TAKING OVER THE COOP and RUN TOO! - *MORE NEW PICS! (Nesting boxes)**

[DouglasPeeps]

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This coop was originally our shed. A very big one. So we (by we, I mean my DH) build a new wall within the shed. We used about 1/3 of the original shed for the new coop. So, the wall that you see in the last picture is made out of plywood. We will also be using plywood to build the remaining nests for the chickens. We will have a total of 12 nests. We figured 1 nest per 3 chicks.

 

[DouglasPeeps]

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I am loving it too! This is just so much fun. I was a little worried about them being cold at night with all the extra room. We are still running two heat lamps, but they have lots more room to roam. But, despite my worrying, they are fine and spread out all over even at night. We put the hanging feeder up late Saturday afternoon. I will post pics later this week. It is pretty low at this point, so the smaller ones can reach. We will move it higher as they grow. Now at least there is only very small amounts of poop in the feeder (from the stinkers who still want to stand on it). But most of them are perfectly happy to stand on the floor and eat. LOL

I love the buffs also. They are by far the friendliest of all the breeds I have.

 

[LynneP]

So- are you going to provide a junior-sized roost for these babies? And I agree about the comment regarding natural light. We had to construct our coop on the north side of the barn, but a large mirror at a right angle to the window has nearly doubled the natural light, and we're priming today before coating with white latex paint to keep it bright.

 

[USMCSGT]

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That is OSB(Oriented strand board). It will withstand the weather a lot better than just plywood. If you use it, it needs to be painted on the outside of the coop and it will last a very long time. Without paint, it will reduce the life of the board.

 

[DouglasPeeps]

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They have junior roosts already. We starting putting in roosts for our chickens at about 1 1/2 weeks old. The roosts that the chickens are on in the pictures are some of the shorter ones. They are probably 6 or so inches off the ground. But ever since we put all the chickens out into their house, they have been roosting on the high roosts. They have no problem at all flying up to the highest ones.

 

[DouglasPeeps]

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That is OSB(Oriented strand board). It will withstand the weather a lot better than just plywood. If you use it, it needs to be painted on the outside of the coop and it will last a very long time. Without paint, it will reduce the life of the board.

Actually, it is just regular plywood, or at least that is what our hardware store calls it. It is on an inside wall that opens up to the rest of our shed.

 

[DouglasPeeps]

I haven't had the time to post pictures of our "run". So, here they are! It has been very warm here - almost 70 today, but our chickens are just that "chickens" and they are very unsure about being outside. I am sure in no time they will be much braver.

 

[Chirpy]

That is fantastic! I'm so excited that you are almost done with your coop/run. The girls obviously love it - yes, they will quickly become outside run girls. In no time they'll be rushing the door when you let them out in the mornings.

You did an excellent job.

I'm jealous you have such a large space for your hens. We'll be adding onto our hen house starting next month.

Just a note... knowing where you live you may want to think about predators. It looks like you are just using chicken wire around your run. That only keeps chickens in, not predators out. Since I don't live that far from you I'm guessing you have coyotes, raccoons and fox (among others) and I know raccoons can get through chicken wire. However, I remember you were going to be locking them up at night so it may be Ok. Just some thoughts... I'd be so disappointed if you lost any of your lovely girls.

 

[DouglasPeeps]

Ok, I am very slow in getting these posted, but here is a picture of the nesting boxes. They were built from plywood and scraps from the paneling we took down in our family room. I can't wait until the girls start using them!

The girls have gotten big and have been enjoying free-ranging during the day. I still stay out with them, because I am a nervous mommy!

 

[cajunlizz]

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What size is your OUTSIDE RUN AREA ?