thecreekhouse
Songster
Just showing off my coop & run now that it’s coming together the way I want.
The whole set-up is actually a (very heavy but still moveable) chicken tractor. 14 feet long by 3 feet wide. The barn-style coop sits on top of the run and is made of extremely durable, insulated, barn-thick siding with a metal roof. The attached run is hardware cloth all around except on the bottom (where the chickens walk); that’s covered in coated, smaller-than-usual chicken wire. The top of the run is also covered in hardware cloth. The lumber is all pressure treated and water-sealed. The builder used screws in the construction instead of nails. We’ve just installed motion detector lights on each end.
Surrounding the coop and run is the 39meter long moveable chicken fencing I got from from Omlet (just Google “Omlet chicken fence”). The fence surrounding the coop and run means that I can let the chickens out into the fenced area when I’m watching them. I dont in any way expect the Omlet fencing to keep any predators out; it’s just to keep the chickens in - again, while I’m watching them.
I also had the builder install a PVC pipe-style feeder so that I can fill their feeder without having to open the coop or run. It fills from the outside but feeds on the inside - under the barn area so it never gets wet.
There are double doors on two sides of the run plus on the top of the run, and doors - including one set of double doors on two sides of the barn. The nesting boxes sit outside the coop to give the chickens more indoor floor space. The entire barn has a laminated poop board bottom that I just take out and scrape clean with a rake every few days. No bedding required except in the nesting boxes where I’m using Petmate nesting pads (get them on Amazon). Since my barn-style coop sits on top of the run, there isn’t room for a roosting bar high up inside of the coop. Instead, the roosting bar is just high enough inside of the coop to allow large chickens to roost comfortably.
I’d love to have a walk in coop and run one day but we rent our place, not own, so a portable coop and run that we can take with us when we move in 2.5 years was a better choice. I also like that I can move the whole set up onto fresh grass when I feel like it.
I probably should only have 4 hens in this size coop and run, but y’know, chicken math So I have six pullets: black, buff and splash-colored, purebred Ameracaunasa, plus a lavender/blue Olive Egger (Marans x Purebread Ameracauna) plus a full size Cochin and a sweet little white Silkie who is not the sharpest tool in the shed. All of my pullets are between 4 and 8 months old and none of them has started laying yet. I don’t have any lighting in the coop so I don’t expect first eggs until spring.
The builder is local to me in Knoxville, TN but he will deliver within a 250 mile radius. Your coop and run are delivered fully assembled; all you do is add chickens. If you want to see more coops plus pricing from the guy who built my coop and run, just Google “Smoky Mountain Chicken Tractors.”
Anyway, that’s my chicken set-up. I’d love to see/hear about yours.
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