Woot we have a bouncing baby coop

[peastix]

It's done!

There is some space at the bottom of the run, because they built it on blocks so it would be level. We need to get pavers or something to block that off, whitewash the inside of the coop, and make the anti-predator apron.

The side facing the house
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Door to the coop on the south side
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Inside the run looking at the coop
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In the run looking north
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Roost with poop board tray - roost can move and the whole tray can come out for cleaning if needed.
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Nesting boxes
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West wall, window with shutters since storms tend to come from west or southwest
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The run door has springs so it will close, and a latch string inside to open it.
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4 chicks coming up on 6 weeks old. We'll see if they're all pullets. I have concerns about the mistake mystery chick who seems to be a bantam white cochin.
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[peastix]

oops meant to say x2. super cute. well done

 

[paintedChix]

Your little coop looks beautiful!! Nice way to do the apron, too.

Over time, you'll find that you will make changes to your coop and/or add a run or even another coop. You'll try things as you learn and you'll adapt other's ideas to utilize for yourself.

Don't compare your coop and what you have to anyone else's. It's not shameful to not be able to build. It's not a bad thing to start with a coop that you purchased or had built. You can add upgrades that fit you & your family's style from where you are. The good thing is that your have a coop that currently will work for you and your chicks as they grow.

I can't build or frame out anything , we couldn't afford to bring in outside builders, nor purchase a built coop. Even purchasing a shed was out for us. When we moved onto this property - Christmas 2014, we had several pens/sheds and "things" that appeared to have been used for chickens - all needed work. I like re-using/recycling, so we went with what we could do. My resulting tractors and small coops (several in different areas of our property) may not be the prettiest, nor the best, but they are working so far for what we need. O, for me/us, it was a dream to learn about DLM & hooped coops here on BYC. I have access to lots of "free" (labor intensive) materials w/ our trees and have now had 5 loads of wood chips dumped in different parts of our property - we also have 7 acres of "cleared pasture" that is almost straight sand that we are trying to convert to better quality, loamy soil that will support both better grass(s) for the livestock - chickens, ducks, ponies & rabbits (maybe in future a few goats & pigs) and for growing trees & fruiting shrubs. Since becoming interested in "homesteading", permaculture, edible gardens and food forests, I've learned lots by following many different you tube channels. Some of what I've seen has worked and some has ... not, both in big ways. And some of our recycled ideas have had to be revamped as once a predator (or two or three?? - we've seen the hawks, the coyote sits right out of rifle range and knows how to scent traps and the small traps set up around our backyard coops haven't yielded any catches so far ) learned they had chickens penned "just for them", well... that has been a game changer. And with work being done on other properties around us, we've also seen a change in wildlife and domestic animal populations "flow" across our 21 acres. Some of our worst loss of life &/or damage to the coops w/o losing birds has been from domestic cats and dogs and in our pastured coops - the ponies rubbing their bums rips even hardware cloth off of the partially framed hooped coops. It's all a learning process!

Enjoy your birds and when your area is complete with your "gazebo thingy", I'd love to see more pics!!

I'm headed outside to move some tractors and enjoy some "chickie TV" w/ my 2nd cup of coffee.

 

[Celticdragonfly]

More additions and upgrades to our coop.

DH Karl helped put up a roost in the run. We have plans for another one lower down in the opposite corner. I caught the girls and set them up there to introduce them to it. Later I could see them going up there on their own.

They were seriously outgrowing the chick feeder and waterer, and occasionally knocking them down. So we got bigger ones. They hadn't done well as little chicks with nipple waterers, but this kind has auto-filling cups. Hopefully that will work well.

We are adding a ...I'm not sure whether to call it a lintel or a sill. A board that will be held across the bottom of the opening of the coop door, to keep from having the bedding fall out. Here @Purple Rose has used Gorilla construction adhesive to hold the brackets that will keep the plywood in place.

A swing is up too, but I didn't get a picture.