Our chicken coop

[pineywoods]

We needed a larger coop so I decided to build one I wouldn't have to replace because of it being to small for a little while. It took awhile to get it finished because of other things coming up and the fact I'm getting old and can't work like I used to. Of course the coop we were using was where we wanted the new one lol. Ran electric and water to it. Here's some pics

 

[civilsmoker]

Holy crap piney, I think I would call that a lodge not a coop! Them birds will be living in style!

I am going to build a similar cover but it will be filled with smokers.....lol.

 

[bmudd14474]

Looks good Jerry. Glad to see it done.

 

[Fueling Around]

Is that roost and yard combined?
Layers only or a few roasters, too?

 

[Sven Svensson]

That’s impressive.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Thats a nice coop.

I'm fixin to go get another 12 chix

Its looking grim out there. I think if everyone has the room they should raise stock and grow veggys.

 

[smokerjim]

That's a real nice coop, now I feel bad for my chickens,

 

[DRKsmoking]

Nice build ,and I bet the chickens are as proud as Peacocks, lol

Really nice home for all your chicks

David

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Wow that is nice!

 

[boykjo]

Nice work. The property is looking great.

 

[one eyed jack]

The Taj Mahal of chicken coops.

 

[chopsaw]

Nice work on that . I agree , place looks nice .

 

[indaswamp]

Very nice build! What did you put on the ground to keep out digging predators?

 

[Brokenhandle]

Holy Hen Hotel! That's really nice!

Ryan

 

[gmc2003]

Nice looking coop Jerry.

Chris

 

[pineywoods]

Is that roost and yard combined?
Layers only or a few roasters, too?

Being in FL our concern is heat more than cold. On the right is a 10x12 "hen house" which is open on 2 sides. It has nesting boxes on the right side that open from the outside. Above the nesting boxes I have roosts above poop boards that run around 3 sides. To the left of the "hen house" is a 12x20 open on all sides "yard area" and it has roosts and poop boards across 1 end and 1 running about 8' out from the end one that is in the middle of the coop from center. To the left of the "yard area" is a connected but separate 10x12 pen that again has 2 walls for a "hen house" and a "yard area" on the front of 1 of the walls. The "hen house" has roosts and poop boards on 2 sides and nesting boxes below them. At this time we are just going to do layers. The separate coop is mostly to introduce new birds into the flock. I do have it so that if it does get really cold I can attach some Visqueen to the 2 open sides to enclose them and I have power I can use for heat lamps.

Very nice build! What did you put on the ground to keep out digging predators?

We have pretty much all the predators here including the occasional bear so the entire coop and apron area has hardware cloth attached over the wood and then over that is cattle panels stapled on. All the way around the bottom I stapled a piece of about 12" hardware cloth onto the bottom 2x6 and bent it about 90 degrees out so it came out onto the ground all the way around and I used landscape staples to hold it in place until I got it all done. I then rolled out 48" wide hardware cloth flat onto the ground covering the piece sticking out from the coop and again used more landscape staples to hold it in place then I laid 50"x16' cattle panels over the top of the hardware cloth as close to the coop as possible and added more staples. Now everything is covered with hardware cloth and cattle panels from the bottom 2x6 of the coop to at least 48 or 50" all the way around. To hold it all down and make it easy to walk on, mow, etc I covered it with a layer of dirt. The eaves also have hardware cloth stapled so as to enclose them. The ridges of the metal roofing have stainless steel wool stuffed into them to close them up. All the hardware cloth is either 1/4" or 1/2" trying to keep out everything I can. The doors are welded angle with wood attached over it again with hardware cloth and cattle panels.

 

[sandyut]

Holy crap piney, I think I would call that a lodge not a coop! Them birds will be living in style!

my thoughts exactly. Looks like a great build!

 

[pineywoods]

Thanks for the comments we haven't had chickens all that long but seemed every time I read or heard about people starting into chickens it also was about people making bigger coops constantly. (kind of like us having to keep adding smokers and gear) so figured I'd try to build it once and have it last for a little while. I'm sure I'm not done building coops but hopefully this one will take care of us for awhile before I need to build another. That said I'm already thinking of how to add more "run area" to it we can't let them free range unless we are there baby sitting them just to many predators

 

[pineywoods]

my thoughts exactly. Looks like a great build!

My Brother in Law has said he's making the right side his bedroom would I mind running the satellite TV out there for him

 

[crazymoon]

Pw, Your chickens are living the high life in the Taj Mahal!