The coop is finally done! Whew....PIC HEAVY

[Jeffross1968]

Quote:
I'm going to get shade cloth or something, but for the time being (week or two) I'm just going to cut a few very small holes where it's pooling up, and let it drip down. Our yard drains really well. That's just going to have to work for a bit. Otherwise, the chickens are loving their new home. Finally getting used to the ladder going up into the coop. Actually got a few eggs today, but I'm guessing they were "in production" and I might see a drop off while they adapt. Then again, there was no drop off after they were nearly all slayed by the tornado felled tree into their old coop, so who knows

 

[dawj]

Very nice job

Call around to you local roofing guys you will be surprised how many of them throw away metal roofing on a weekly basis. All my wood piles, my new run and my squarefoot garden boxes (in the winter) are covered with metal roofing (FREE from a local roofing guy). They are glad to have someone take it saves them the time and money to get rid of it.

I am new to chickens but looking at your ramp you might want to add cleats closer my buffs had a hard time going up and down ramp (slid) in between cleats because i had them to far apart so I added more to keep them from slipping last thing I want is a messed up chicken leg.

Good luck with locating metal roofing

It seems like i read alot on here how run stinks when wet so I went with the recycled metal roofing to avoid that

 

[benjoycei]

Quote:
I slid a 2X4 under the tarp to keep the water from making one big puddle (that collapsed my pen roof) Now the water goes off to each side.

 

[jtbrown]

Great job, we are taking a small break on our run too, it was really much more expensive than we thought, they free range for several hours many evenings and seem to be fine. We keep telling ourselves a mostly one time investment, just turned out a bigger investment than we thought! Great job!

 

[lizzy14]

This is VERY similar to the coop we are planning to build - 4x8 with attached chain link fence for the run 10x10x10 and a two foot entry door into the run next to the coop. I am looking forward to showing my dad (he's spearheading the construction of it) pics of yours and others like it - he's an oldie but a goodie who doesn't yet understand the powers of the internet! Great job! Any pointers for us?

 

[Kudzu]

That looks great, I bet some tasty eggs will come out of there.

 

[chickschool]

I had to use a tarp to make a temporary coop as my chicks out grew the garage and our coop was still under construction. It might sound strange but I used the ladder from an old above ground pool and placed it under the tarp in the center of the pen to create an angle so the rain would run off and it worked like a charm. The problem that I wasn't expecting was when we got a pretty good storm with high winds and the wind literally lifted and moved the pen. Luckily everything turned out OK.

 

[Jeffross1968]

Quote:
I'll think about it, but for now, buy a new chain link fence, using panels and not a DIY type where you stretch the fence around the posts yourself. Look for metal parts, not plastic that can rot in the sun. Also, do not attach hardware until you are done building everything (hinges, locks). Everything tends to settle flex and move around while you are still building. I had to move things a couple times. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

 

[Parrotchick]

Ditto on the tarps being an issue. During the heavy snowstorms the winter before last, I was constantly shoveling snow from the makeshift "roof" of my pens. Later I removed the ugly Shanty=town looking tarps, only to replace them last week as extra protection from the sly weasel or mink that killed my beloved Tom Turkey in his pen. Well darn if last Thursday and Friday, we were nailed with thunderstorms that dropped nearly two inches of rain in an hour, each day. AUGH!!! I was scrambling back and forth in the pen trying to push the water out. It got too heavy for me in places and I had to slice slits in the tarps to bleed the water before it pulled everything down. The welded wire I had stapled to the top stretch an unbeliebable amount and one weaker joist totally collapsed.

Great idea about calling the roofing places. I'm going to look some up now!

 

[M.sue]

Coop looks great. I love your sign!!