Walk*in*Coops??

[starfroggie]

I have a 10x10 chain link dog kennel. I have been trying to decide what to put inside of it for the chickens to roost and nest in. I do not have any chickens yet but hoping to get about five or six soon. Do you find with this set up it is easy to clean the barrel? Do they ever sleep in the barrel at night or only lay eggs and hang out there in inclement weather.

Any ideas for what I could do for my chickens? If I put in a couple nesting boxes where should they go? Elevated the way you have them or closer to the ground? Do they need to have anything surrounding them for privacy?

Also will the chain link be too large for the chickens, can they get out?

 

[CUDA]

I have a couple of pens that way too. The chain link works fine, except for chicks, they can walk right through it! You can wrap the bottom of the pens with tin, or 2 ft. poultry fencing to keep the chicks in though. Typically, the birds only go in the barrels when the weather is bad, and to lay. I have no problem keeping my barrels clean. You can put the nesting boxes in there, but they will lay in the barrels if you keep bedding in them. I prefer to have them off the ground, I have some the other way, and they are hard on the old back! Good luck!

 

[gamebirdsonly]

CUDA. HEY I LIKE YOUR 8X8 PENS. ABOUT HOW MUCH DID IT COST TO BUILD ONE THOSE?

 

[starfroggie]

Thanks for the feedback, where is the best place to find those barrels?

 

[CUDA]

Well, I am pretty cheap, the wood came from shipping crates, and the barrels from work. The posts are treated landscape timbers, and the netting is leftover stuff I had laying around. The tin I took of a blown down neighbors barn. So, as you can see, I don't have much into them! lol You can get barrels from factories that use chemicals, or even car washes. You just have to wash them out good! Good luck!

 

[Brian]

I wouldn't have a coop I couldn't walk into. The coop is the one place where I can bring in a stool and just sit and watch my hens. It is here, where I am close in, where I can have a good look at them, and see if any are having problems, I can inspect them, I can make sure their food and bedding is correct, etc. Also, it is fun to just sit and watch them interact.
Brian

 

[hcammack]

I use a chicken tractor so very little cleaning is needed and I get to interact w/ the chickens when I let them freerange when I get home from school. this system works well for me they do have a small movable pen atached to the tractor for when I am not here. My chicken tractor is 3ft tall so I cant get inside but that is fine with me.

Good Luck,
Henry

 

[AtRendeAcres]

LOL!! I guess you always want what you don't have!!
I have a walk in & I want a tractor I want LESS cleaning I can glab a lawn chair and let them free range at the end of the day!

 

[nightshade]

I have three "walk ins"That you can go in the coop and the majority of the runs wuthout pretending to be a hunch back. And like everyone else said, I would not have them any other way. We are putting an addition on my main hen house this spring can't wait til it's done. Good luck and I would deffently recomend a walk in run.

 

[jimnjay]

I have both walk in and some smaller unit. The one I like the best for my purposes are the 4x8x4 raised coops. I elevate the basic box about 20 inches off the ground and I use a door on the front that is about 4'wide. The advantages of the smaller coop is that you can clean easily through the big door, It is easier to keep warm for the birds in winter. It costs way less to build and you can have more individual units for the same price. When you have different breeds to keep separated it gets very expensive to have more than one walk in coop and much more difficult to build. I am 64 and I built the one pictured here almost by my self. I just needed help getting the plywood on the roof and my DH helped me hold the full sheet for the back.

It really depends on a persons needs if the walk in coops is necsssary. I like the fact that the chickens can go under the coop and I have access to clean it out. We don't have lots of shade here and betting under the coop is a favortie place for them.

On this one, I have since cut a chicken door under the window. I also scrounged some left over insulation from the construction job across the street and insulated the walls.