What is your favorite thing about your coop?

[Hillywu]

As a new (slightly obsessed) chicken owner, I'm working on designing just the right coop for my new feathered friends. We've already ordered a 10 x 16 shed from some Mennonite neighbors of ours and we'll be modifying it to turn it into our coop. I have seen so many wonderful designs! So, I'm wondering, what is the one thing about your coop that you love? What do you think you just couldn't be without in your coop? Thanks so much for sharing! I'm having so much fun planning this!

Hillary

 

[ethingtonart]

Separate pens. My coop is a converted shed too. The back half is the main part of the coop, with nesting boxes, roosts, and a pop hole leading into the run. But the front half is divided into a second smaller coop with a roost to the left and a storage area to the right.
The second smaller coop is great for separating injured or aggressive birds or breeders from the main flock, and the storage area is just so handy!

 

[Hillywu]

That sounds great! I have already planned on putting in a storage room, but I'm now thinking about being able to divide the henhouse into two separate areas, just in case. There will be room in the storage area for a pen for a sick chicken or a broody hen, but I don't know what I'd do if I was introducting new pullets, etc. I read on someone's coop design that they had a removable wall. I'm wondering if something like that would work.

 

[suzeqf]

I love my divided coop, It started out being my up and coming polish and silkie section with it's own run/roost,nest box and my big kids free range and it has worked really well for my young hens i put them in it when they were 6 weeks old and now they are 9 weeks old I started opening the door up at night so they could mingle and this week they free range with the big girls and they love it. The current residence of the henpen are my very shy Amerucana hen and my two silkies and it has worked wonders for Shadow she's actually started to lay daily now because she doesn't get bothered by the boys and I can put other hens in the pen when they boys harass them and they will lay it's great.

 

[Coop de Grille]

We also have a 10x16 converted shed. I divided the coop down the middle with a wire wall to have a left and right side. There is a chicken door between the two areas so I can block it off if I need too. Each side has access to a run. Right now my chickens can go in either side. When I start to integrate my babies I will block off the one side so they can get used to each other.

I left 4 feet in the front for storage. Next month I am having a built in brooder put in the area. I am VERY happy with how it came out.

Left side of coop:



Right side of coop:



Outside view of the coop and all three runs. (Don't look at the construction mess, we just finished it this past weekend.)

Left side pen is 25X10, right side pen is 12X16 and the front baby pen area is 5X10.



When the front doors are open you can see a hardware cloth wall with two doors, one for each side of the coop. It was cold and rainy the day I took the above picture so the doors were closed. I used hardware cloth so I can keep the doors open 24/7 when the weather is nice. I have two large metal garbage cans in the space in front to hold feed and scratch. The built in brooder will go on the left side in that area.

 

[Hillywu]

Thank you so much for the ideas and the pictures! The pictures are a huge help in helping me to determine how to set up my coop. I was trying to figure out the best way to do it and this is great! It never occurred to me to put the wall that separates them going in that direction - DUH!!! Gosh, I'm so ridiculously excited to get this built! I'm so glad I have BYC where there are other "chicken crazies" out there!!! LOL!!