Well it took a little longer than I thought it would because I decided to go a little bigger than planned. It ended up being a 16ft. x 8 ft. chicken coop and my chickie youngin's love it. They have been in a small 4 x 4 ft. cage until this and they think they have escaped! They flew and jumped and played like a bunch of kids let out at recess.
And to make things even better...guess who gets to be outside now?
Stud and Bootsie! I have always had to keep them put up in their little "home" because the other chickens are so mean to them. When I first let Bootsie out, the other hens came so close to killing her within the first hour that I vowed never to let them hurt her again! They are both so happy to have a lot more room. Of course she raised all those little guineas so she runs the young chicks out of the feeders so her guinea babies can eat!
And Stud....well, he stands guard to make sure no one enters his new home without getting his okay to pass. He's a good little rooster.
We still have a few things left to do. We added a ladder style roost pole this afternoon and a cover over the top of half of it to keep the chicks dry. We did the wire top and bottom to prevent raccoons and coyotes from getting in. We also added a small doghouse inside in case anyone wanted some privacy or a place to hide out. This little coop will be for all the teenagers until they graduate to the big hen house. So far I think everyone loves their new home!
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11 comments:
Oh its very cute!!! I like it alot. I wonder if we should have put wire on the bottom too... we didnt but we did bury the wires on the sides about a foot to help keep raccoons out so I guess that was good right?
Love It! We are getting ready to build ours and the bottom wire was a great tip! THANKS!
yes, the bottom wire is crucial and i am glad you are smart to do it as i have had friends lamenting the loss of their chickens due to the lack of one! i read from 'martha stewart' magazine to do that although i have no chickens, i am ready for some as soon as the husbands says yes...that day may never come though... : (
Great new home! Hey, I've got a question. Why did you put fencing on the ground? I had chickens once, but we let them roam free. That was a mistake. They got attacked. Anyway, I'm just curious.
-FringeGirl
Great coop. We didn't get ours built this year. Maybe next year, but I like the style of this one.
p.s. I added a link to you :) thanks!!
Fringegirl,
The fencing on the bottom is to keep the raccoons and the coyotes out. They will dig under a fence the first chance they get. I also make sure to put their roost poles at least a foot from the sides of the cage because raccoons will reach through and grab them while they are roosting. I lost 9 hens when we first moved here to a raccoon. It's not pretty to go out to your chicken coop and find the carnage that a raccoon leaves behind. I learned my lesson so everything is reinforced and as secure as I can make it around here where the chicks are concerned. I do let my 9 laying hens and 2 roosters free range during the day but I always put them up at night.
One thing I like about this coop is that it's light enough 2-3 people (with a little muscle) can move it if it needs to be moved.
Thanks for the link Lisa!
Great pen! The chickens sure look happy! Just a thought... since you have raccoons in the area you might want to think about putting hardware cloth or small hole chicken wire around the pen over the wire a few feet up the sides to keep the raccoons from reaching in and grabbing a chicken and pulling them apart. I have small hole chicken wire around my pen. I don't have wire on the bottom of my pen, but the sides are pretty well shielded. I am not bothered by snakes and the raccoons haven't figured out how to get under the pen but putting it over the wire on the bottom would help keep them out there too. Thank you for joining my site.
Hi Callie and thanks for joining mine! The smaller chicken wire is a good idea.
My husband just built a chicken coup, actually, it's a movable chicken "tractor" and it's been so nice to have. It doesn't have wire on the bottom, but once we're on our acreage, that might be a requirement because of abundant wildlife. The experiences you've had with raccoons surely are not pleasant. I dread having to find one of my chickens like that! Augh!
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