Hi all,
First off, I'm new here and this is my first post. I've been lurking for a while and have learned quite a bit. My wife and I have been planning on chickens for quite some time now and we're close to taking the plunge and getting some urban chickens. I've been working on a design and hoping that I can build something that's fairly small and elevate a few feet off of the ground on a post (my wife saw a design like this that she liked). I was hoping for some feedback on my dimensions before I got too far, so I thought I'd post a picture of the basic interior design.
We live in the Northwest (near Spokane, WA), so I want to make sure that this is going to be something our birds can be warm enough in during the winter months and not bake in during the summer months. I'd have a little ventilation and a spot I can open up for a window during summer months (and cover that with wire mesh probably). Have other plans for this box like a hinged floor, but mostly want to make sure the dimensions are about right for 2-3 birds - Easter Eggers or Marans maybe; at least something that size. Not sure if I need to plan on having food/water in the coop, or if I can have those in a different spot... I'm planning on them having free range of our backyard if I can figure out a way to keep them confined to our bushes and garden... but I don't want them on my patio furniture.
Since I'm new here I also feel compelled to mention that I don't have any problems culling these hens after about a year (or any that turn out to be roosters) My wife actually saw some blog post about a guy who claims he replies to the "free to good home" ads on Craigslist and ends up with a free roaster - brilliant
Anyway, thank you for any feedback. It will look much nicer once I put some finishing touches on it...
First off, I'm new here and this is my first post. I've been lurking for a while and have learned quite a bit. My wife and I have been planning on chickens for quite some time now and we're close to taking the plunge and getting some urban chickens. I've been working on a design and hoping that I can build something that's fairly small and elevate a few feet off of the ground on a post (my wife saw a design like this that she liked). I was hoping for some feedback on my dimensions before I got too far, so I thought I'd post a picture of the basic interior design.
We live in the Northwest (near Spokane, WA), so I want to make sure that this is going to be something our birds can be warm enough in during the winter months and not bake in during the summer months. I'd have a little ventilation and a spot I can open up for a window during summer months (and cover that with wire mesh probably). Have other plans for this box like a hinged floor, but mostly want to make sure the dimensions are about right for 2-3 birds - Easter Eggers or Marans maybe; at least something that size. Not sure if I need to plan on having food/water in the coop, or if I can have those in a different spot... I'm planning on them having free range of our backyard if I can figure out a way to keep them confined to our bushes and garden... but I don't want them on my patio furniture.
Since I'm new here I also feel compelled to mention that I don't have any problems culling these hens after about a year (or any that turn out to be roosters) My wife actually saw some blog post about a guy who claims he replies to the "free to good home" ads on Craigslist and ends up with a free roaster - brilliant
Anyway, thank you for any feedback. It will look much nicer once I put some finishing touches on it...
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