Run finally done!! Chickens outside this weekend! *PICS HEAVY*

[Moabite]

You are spoiling those chickens!

 

[rebbetzin]

That is a great looking set up!! Your chickens will be very happy!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Quote:
I have construction sand in my run. It's heavier than "Play" sand and has larger pebbles. My birds dig down until they reach the dirt and like to lay in the shallow hole they dig. I rake my run every three days very lightly so I get mostly just the poo out. Your birds will scratch in the run and mix the sand and dirt together. When you need to add more sand I'd just get the construction sand next time. Throw some goodies out there and toss one hen out there. The rest will follow!!

 

[Hillsvale]

Awesome!! The perfect little back yard coop. Congratulations!

 

[kristim23]

Coop and run look great!! What are the coop dimensions? I have been looking around at pre-built coops, and even though hubby is a carpenter, buying seems so much simpler!!

 

[mrsbos]

Beautiful coop, run, and especially the babies! Just building that run would have been a miracle of carpentry with my skills. Congratulations, enjoy!

 

[Lisa202]

Thanks everyone for all your great compliments!

I did put construction sand in the run. The run is 8X16 and 2500 lbs filled it nicely. I've read so much, on this forum, about how great it is to have in the run. I have full confidence that it'll work out great.

The coop is 6X8 and on wheels. Being able to move it around help us tremendously. We will be putting cinder blocks under the coop to take the brunt of the coop weight so that the wheels don't eventually become flat.

I purchased the coop from Horizon Structures and they were absolutely great to work with. It's cheaper to have the coop kit delivered then a completely assembled coop, but when they put it together at their workshop, they then have to take it apart to ship it as a kit. So they asked me if I could accept it mostly assembled (I'd only have to put the roof on) b/c it would save them time disassembling it. So since I was able to get this large finished coop to it's final destination in the backyard, I saved a lot of time not having to assemble it myself. It even came with the roof already on it and all we had to do was put on the shingles. We really lucked out on that. (we ended up totally wrecking the back yard with a very large bobcat trying to make room for the coop and run, so our time and back breaking effort was used to put another backyard in)

I would make a couple suggestions though if ordering from them...I feel the vent is too low and that it possibly puts a draft too close to the chickens when they're roosting, so I'd ask them to make sure it's higher. I also put another vent in myself on the side up high and may even put another on the opposite end. I feel they didn't have enough vents. The only other thing I might eventually modify is the roosting set up. I had them put a poop door under the roosts for easy cleaning, but in the process, I feel the extra wire underneath (I guess to keep out preditors that might get in the poop door?) takes too much of the floor space away. If you look at "adozengirlz" post under "show your favorite customization" and her web page, you'll see how she modified her roosting set up and I think it's much better and I plan on changing mine too.

 

[krobin04]

Gorgeous.

 

[3chimama]

Wow! That looks super!!

 

[Mahonri]

Fantastic...

... and I'd say you work great with wood and wire!... and sand....

Blessed Chickens!