L2fly
Chirping
I know I'm not alone in buying & putting together a TSC coop/run before completing all my research, but as it is a good fit for my backyard, fit the budget, and my goal is only to have 3 chickens anyway, I've decided to keep it, with some modifications for safety and coop space, and maybe extend the run at a later date. (And it will all get a good paint job!)
Here is the coop:
I'm beefing up screen security by adding washers and screws at all corners and 12 inch intervals, and will also go back through with heavier staples:
Every door, in addition to the two barrel locks already there, will get a carabiner locking the middle. So there will be three separate locks on each door.
I'll lay down 1/2 in hardware cloth over the entire floor (that I have left over from another project), and staple to the 4x4s.
I'll install a battery operated motion detection light on each side.
I've also realized that my coop itself is a bit small. It is 9 sq feet, but that included the 3 nesting boxes (which, after reading this board, I realize I only need one box for my 3 girls). Plus I read that the roosts should be higher than the nests, and the stock roosts were only about two inches higher than the nests, wasting a lot of vertical space. (I should add, with our mild weather, my plan is to make the entire coop/run combo as bomb-proof as possible, and let them have access to the run 24/7).
So, I've taken out two of the nesting boxes, installed a partial, sloped cover over the last nesting box for more privacy, and installed a new removable roost in a sort of diagonal across the coop, about 12 inches from the floor. This gives them headroom on the roost of about 12 inches at the sides, and 22 inches from the peak in the roof. (I'll also be cutting down the board in front of the two nests I removed.)
Thoughts from experiences chicken keepers on the above modifications?
My main concern with the coop is, in this small space, will they be able to fly enough to get to the roost a foot from the ground?
TIA!
Here is the coop:
I'm beefing up screen security by adding washers and screws at all corners and 12 inch intervals, and will also go back through with heavier staples:
Every door, in addition to the two barrel locks already there, will get a carabiner locking the middle. So there will be three separate locks on each door.
I'll lay down 1/2 in hardware cloth over the entire floor (that I have left over from another project), and staple to the 4x4s.
I'll install a battery operated motion detection light on each side.
I've also realized that my coop itself is a bit small. It is 9 sq feet, but that included the 3 nesting boxes (which, after reading this board, I realize I only need one box for my 3 girls). Plus I read that the roosts should be higher than the nests, and the stock roosts were only about two inches higher than the nests, wasting a lot of vertical space. (I should add, with our mild weather, my plan is to make the entire coop/run combo as bomb-proof as possible, and let them have access to the run 24/7).
So, I've taken out two of the nesting boxes, installed a partial, sloped cover over the last nesting box for more privacy, and installed a new removable roost in a sort of diagonal across the coop, about 12 inches from the floor. This gives them headroom on the roost of about 12 inches at the sides, and 22 inches from the peak in the roof. (I'll also be cutting down the board in front of the two nests I removed.)
Thoughts from experiences chicken keepers on the above modifications?
My main concern with the coop is, in this small space, will they be able to fly enough to get to the roost a foot from the ground?
TIA!
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