Chicken math caught up with me. After swearing up and down I would not get more than 3 chickens until I had a couple years of experience under my belt, I somehow ended up with an incubator and some hatching eggs 9 months after acquiring my first 3 chicks. 6 of those eggs hatched, 2 ended up being pullets, and 4 were roosters. I kept the pullets and one of the boys. So, I effectively doubled my flock before my first year of chicken keeping was done.
So, problem. My original coop was not made to hold 6 chickens. It is a reworked A-frame, with 12 square feet of coop space, and 50 square feet of run space. It did well for my original 3 girls, but wasn't going to work once I added in 3 more.
My first coop, shortly before it was completed.
Last fall, shortly before I set my hatching eggs, I got a good deal off of craigslist on a chicken coop. After getting it home I decided it was originally a playhouse for the previous owner's daughter, turned into a chicken coop when she outgrew it. Hence, I dubbed it the Playhouse Coop.
The Playhouse Coop with training fence.
This lovely little house has room inside for 8 chickens, but, sadly, no run. Once my three youngesters moved out to it, they had very limited time outside. The temporary fence allowed me time to get them trained to come to me when I wanted them too, but they had figured out how to get out of it within two weeks. I like them free ranging and all, but since introductions hadn't been made yet, I did not want them out at the same time the older girls were free ranging.
So, time to begin working on the run. Okay, actually, passed time to start working on the run. But I seem to like to do things in the wrong order.
I have very little in the way of building experience. I showed about a hundred pictures of different runs and coops to my father, who was going to be my helper in this adventure, and he came up with most of the plans. The wood for the project is all nicer quality skid lumber, and was free, except for the time and energy it took to pull the skids apart. Some of the wire was left over from other projects, most of the wire and all other supplies were purchased new.
2 of the run walls. I thought we should stain the wood before assembly, my dad thought we should just get it built. I won sometimes, and he won sometimes.
The run assembled, with some of the wire attached. It is a little over 15 ft by 8 ft, so, about 120 square feet of space.
The 'people' door in place, and the framework for the coop 'tunnel' installed. Wire up on all sides it's going on. The top 4 feet of the run walls are covered in 2x4 welded wire, the bottom 3 feet is 1/2 inch hardware cloth. The total height is a little over 6 feet, so there is an overlap in the wire sections.
The tunnel installed, mostly. Gives the birds access to the run, without allowing predators in, hopefully. 1/2 inch hardware cloth.
The dividers folded out, and in use, and working. This was my idea to create a partition in the run for when I want to have two groups of birds in the run, but not able to touch each other. Mainly, I thought for introductions, since I am currently trying to introduce two groups of birds to each other. But I thought it could also be used if I needed to separate a bird due to injury, or if I ever have a brooding hen, or hen raising chicks, or, who knows? In the future will add a small coop to this section, that I can put in when needed. For now the partitions are in use for a few hours each day, and the older girls get moved back to their coop at night.
The dividers folded back, and hooked to the run walls for storage when not in use. The one is a little warped, and I attached it a little to close to the ground, so it doesn't sit as nicely against the run wall as I would like.
So, things I have left to do: 1- lots of predator proofing. Birds currently can only be out during the day when I am home. I have to finish putting the skirting around the run, and cover up a few spots around the coop and tunnel that aren't well protected. There is currently bird netting across the top to deter hawks, but I want welded wire, and eventually, #2- a roof. We need some rain protection, and winter snow protection. Father and I are undecided what to do about the roof, other than the fact I know I want one on at least part of the run.
And...
The 2nd reason for doing all this. Pretty eggs.
The 1st reason, of course, is that chickens are just so much fun to have around.
So, problem. My original coop was not made to hold 6 chickens. It is a reworked A-frame, with 12 square feet of coop space, and 50 square feet of run space. It did well for my original 3 girls, but wasn't going to work once I added in 3 more.
My first coop, shortly before it was completed.
Last fall, shortly before I set my hatching eggs, I got a good deal off of craigslist on a chicken coop. After getting it home I decided it was originally a playhouse for the previous owner's daughter, turned into a chicken coop when she outgrew it. Hence, I dubbed it the Playhouse Coop.
The Playhouse Coop with training fence.
This lovely little house has room inside for 8 chickens, but, sadly, no run. Once my three youngesters moved out to it, they had very limited time outside. The temporary fence allowed me time to get them trained to come to me when I wanted them too, but they had figured out how to get out of it within two weeks. I like them free ranging and all, but since introductions hadn't been made yet, I did not want them out at the same time the older girls were free ranging.
So, time to begin working on the run. Okay, actually, passed time to start working on the run. But I seem to like to do things in the wrong order.
I have very little in the way of building experience. I showed about a hundred pictures of different runs and coops to my father, who was going to be my helper in this adventure, and he came up with most of the plans. The wood for the project is all nicer quality skid lumber, and was free, except for the time and energy it took to pull the skids apart. Some of the wire was left over from other projects, most of the wire and all other supplies were purchased new.
2 of the run walls. I thought we should stain the wood before assembly, my dad thought we should just get it built. I won sometimes, and he won sometimes.
The run assembled, with some of the wire attached. It is a little over 15 ft by 8 ft, so, about 120 square feet of space.
The 'people' door in place, and the framework for the coop 'tunnel' installed. Wire up on all sides it's going on. The top 4 feet of the run walls are covered in 2x4 welded wire, the bottom 3 feet is 1/2 inch hardware cloth. The total height is a little over 6 feet, so there is an overlap in the wire sections.
The tunnel installed, mostly. Gives the birds access to the run, without allowing predators in, hopefully. 1/2 inch hardware cloth.
The dividers folded out, and in use, and working. This was my idea to create a partition in the run for when I want to have two groups of birds in the run, but not able to touch each other. Mainly, I thought for introductions, since I am currently trying to introduce two groups of birds to each other. But I thought it could also be used if I needed to separate a bird due to injury, or if I ever have a brooding hen, or hen raising chicks, or, who knows? In the future will add a small coop to this section, that I can put in when needed. For now the partitions are in use for a few hours each day, and the older girls get moved back to their coop at night.
The dividers folded back, and hooked to the run walls for storage when not in use. The one is a little warped, and I attached it a little to close to the ground, so it doesn't sit as nicely against the run wall as I would like.
So, things I have left to do: 1- lots of predator proofing. Birds currently can only be out during the day when I am home. I have to finish putting the skirting around the run, and cover up a few spots around the coop and tunnel that aren't well protected. There is currently bird netting across the top to deter hawks, but I want welded wire, and eventually, #2- a roof. We need some rain protection, and winter snow protection. Father and I are undecided what to do about the roof, other than the fact I know I want one on at least part of the run.
And...
The 2nd reason for doing all this. Pretty eggs.
The 1st reason, of course, is that chickens are just so much fun to have around.
