

 

[NatJ]

Rhode Island Reds do NOT have those white feathers. So whatever else you got, you do not have Rhode Island Reds.

But you could reasonably call them "Reds," given their color.

They're probably Red Sexlinks, also known as Golden Comet, ISA Brown, Gold Sexlink, Red Star, etc. Every hatchery has their own name, but the birds are pretty similar no matter what they're called.

I don't think I'm going to add a ramp.

I agree about not adding a ramp to that door, for exactly the reasons you listed.

 

[LadyAchee]

Okay obviously not to scale.. but just showing you what I'd consider. Yellow would be the dog run, green the tarp, and blue the ramp/ladder. If you can't get a dog run right away maybe you could build a similar type of structure with deer netting and 2x2's. Just trying to help give you ideas.