Great reuse! Good thinking too on the divider part inside and the storage. We are still finishing up ours. 10x16 from landscape timbers. The first one is 8x12 and I said it was too small two years ago.Our "new" repurposed coop. 7 x 14.5 fits exactly behind our pole barn facing south
DH built a divider so we can house two different breeds. He also built a nice storage shelf in the back peak to hold bags of shavings.
Hey Barrett. Thanks for sharing and very nicely done. Plenty of ventilation for sureand quite thrifty with the recycling. If you did all that in 15 hours...
I concur with what the others have said regarding the woven chicken wire... It's really not designed to stop predators from getting in... it's to keep the chickens from getting out. You might want to spring for a roll or two of 1/2" hardware cloth 3' high to place around the lower portion and consider "aproning" the chicken wire out on the ground (or trench it down a foot or 2) covered by gravel/large rocks/pavers to help thwart diggers.
A couple of comments for the benefit of the birds... Their feet aren't designed to "perch" like normal birds... they are designed to walk flat footed and stand the same way. Instead of narrow circular "perches", I'm certain they'd be much more comfy on a regular 2 x 4 with the 4" flat side up. Any wider and they'll poop all over it... narrower and it's uncomfortable to unusable. Also it appears your perch closest to the nest boxes is at approximately the same height... That being said, they'll be more likely to "perch"/roost in the nest boxes, which will lead to poop filled nest boxes... They will always/normally tend to roost at the highest point they can get to.
In addition, with the nest boxes being wide open as they are, the birds may/will use them during the day to get up off the ground to "rest". If there are eggs in there, they may develop the bad habit of eating them... They are a rather rich protein source and once that habit gets started, it's very difficult to break it. Also, some hens are very sensitive and like a nice dark, enclosed, hidden area to lay their eggs.
Nice job! Good luck with your birds!
Awesome job... I love that you re-purposed the materials. I am afraid though Chicken wire is good for containing chickens only these days. Even the old time stuff that was sixteen gauge. When you get a chance and some extra money get a roll of hardware cloth. half inch is plenty strong enough to keep both Raccoons and Dogs at bey.
In my case not even twelve gauge chain-link didn't protect my Guineas from Raccoons.... they pulled legs and heads off right through the wire. My next build will be wood around the bottom a stripe of heavy gauge wire around the top and a steel roof. But in my case I have mountain lions and Bobcats as well as Coyotes And Feral dogs. In the desert here Food draws em in. My other first defense will be Hot wire and my own guardian dogs....I have lost four whole flocks now due to predation....
deb
If its just a fence for a run, something is always going to be able to climb over a fence. with hardware cloth on the bottom of a fence, its mostly to keep something from reaching thru the fence to grab a handful of chicken. Plus, it helps to reinforce the fence as chicken wire is really only meant to keep a chicken inside or outside of the fence, but not to keep bigger animals like dogs out.
we used the over hang of the garage and pallets from the local feed store. I don't recommend the1/4 inch fencing as a floor as the started to come apart less than a year after we put it in.
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from San Diego.... Just an FYI... the post you responded to was the Original Poster..... in 2011.
deb
