The Garden Loft for Eggstraordinary Ladies

[Caity]

It's actually about 36 inches deep--there's 7" in 2x4s and the 7 inches from the walls is measured to the closest point, which are the 2x4s that make the frame. The walls are another 1.5" away (or maybe 3.5" I can't remember which way the closest studs are aligned). I decided to go with two roosts because in our last coop, they all fought over the window seat, so this way I figured there'd be two spots. Since I already have it together, i might as well wait and see if they have problems or the walls get slimed. The whole length is 12 feet, so each half is 6 feet.

We only have 8 hens right now, 4 elderly hens in our old coop, and 4 chicks in our dining room. I don't foresee us ever having more than 8, we only have 8 now because there have been a few times when it looked like two of our older hens were at death's door so we wanted to have the new flock ready when they start to go. We don't want to be in the situation where we have one old hen left on her own while we wait for chick season.

I'm happy to take a pic with the doors open when I get home! I had to hold back to only post the dozen pics I did

 

[hlhutchinson]

Oh wow can I say I'm a bit envious . Love love the ladder for the little ones
Looks like my Hubbie has a new project lol to add to our coop

 

[fightingbunny]

My current coop has two roost bars that are really close like that and I have the problem that the hens pick on each others tail feathers. I think they get pretty bored as they go into the coop at dusk but don't fall asleep for a while. I will know if it is the roosts that are the problem soon though as they move into their new coop this weekend!! I made sure the new coop only has one long roost and no one will have another chicken's bottom nearby to pull on.

 

[Caity]

My current coop has two roost bars that are really close like that and I have the problem that the hens pick on each others tail feathers. I think they get pretty bored as they go into the coop at dusk but don't fall asleep for a while. I will know if it is the roosts that are the problem soon though as they move into their new coop this weekend!! I made sure the new coop only has one long roost and no one will have another chicken's bottom nearby to pull on.

Ah, that is a really good point! Since I don't really need the roost space, it looks like I will be ripping it out after all--arg. Oh well, a good excuse to spend another weekend out in the pretty fall weather!

 

[Caity]

Here's a picture of the coop all opened up (except the pop-door on the far left).

 

[aart]

Curious about the separate section for chicks.

 

[Caity]

Curious about the separate section for chicks.

What do you mean?

 

[aart]

What do you mean?

I thought you had part of coop sectioned off for new birds?
Tho it's highly likely I am confusing you with someone else.

 

[Caity]

Haha, no, that's me. Right in the middle it's divided in two--the two doors are open and touching handle-to-handle, but they're lined up exactly behind the middle pole so you can't see. I should have taken the picture from an angle.

 

[Caity]

This weekend I swapped out the two roosts for one central one, so hopefully any problems will be avoided.Thanks for all the feedback everyone!