The Disneyland Area Chicken Coop - with photos

[kemclaughlin]

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I don't think it's overkill at all. On those nights, the open windows that they can sleep against will be the saving grace!

 

[Hope49]

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That's great, I was really hoping that she really is a SL wyandotte. They are so gorgeous!

 

[Hope49]

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Go for 3!!! 12"x12"x12" Those are dimensions for most standards!

I just can't decide. I'm thinking of doing only 1 partition for now, that I can change easily if we end up needing 3. With all the other comments, I'm afraid 3 across may be to warm for them. The best thing is, the nest box sits under the deepest shade of the tipu tree.

 

[birdstheword]

Won't chickens sleep outside in the run if their coop is too hot?

 

[Hope49]

I was kind of wondering that myself. If we have roosts out there, will they just stay out on the hot, still nights? We didn't have a coop before this, just a huge pen with everything out in the open, wired and covered with bamboo grass. But when it rained, we had to struggle with making shelters, tarps and draping shower curtains, etc, to keep them dry and I didn't want to put this bunch through that!

Today's labor was mostly painting and more painting. All the doors are painted, vent openings wired, OMG that plywood is hard to paint and just sucked up the paint!! I got blisters from trying to paint down in those little tracks!

DH is busy working on closing off underneath the deck. Beam structure makes it unusable, and we don't want to allow any critters any access at all. We plan to re-use the Choice Deck boards, if possible, but don't know if they will sag, since they are not meant to go sideways, only flat. DH is the screw gun king though...he'll make it work.

The 2 chickies are so cute. At 1 week:

I'm just sorry the rest won't be in for 2+ more weeks!

 

[ddzFunnyfarm]

Lookin really good, Hope49!

We're in Norco, so not too far from you. Pretty much the same weather, except you get the benefit of the onshore breezes much more than we do - we're dry, dry, dry! One of the surprises we got was our coop being visited by rats. No larger animal would get into the coop or run cuz DH put the welded wire fencing (1/2") into the ground and covered EVERY inch of the run, but rats found a tiny opening in the coop.

It turns out that rats can fit into openings the size of a nickel... and they did. No harm to our hens. We got rid of the rats and blocked the two crevices they could get in - problem solved. Back at our old house, in Chino, we had possum attacks on our hens, so this was nothing, compared to that.

We never would have guessed possums would be so bold, and in a neighborhood of tract homes....

Enjoy those chicks! Love watching your progress, keep the pix coming!

 

[Hope49]

Oh DDZ - that is so gross. We have a lot of rats here - they run along the wires at dusk, and they love citris and avocado trees. They went into my neighbor's huge citruses where no one harvested, burrowed in and ate the insides, and left the trees with limp bags of peel! I guess our dogs and cats keep them away, have never seen them here. Used to get opossums in the spring, but the rottweiler next door has killed 8 this spring, so it may soon cease to be the opossum's natural habitat! Our dogs worry them to death until we go out and get rid of them - oooh, I hate them so! Our housing was built in the 50's on a citrus growers farm land, the original farmhouse is kitykorner to our backyard, so lots of critters have called this area home.

So can they get through 1/2" hardware cloth? If so, I guess they will be in the coop, as my hens will need all the ventilation we have.

Like you say, we are also going to bury wire all around this thing, but otherwise, I guess we just have to keep feed in strong containment.

Thanks for your visit!

 

[Hope49]

Day 4. Lazy day, only got the doors/hardware on, but it looks cute. I like the colors so well we are thinking of repainting our house in them.

Since there's not much to show, here's the rest of the menangerie. Paisley is on a previous page, Pinstripe is here having a private moment while Xena looks at him, bewildered. (Xena's (8) always bewildered)

Zephyr - puggle (3)

Zanzibar - my 11 and a half year-old darling girl...but half chow half boxer, so no chickies for her!

The miracle Tipu tree...only 8 yrs old! Loses all leaves in one month, grows them all back in the next month!

Proud papa taking a picture of his work...

Thanks for stopping by...

 

[WhySayWhat]

Lookin' good! And what a cute "family"!

 

[Hope49]

Thanks! I love animals...a lot! I didn't get a photo yet, but we sorta got a roof board up and this thing is going to look so cute!
I'll update the photos tomorrow.

oh well, we still didn't get new photos - kind of lost the daylight due to hearing that a feed store in town had Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds.

They're home and settling in their own box...right next to the other 2, where they can hear each other and yell back and forth, sharing the heat lamp.