buckaroo's wife :
Thanks ChickenGirl!
What breeds are you raising? I'm still trying to figure it all out
I've got a coop design in my head, and a layout tenatively planned, just need to get it executed!
I know some of the breeds. I have three barred rock hens, four barnevalds, one that is some kind of Egyptian something, one RIR (Rhode Island Red) who is pretty old at this point, the rest I either don't know or maybe they are what someone in this thread called "mutts."
I have one rooster, not at all aggressive but quite beautiful.
And five nearly grown chicks. I am waiting for them to get a wee bit bigger and then they will go out to the yard where the rest of the girls are.
I looked at a lot of coops, saw some that were pretty cool that people have out this way, some neat designs on the web, and wound up putting together four sides out of chain link panels (one of them has a door in it), and then putting a big tarp over the whole thing. It isn't my favorite design, but we are able to give them shelter from the wind and rain. I wound up gathering the tarp along one side and tying it, then I used a piece of electrical conduit that was about the right length to push the tied up part up over the top, so it looks like a big silver harem tent. The first rain we had, there was too much give in the tarp on the top, and the rain collected and pulled down the whole thing.
Now the conduit is up on a saw horse, so there is more tension, and the tarp is wired around the bottom of the chainlink walls. There was still a gap from the top across the door, so that is now covered with a sheet held snug with clothespins. So far so good.
I would rather build something with wood, but I don't know that I would heat it even if I did. And that's about the only advantage I can think of for a hardier design, for us at least. As long as I can keep the wind off them, keep their food dry and available in there, I think they seem to be pretty happy. They are laying (not a lot, but it's cold and darkish and I have not put a light in there--yet). I used the chainlink holes to put poles and stout tree branches and even two old ax handles in a criss cross pattern, and they get up there and snuggle with each other.
So while this isn't the coop of my dreams, it does seem to work, and since we don't have heavy winters, we should be OK. Very worst case scenario, I can grab them all up and put them into the cage that currently has the chicks in it. It is 7 x 7 x 7 chain link, but it is right next to the back door, on a covered porch and probably warmer. But I think they are happier to be able to run around in their big yard, during the day.
I also used a design I found on this site for a waterer, using a large covered container, some PVC fittings and pipe and a neat nipple arrangement that lets drops of water come out when the chicken pecks at the nipple. It took them a while to learn, but they've figure it out and it works very well.
Didn't mean to go on so long, maybe this is not appropriate for this thread--moderators feel free to move it if I'm writing in the wrong place....
Christine
