We're building our first coop! Yay! It's built out of an old privacy fence, so the construction techniques are a bit unorthadox, but it's coming together nicely. Here is where we're at right now, obviously we need to trim the window and hang the door. We also need to put in another window (both windows are double-paned) and I'm not sure where to put it.
Here's the layout:
Here's the front as is:
We have venting along the rafters. There will be a small, covered, predator proof run off to the right side of the building, and they will be able to free-range during the day in the 1/4 acre fenced yard. I'm looking at keeping 5-8 chickens, and starting with five adult hens, which I pick up Sunday!
Possible locations of the other window are A and B on the layout. The left side of the building butts up against a privacy fence, so I'd rather have the view out the back or the right side.
Initially I thought I'd put the other window, which is pretty big, about 30x40", across the back behind the roost, so they could look out the window, but now I'm considering insulating the back half of the coop and making a false ceiling back there for warmth. Probably nest boxes will be under the roost, but I'm not sure yet.
I'm still not completely convinced I even need to insulate at all, though. I'm getting cold-hardy breeds, and it seems like there are people in my climate whose birds do just fine in uninsulated coops. I'm driving myself a bit crazy about it. There are also a zillion wild turkeys around here, and they seem to survive the winter. I just don't know.
Any thoughts?
Here's the layout:

Here's the front as is:
We have venting along the rafters. There will be a small, covered, predator proof run off to the right side of the building, and they will be able to free-range during the day in the 1/4 acre fenced yard. I'm looking at keeping 5-8 chickens, and starting with five adult hens, which I pick up Sunday!
Possible locations of the other window are A and B on the layout. The left side of the building butts up against a privacy fence, so I'd rather have the view out the back or the right side.
Initially I thought I'd put the other window, which is pretty big, about 30x40", across the back behind the roost, so they could look out the window, but now I'm considering insulating the back half of the coop and making a false ceiling back there for warmth. Probably nest boxes will be under the roost, but I'm not sure yet.
I'm still not completely convinced I even need to insulate at all, though. I'm getting cold-hardy breeds, and it seems like there are people in my climate whose birds do just fine in uninsulated coops. I'm driving myself a bit crazy about it. There are also a zillion wild turkeys around here, and they seem to survive the winter. I just don't know.
Any thoughts?