the new coop is almost finished(pics)

[arherp]

Ok, thanks! I actually have that exact kind of wire here at the house, I just couldn't tell from the pics. I think I will build something similar to this tomorrow.

 

[greenpeeps]

Quote:
Is Rio a Pit? Just wondering, we have an american Bull Dog and she's to "playful" with ours. I just need to break her of that.

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

Before I got chickens (and chicks) I was very concerned about my three Pugs and the Chihuahua either picking on the chickens or the chickens pecking the dogs and putting an eye out or something. Turns out these fears are unfounded. The chickens free range in the yard, where the dogs have total access. The Chi finally gave up trying to smell chicken butts and form friendships...the pugs all just ignore them. It is not unusual for eleven chickens and roosters to be in a flock including the four dogs with all of them just a few feet from one another. I figured this was because all my dogs are small...but I have a friend who has two huge mixed breed dogs each of which goes over a hundred pounds and they will lay in the yard when her chickens free range and not even move when a chicken comes near.
Terry in TN

 

[gsim]

Good job and very neat. Do add some overhang to roof sides and rear. If not, sheathing will wick rainwater into its edges and cause swelling and rot. Do add a roof vent too for fumes to vent out. That is very important, and is likely 100 times more important than any type of coop heating. You will need a larger run too. If you have coons in the area, you should consider adding a 24" tall course of hardware cloth wire around the current run so that they cannot reach in to rip the heads, wings, or legs off of your chickens. Coons will do that and will eat them alive, one body part at a time.

Regards a run, I used 2x4 welded wire 6 ft tall, set in cement. I would do the hardware cloth all around that for racoon protection. I did a fence charger with 4 courses of hot wire all around. Just some ideas. The 2x4 horse fence is great too and would be a good choice to enclose the entire back yard.

 

[4estgump]

Great Coop and Run. I bet the birds are in great spirits. Very good job.
4estgump

 

[BekahBear]

Is Rio a Pit? Just wondering, we have an american Bull Dog and she's to "playful" with ours. I just need to break her of that.

i'm not 100% sure what he is. he was a rescue. i got him at 4 weeks old. the previous owner was going to shoot him "for the fun of it" he had already killed all his littermates. i had to bribe the guy with $150 to get him to give me the puppy instead of killing it. both parents were on the property. his mom looked like a mastiff/staffy mix and the dad looked like maybe a lab-ish type mix. Rio is great with everything..cats, dogs, horses, rabbits, chickens..and whatever else he comes across. its nice to have a dog that i can trust with just about anything. he has even made friends with a roadrunner that likes to hang our on our property. lol

You will need a larger run too. If you have coons in the area, you should consider adding a 24" tall course of hardware cloth wire around the current run so that they cannot reach in to rip the heads, wings, or legs off of your chickens.

The 2x4 horse fence is great too and would be a good choice to enclose the entire back yard.

we live on 4 1/2 acres. the whole thing is fenced in with the non climb fencing and we have a 90x100 yard fenced in with 6' chain link for the dogs during the day(we sectioned off the last 20' of it as a separate run using the non climb fence. thats thats where i got the extra from). so i've been leaving the coop door open during the day and to let them free roam the property and i round them up at night when i feed the horses. the weather hasn't been great the last couple days so unfortunately they have had to spend most of the day in the coop to keep them out of the rain(we usually only get a few inches of rain during the whole year..but we've gotten a few inches in the last week or so. go figure). when i said i plan on putting "chicken wire" around the bottom 2' of the run it was actually the hardware cloth that i was thinking of. we get it from Lowes(we used when building our rabbit hutches). i don't know what we have in the area besides coyotes but i would rather be safe then sorry.​