Turning the coop into a palace

[snow5164]

I can’t really see the inside well , but if you’re in a warmer climate and they’re perching in the run safe from predators... I don’t see a problem .

The chicks are small and as @aart said could have a few cockerels that you’ll re home .

I love the colour of the coop /run and you’ll know by feather loss or low egg production if your girls are happy

Have fun with the ever changing saga of raising chickens

 

[llombardo]

There are 8 chicks and 3 hens. My rooster has been kidnapped There are only 6 chicks in the small coop now being that they were so spaced apart. I have 2 still living in my house that are a week old. Mama hen was sitting on a nest but the other hen kept laying beside her and she took the eggs, the first chick hatched and then the rest were a spread out days apart. I think they all hatched over 3 weeks until these last 2. She wanted nothing to do with the others, only the oldest and would peck them until they bled so I seperated them all.

The hens are all free range during the day, they only go up at night and we plan on adding on to it to give them more space.

There are two other roosting bars on the outside in the run space which is where they decided to sleep last night. I think they've only peeped inside and walked right out. But will keep that in mind.

For ventilation, we've actually made the space on the side bigger with chicken wire over it, hoping that helps.

Do you have hardware cloth around the bottom so nothing can dig in? Since this is wide open I would add another layer of hardware cloth in all areas, add locks with keys to all areas that could open and I would most likely put an electric fence around the actual coop.

 

[snow5164]

Do you have hardware cloth around the bottom so nothing can dig in? Since this is wide open I would add another layer of hardware cloth in all areas, add locks with keys to all areas that could open and I would most likely put an electric fence around the actual coop.

Maybe asking what predators you have first before suggesting turning it into Fort Knox??

I have the hardware skirt to prevent digging but no locks or electric , we don’t all live surrounded by raccoons and foxes.


Sorry @Corrie W all you wanted was decorating advice , and you’re getting raked over the coals

 

[Corrie W]

Maybe asking what predators you have first before suggesting turning it into Fort Knox??

I have the hardware skirt to prevent digging but no locks or electric , we don’t all live surrounded by raccoons and foxes.


Sorry @Corrie W all you wanted was decorating advice , and you’re getting raked over the coals

My thoughts exactly but I'm here to see it in person unlike the rest.... they've been free range living under a car port for 6 months so I'm not as worried about predators, humans are my biggest concern out here as that is how my rooster went missing. I just put this coop up yesterday so there is still plenty of room for improvement and those I'm improvements will be made.

I appreciate opinions but was only interested in how people made their coops more than a wooden box.

 

[llombardo]

Maybe asking what predators you have first before suggesting turning it into Fort Knox??

I have the hardware skirt to prevent digging but no locks or electric , we don’t all live surrounded by raccoons and foxes.


Sorry @Corrie W all you wanted was decorating advice , and you’re getting raked over the coals

Simply looking at the profile can tell anyone the possible predators.

For example in North Carolina(per the profile), the list of wildlife is not hard to find.

• Bobcat, Lynx rufus.
• Red fox, Vulpes vulpes.
• Gray fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus.
• Coyote, Canis latrans.
• Red wolf, Canis rufus*
• American black bear, Ursus americanus.
• Raccoon, Procyon lotor.
• Long-tailed weasel, Mustela frenata.

 

[llombardo]

My thoughts exactly but I'm here to see it in person unlike the rest.... they've been free range living under a car port for 6 months so I'm not as worried about predators, humans are my biggest concern out here as that is how my rooster went missing. I just put this coop up yesterday so there is still plenty of room for improvement and those I'm improvements will be made.

I appreciate opinions but was only interested in how people made their coops more than a wooden box.

It really is nice to decorate. I put up lights around it and I also got some wind chimes, but security is more important then pretty--it really is. I figured that out after I found raccoons trying to get in.

Is there a reason you believe your rooster was taken by a human versus eaten by a predator? It is concerning that he is missing.

 

[Corrie W]

It really is nice to decorate. I put up lights around it and I also got some wind chimes, but security is more important then pretty--it really is. I figured that out after I found raccoons trying to get in.

Is there a reason you believe your rooster was taken by a human versus eaten by a predator? It is concerning that he is missing.

They were adamant that my dog got their rooster... I know good and well he didn't because he stays in the house. He was there when I left for work but gone when we got home that afternoon. I had heard him over there since I was so in tune to his crow but when asked about it, they denied and silence ever since.

 

[Corrie W]

Simply looking at the profile can tell anyone the possible predators.

For example in North Carolina(per the profile), the list of wildlife is not hard to find.

• Bobcat, Lynx rufus.
• Red fox, Vulpes vulpes.
• Gray fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus.
• Coyote, Canis latrans.
• Red wolf, Canis rufus*
• American black bear, Ursus americanus.
• Raccoon, Procyon lotor.
• Long-tailed weasel, Mustela frenata.

In my area, quite other than a fox or racoon... I don't have an issue with any of those. Coyotes are around but the coop is close to the house and never once I have I seen one on any of our cameras... I also have a pig that wanders the yard.... no issues.

There is still more to be done to make this better and more secure, bigger and better.

 

[snow5164]

Simply looking at the profile can tell anyone the POSSIBLE PREDATORS - ( notice this)

For example in North Carolina(per the profile), the list of wildlife is not hard to find.
]

And there’s the problem , The art of conversation is dead, asking someone who lives there instead of googling it is much easier and you’ll soon realize that they’ve never had a bear or a bobcat anywhere near them ....


This generation of the internet users has allowed some to think because they can look it up, it must be true


Ask and you will get an answer ... tell and you’ll be the only one talking