Coop design feedback - Austin TX

[Chasiubao]

As a new chicken owner I don't have a lot of feedback to give. But also as a resident of Austin, I wanted to follow this post. We've had our flock (of 3) for about 4 mos and I can already see some adjestments we might need to make for our coop.

Thanks
CJB

I’m curious, where did you get your chickens from?

I was looking at either Callahan’s (reviews don’t look good, but it’s close) or a hatchery nearby. The reviews for South Grown Chicken Farm look good.

 

[CBaron]

I’m curious, where did you get your chickens from?

Fortunately or unfortunately, we got out chickens as a complete packaged deal with the coop, food, waterer, etc.. It was turn key for us. Thus our chickens were matured and use to the setup. However, now that I've learned a bit more, I can see the shortcomings in out setup. But it should still work fine for plenty of time.

Have you joined the Austin Backyard Poultry FB page? It seems fully of useful (local) info and pretty active. I believe there is some outfit in Burnet that most eveeryone speaks pretty highly about. That might be my first suggestion (and I can get the exact name for you if you'd like). Addtionally, the guy we got our setup from said he has a strong relationship with a chicken farm in NE Austin that he could hook me up with if I ever wanted more chickens (or if I needed to offload roosters).

If you want me to get you this info just send me a DM.

Cheers,
CJB

 

[Chasiubao]

Fortunately or unfortunately, we got out chickens as a complete packaged deal with the coop, food, waterer, etc.. It was turn key for us. Thus our chickens were matured and use to the setup. However, now that I've learned a bit more, I can see the shortcomings in out setup. But it should still work fine for plenty of time.

Have you joined the Austin Backyard Poultry FB page? It seems fully of useful (local) info and pretty active. I believe there is some outfit in Burnet that most eveeryone speaks pretty highly about. That might be my first suggestion (and I can get the exact name for you if you'd like). Addtionally, the guy we got our setup from said he has a strong relationship with a chicken farm in NE Austin that he could hook me up with if I ever wanted more chickens (or if I needed to offload roosters).

If you want me to get you this info just send me a DM.

Cheers,
CJB

I don’t use FB too much but I’ll check out the group and look for mentions of Burnet. I’ll let you know if I need any help getting chickens. Thanks so much!

 

[texsuze]

Just a few comments if I'm seeing your plans correctly. Why put a hinged lid on the coop? Seems like a long way to reach in to clean. Perhaps consider creating a large, side-hinged door on the pop door side of the coop for cleaning access; make your pop door cut-out/opening (hinged from the top) smaller, but within that same large, hinged door. Not sure if I'm being clear on that one

Also, living in Cen TX, I would not use polycarbonate for roofing material unless your coop/run is under the shade 365 days/year, especially if your shade trees are deciduous. I'd suggest a solid roof, preferably light-colored, with insulation on the inside ceiling. My coop roof is plywood, topped with black shingle paper material, topped with leftover metal panels from our barn construction. On the "coop" (inside) ceiling I stapled a wafer- thin layer of leftover barn roof insulation. My coop stays in shade the entire summer, due to its location next to the barn.

The 8x10' addition (3 yrs ago) to my enclosed run has purlins, topped with more leftover barn roof insulation, topped with leftover metal barn panels. No dripping condensation, no heat transfer, no 'greenhouse' effect, shaded underneath. We did build removable wooden 'shutters' to hang on the west side of my run since it does get sun in summer. In winter I swap out the shutters for full height lattice panels covered with plastic sheeting. Just sayin'