What are your coop regrets?

[JennsPeeps]

My DBF is starting our coop this weekend. What do you wish you'd done differently and what are you particularly proud of having done?

Thanks!

 

[scrapmom5]

I wish it were bigger. My dh made it 8 X 10 and it is 8 feet tall. We only had 7 pullets when we started and are now approaching 20. We stopped getting more girls so we didn't overcrowed the one I have.

I also wish that I had outside nest boxes so I could access the eggs from the outside. Not that it is hard now. I just walk up the stairs walk inside, reach into the box and grab the eggs, play with my girls, clean their windows so they can see better, and then return to the house. I guess I don't mind getting eggs my way. But if the boxes were access from the outside it could save me at least an hour a day. LOL

 

[chickens4jojo]

I am glad we made our permanent coop out of wood with a wooden roof (and not metal) because we are on top of a knoll and get a lot of lightening when it storms~~(No fried chicken please!!)

I do wish we had put in nest boxes that opened to the outside of the coop so I did not have to walk inside the coop so many times a day to get their eggs though. I have seen many pictures of coops on here that had those and Oh, they are so nice~~to me!!

Best wishes on your new coop~~Chickens really are so much fun!

 

[5peeps]

The only problem I have had with my coop is it's a raised coop (see picture below) I just got the run done and have been letting the chickens out. Well at night they are not going in on there own (hopefully this will stop ) so I need to put them in , for the past two nights they all huddle up in one of the back corners under the coop and its a little hard to get them out from under it's even harder with the poop on the ground .

other then that I need to add a couple more windows

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I wish there had been automatic pop hole doors available sooner. I really love ours.

 

[ravenfeathers]

i haven't even got my coop completed or my chicks in hand yet, but i'm going to echo the thoughts of many others and say that i wish it was bigger! what i've got will be fine for the hen i have and the pullets i have coming, but there's not a lot of room for more if i want to grow my flock.

 

[AllChookUp]

I would have built it a bit bigger, but I'm happy overall. I think it's a learning process, and you just have to research other plans and layouts, and do the best with what you have. You can always tweak it here and there.

 

[jenjscott]

hey 5 peeps, if you know its not going to rain, block off the area under the coop with cardboard or something before roost time. I bet once they can't get under there they will go inside. After a few days, maybe they will get used to it.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

My only regret is that is could have been much bigger, so I could have more chickens.

(My other regret is that it's not located on the property of millionaires...)

 

[Lammie]

I wish we had small doors for the chickens to enter and exit. We have regular doors instead and the chickens can't get in and out to forage and then come in to roost. If I leave the door open, my miniature donkeys can get in the hen houses and they just destroy everything. It can be easily enough modified, though.