Would Love Some Coop Feedback!

[cameroneil]

hello chicken folk!

my husband and i have been in the process of coop construction for awhile now, and i've been documenting our progress in our blog...we are trying to become Totally Urban Farmers (TUFs), and so our blog is...

http://totallyurbanfarmer.blogspot.com

i would be endlessly grateful for any comments and feedback that we could get on the coop construction/design (or whatever else!). we want it to be chickentacular before we get the chickens, of course. we are definitely not Totally Urban Farmers YET, but the chickens are a big first step and the garden is happening very soon. And there are so many inspirational folks on here who already are TUFing it out! amazing!

our coop is about 4x4x4, and the run is about 8x16. during the week the chickens will be confined to the run, but when we are home on the weekends/in the summer, they will have free range of the yard! fun! i am hoping to eventually have 8-10 chickens, starting with 4-5 to see how it goes. maybe less. who knows. thoughts?

anyway, let me know if it's not kosher to put external links in forum posts, and i'll not do it again. but i thought it was worth a shot for the valuable feedback.

thank you, chicken universe! --cameroneil

 

[falinagirl]

Really cute coop! What kind of predators do you have in your area? Chicken wire won't keep out anything that wants to snack on your precious chickens. I would like to suggest hardware cloth.


Have fun!

 

[gertiie]

your blog is entertaining, your pooches are adorable and your coop is cute ! I am glad to see you guys are having fun with it !

 

[Capvin]

The design of your coop and run is great!! But from what I understand, you are in Central Texas and you will have lots of predators coming around. Please let me suggest that you read the Predators section on this forum to discover how many members lose their chickens. Chicken wire is great to keep chickens inside an area. It will not even deter a small predator (rat, possum) and for a racoon it will be lunch. It is really just as easy to install 1/2 inch wire hardware cloth (even though it is more expensive. Also, if you do not cover the run almost anything will climb over and birds of prey will just do what they will. Your coop is really nice; make it safer.