Not quite finished but here it is:
We first bought chickens 3 years ago from TSC. I looked for coop designs and came up with a nice one that worked great for us and our 5 new chicks. Well, as you know, you can't stop once you start..so I decided to add some Silkies and we added an addition to our coop so they would have their own area. Over the years, the two sections have served us well, but I knew we needed to design something more suited to our needs and with plenty of room for the chickens for those rare times when they can't get out during the day(vacations, etc). I wanted something roomy and airy for them with all of the basics I needed including easy to clean roost, storage for all of their food and extra water/food dishes, etc. We also have a temperamental rooster-my sons so we just can't get rid of him!-so I really wanted a 2 "room" coop where we could get in there and take care of what ever cleaning, egg collecting we needed to get done. This will really come in handy when we are vacation and our girl comes to take care of them. We don't let them out while we are on vacation and the other coop was just not designed to make it easy for her to get in there and feed/water them without our roo and his girls getting antsy and trying to make an escape. With the new coop she can come and go really easy.
This is our first coop. The back section is the original and the section in front is our Silkie/bantam coop:
I looked for a long time to try and figure out what design would work best for our and I stumbled across a website where someone had turned an old shed into a coop and I worked off of that to design ours. I knew we had a lot of extra wood, French doors from my parents and I even decided to take apart our rabbit coop we built and give them a more open home. The main materials we had to buy were the tin/white panels for the roof and the plywood for the backside of the coop. We pretty much had everything else on hand. So I decided to go big. I drew up plans and showed them to my husband. He pretty much laughed at how much I baby them(they are for eggs and my personal enjoyment only-we don't kill any of them!). I made the coop 28 feet by 9 feet. 4 feet of that is the storage shed. I made the section of the coop where the nesting boxes and roost are 8 feet(which is the size of their old coop) and the other section is their "playground". We decided to mix tin and white panels for the roof so they would have plenty of light coming in without it being blazing hot in the summer. You can't tell from the pictures but their rooster is completely enclosed except for the screen entry door. We will be adding something to cover it and block the wind during the colder months. We drug a big fallen tree in for them to climb and perch on. I would like to add a few more things to peak their interest while they are in there but not sure yet. They basically only sleep in there. We let them out to roam all day and lock them up when they come in at night.
We are not done yet. Just have to add the finishing touches to the coop itself with paint and plants and finish the storage but they are in there and loving it for 2 weeks now.
Looking back, I would not change anything right now. I think from having the other coops before we were able to figure out what we needed and I tried to add that to the design of the new coop. We have our "big girls" in their new coop. The Silkies are staying in their current coop and we are going to use the old coop for our "teenage" chickens who are not quite ready to get introduced into the new coop yet. Everything seems to be working great right now. I love the new coop and I know my girls do too.
These are some pics from the coop going up:
As you can see, things aren't completly finished. I have to add somethings for the girls still and finish the storage which is on the left side of the coop. This will be made from more recycled materials-old door from my mom and dad and old plywood from projects. Can't wait to move all of our supplies in once place. I will try to update soon after we paint-going to do tan/white to match the house and then add some greenery. Just hung a feed tray for their oyster shell on the wall in the "playroom" yesterday.
We first bought chickens 3 years ago from TSC. I looked for coop designs and came up with a nice one that worked great for us and our 5 new chicks. Well, as you know, you can't stop once you start..so I decided to add some Silkies and we added an addition to our coop so they would have their own area. Over the years, the two sections have served us well, but I knew we needed to design something more suited to our needs and with plenty of room for the chickens for those rare times when they can't get out during the day(vacations, etc). I wanted something roomy and airy for them with all of the basics I needed including easy to clean roost, storage for all of their food and extra water/food dishes, etc. We also have a temperamental rooster-my sons so we just can't get rid of him!-so I really wanted a 2 "room" coop where we could get in there and take care of what ever cleaning, egg collecting we needed to get done. This will really come in handy when we are vacation and our girl comes to take care of them. We don't let them out while we are on vacation and the other coop was just not designed to make it easy for her to get in there and feed/water them without our roo and his girls getting antsy and trying to make an escape. With the new coop she can come and go really easy.
This is our first coop. The back section is the original and the section in front is our Silkie/bantam coop:
I looked for a long time to try and figure out what design would work best for our and I stumbled across a website where someone had turned an old shed into a coop and I worked off of that to design ours. I knew we had a lot of extra wood, French doors from my parents and I even decided to take apart our rabbit coop we built and give them a more open home. The main materials we had to buy were the tin/white panels for the roof and the plywood for the backside of the coop. We pretty much had everything else on hand. So I decided to go big. I drew up plans and showed them to my husband. He pretty much laughed at how much I baby them(they are for eggs and my personal enjoyment only-we don't kill any of them!). I made the coop 28 feet by 9 feet. 4 feet of that is the storage shed. I made the section of the coop where the nesting boxes and roost are 8 feet(which is the size of their old coop) and the other section is their "playground". We decided to mix tin and white panels for the roof so they would have plenty of light coming in without it being blazing hot in the summer. You can't tell from the pictures but their rooster is completely enclosed except for the screen entry door. We will be adding something to cover it and block the wind during the colder months. We drug a big fallen tree in for them to climb and perch on. I would like to add a few more things to peak their interest while they are in there but not sure yet. They basically only sleep in there. We let them out to roam all day and lock them up when they come in at night.
We are not done yet. Just have to add the finishing touches to the coop itself with paint and plants and finish the storage but they are in there and loving it for 2 weeks now.
Looking back, I would not change anything right now. I think from having the other coops before we were able to figure out what we needed and I tried to add that to the design of the new coop. We have our "big girls" in their new coop. The Silkies are staying in their current coop and we are going to use the old coop for our "teenage" chickens who are not quite ready to get introduced into the new coop yet. Everything seems to be working great right now. I love the new coop and I know my girls do too.
These are some pics from the coop going up:
As you can see, things aren't completly finished. I have to add somethings for the girls still and finish the storage which is on the left side of the coop. This will be made from more recycled materials-old door from my mom and dad and old plywood from projects. Can't wait to move all of our supplies in once place. I will try to update soon after we paint-going to do tan/white to match the house and then add some greenery. Just hung a feed tray for their oyster shell on the wall in the "playroom" yesterday.
