We were very concerned about the safety of the girls at night. They are still too young to be outside and away from the heat lamp, but we are all ready now! We live in the country, with forest surrounding the property. Ferrets, fox, skunks, raccoons, bear and mountain lions are all neighbors of ours. So we took 2x4's and made a frame and wrapped it completely with hardware mesh. We then attached the coop to it. The coop was fairly inexpensive, and kinda flimsy. Adding the frame gave it weight, and made it sturdy. so I don't fear it blowing over in one of our coastal winter storms where the wind coming in from the ocean can be fierce.( 75 mph or better).
The mesh is stapled on the inside. Hubby put a couple wheels on one end to make it easier to move. It moves like a breeze! Light enough that even I can drag it without strain. I want to increase our flock next year, and will do the bigger coop just like this next time. We are also putting an additional lock on the door to insure that any resourceful raccoons that invite themselves to dinner will be unable to unlock it. The wood is super thin on the coop, so we used exterior paint on it to hopefully extend its life. In case you like the paint, we used Heirloom red from the Betsy Ross color palette. It's a rich, barn red that looks even better in person. Sold at Lowes home improvement stores. The white was also from the same Betsy Ross color scheme.
The mesh is stapled on the inside. Hubby put a couple wheels on one end to make it easier to move. It moves like a breeze! Light enough that even I can drag it without strain. I want to increase our flock next year, and will do the bigger coop just like this next time. We are also putting an additional lock on the door to insure that any resourceful raccoons that invite themselves to dinner will be unable to unlock it. The wood is super thin on the coop, so we used exterior paint on it to hopefully extend its life. In case you like the paint, we used Heirloom red from the Betsy Ross color palette. It's a rich, barn red that looks even better in person. Sold at Lowes home improvement stores. The white was also from the same Betsy Ross color scheme.
