After researching here and online most of the winter and figuring out what I do and don't like about my current and past coops, I am just about ready to start on my new coop this weekend hopefully. At least I will be getting the area leveled out and so forth. Real construction will begin in 2 weeks. Anyway, I have been working on my design and I am getting nervous that I will forget something or wish I did something different. I want to cover all my bases. I don't care if it takes 6 months to build this coop, I want it to be perfect so I never have to do this again. This is our 5th and last coop.
So what do you like best about your coop? Did you insulate it, run electricity or water to it or have some special set up like a brooder box that is built in? Do you have solar lights outside or a light inside? What would you do different if you could?
We will be building from scratch a playhouse type coop with an attached, covered run, which will butt up against our big run. So they will have the coop, the covered run and the big run. Come winter, we will enclose the covered run with plexiglas or those clear greenhouse type panels to keep the snow out. All windows and doors will have screens for summer and the coop will be ventilated the whole way around the top.
It will be raised about 2 feet high so I don't have to stoop to clean it. I will have a water station and a heater for winter, a feeding station and a snack station. I will also be putting in one of those hanging balls you can put greens in. I have a really cute idea for a chicken ramp, but I want to wait and show everyone instead of telling them. I will be using dishpans in the nest boxes for easy cleaning and poop hammocks under the roosts. I will also be painting some faux stained glass chickens on all the windows. In the winter, the screens will be covered with plexiglas to keep out any drafts.
We will keep pine shavings in the coop and sand in the run. We will be using hardwire cloth on everything and burying it under the coop as well. The coop will have a paved driveway on one side and a 3 ft wide side walk on the other side. The other two sides will have some sort of rocks or pavers put down on top of the hardwire cloth as well.
We have a perfect location under 3 oak trees. They will get lots of shade in the summer and lots of southern sun in the winter. I think I will be using plywood and covering that with tongue and groove I took from an old cabin. I will be using the old windows from the same cabin for doors. We will have 4 nest boxes. I have 6 now and they only use 2, so I will cut back. I am thinking of making a built in brooder as well, but am not sure I need that as I don't have that many chicks.
So, what am I forgetting? What else should I plan on putting in there? My goals are easy for me to clean, easy for me to care for the chickens, cute and pleasing to look at, and most important, provide a safe, clean environment for the chickens to live in. This coop is highly visible from the street and even though I am not supposed to have more than 4 chickens, no one ever bothers us about it. I would also like a coop I can show to people and give them ideas how to do it in their own yards. Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
So what do you like best about your coop? Did you insulate it, run electricity or water to it or have some special set up like a brooder box that is built in? Do you have solar lights outside or a light inside? What would you do different if you could?
We will be building from scratch a playhouse type coop with an attached, covered run, which will butt up against our big run. So they will have the coop, the covered run and the big run. Come winter, we will enclose the covered run with plexiglas or those clear greenhouse type panels to keep the snow out. All windows and doors will have screens for summer and the coop will be ventilated the whole way around the top.
It will be raised about 2 feet high so I don't have to stoop to clean it. I will have a water station and a heater for winter, a feeding station and a snack station. I will also be putting in one of those hanging balls you can put greens in. I have a really cute idea for a chicken ramp, but I want to wait and show everyone instead of telling them. I will be using dishpans in the nest boxes for easy cleaning and poop hammocks under the roosts. I will also be painting some faux stained glass chickens on all the windows. In the winter, the screens will be covered with plexiglas to keep out any drafts.
We will keep pine shavings in the coop and sand in the run. We will be using hardwire cloth on everything and burying it under the coop as well. The coop will have a paved driveway on one side and a 3 ft wide side walk on the other side. The other two sides will have some sort of rocks or pavers put down on top of the hardwire cloth as well.
We have a perfect location under 3 oak trees. They will get lots of shade in the summer and lots of southern sun in the winter. I think I will be using plywood and covering that with tongue and groove I took from an old cabin. I will be using the old windows from the same cabin for doors. We will have 4 nest boxes. I have 6 now and they only use 2, so I will cut back. I am thinking of making a built in brooder as well, but am not sure I need that as I don't have that many chicks.
So, what am I forgetting? What else should I plan on putting in there? My goals are easy for me to clean, easy for me to care for the chickens, cute and pleasing to look at, and most important, provide a safe, clean environment for the chickens to live in. This coop is highly visible from the street and even though I am not supposed to have more than 4 chickens, no one ever bothers us about it. I would also like a coop I can show to people and give them ideas how to do it in their own yards. Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
