Urban Coop - Ottawa, ON

[peterdoyle45]

Hey all, thought id share my pics after a long winter of researching and a spring construct. Started out by choosing a strategic location, next to the shed and the fence, away form the house and neighbours but still protected well on 2 sides from the elements. i choose to make the run 4' X 10' and the elevated coop 4' X 4'. I used treated wood and the panels you see there are all weather smart panels form home depot. As you can see in this picture, the framing and foundation are almost complete. Look carefully and you will notice the bricks of the foundation are laid on hardware cloth to prevent predators from digging. There were some major roots from the pine tree but i managed to incorporate them through the foundation and still lay the predator apron functionally.

I bought 3 ISA Brown Pullets on June 9. They were 15 Canadian dollars each, purchased in la Belle province.

Here's the inside of my coop during construction. We bought the window from kajiji for 50 bucks and installed it in the South side. I used a pet door with clear plastic and a magnet on the bottom. i am hoping they will become more prodicient in using the door as Ottawa winters are windy and cold and i cannot keep the door propped open forever. If i close the pet door at night they will use it to get out but if its closed during the day they will sleep on the ladder instead of pushing through into the coop. any suggestions? i was thinking of cutting the plastic into strips to make it easier on them to push through but then i was wondering if it will let the wind in in the winter..perhaps multiple layers of plastic strips? begginning of nest box on the left.

I added in some roosting bars and my pullets ( Breakfast, lunch and dinner) slept their first night in the coop, although it was missing lots of finishing touches!

The next pic shows great progress with the run frame, the foundation and the trim work.

Here's a pic of my wife and I after we installed the door in the door.

After having the chickens live in the coop for a bit i made some changes to their roosting bars. Added more and put them higher to stop them from sleeping and crapping in the next box. worked like a charm. Here's the inside after the adjustments. Got my heated waterer cord running through the roof joists. i made sure to attach hardware cloth to my joices as i put extra vent holes through the insulation. also adding the 2" X 4" to the nest box entrance made the box access a little trickier which deters them from sleeping in it. others use curtains which is cool too. They like a nice dark spot to lay.

Heres the door in the door finished. The long rake makes mixing the bedding very easy. #deepbedding

Here is the front before the hardware cloth was painted balck with tremclad and installed. Easily the toughest and most pain staking part of the project was the hardware cloth. using a jigsaw with a metal blade helped cutting the strips. i literally just ran it on the grass and it cut easily. attaching it was a pain, i used galvanised staples. hammering them in was difficult due to the proximity of the shed,and the frame of the run was 1.5" X 1.5" which leaves little room for error.

Me and my son in July.

notice the staircase in the middle. i ended up moving it to the left and adding a platform. i thought it would help them with the pet door. not much success yet so i keep it propped open.

Here are some shots of my ladies, Breakfast Lunch and Dinner.

heres a bad chicken shot but shows the platform.

Here are the shots of the finished product!

The White boards shown above are installed to keep the sun off the water

For the pet door problem, i have used mealworms to entice them. i have tried just letting them figure it out but they end up just sleeping on the ladder in the run. Will they be more motivated to use the door when the colder weather comes? thanks for your help on this one!

Happy Chicken Farming to all !

 

[rosemarythyme]

Nice backyard set up for the amount of birds. As far as the pet door issue, maybe something to try instead is to put a wind break on the platform (a wall, essentially) to keep the wind from blowing straight in, but leaving the pop door itself uncovered.

Look carefully and you will notice the bricks of the foundation are laid on hardware cloth to prevent predators from digging.

Be careful with this. Not sure how covered your apron is, but with an apron you don't want to cover it all the way to the edge with things like pavers, as that causes pests and predators to start at the edge of the pavers and dig down and forward. By leaving the apron uncovered or lightly covered with dirt, gravel, grass, the pests would instead try to dig down at the very edge of the run, hit the wire, and hopefully give up.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Perfect the size is great for 3 you have enjoy