New Chicken coop!

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tamsteve143

tamsteve143

Songster
6 Years
May 10, 2015
48
17
102



This is our chicken coop we made, took three weekends, got it done and up today, with the chicks in it! What do ya'll think?
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided join our flock. Your coop looks very nice. My only suggestion would be to cover the chicken wire with hardware cloth as there are too many predators that can tear through chicken wire (dogs, cats, raccoons, opossums, etc.), or squeeze through the openings in the mesh (rats, snakes, weasels, etc.). Also I would put a hardware cloth skirt around the outer perimeter of the coop/run and cover it with dirt or rock to protect your flock from digging predators. Adding hardware cloth will be more expense, but it will be cheaper than replacing your flock. Hardware cloth has saved many chicken owners a lot of tears. There is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/07/11-tips-for-predator-proofing-chickens.html on protecting your chickens from predators. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your chicks.
 
Thank you for the advice! We do have 2x2 stainless steel hog wire, with the chicken wire over that, our chicken will be locked in the coop at night. I have read that you should keep the chicks in the coop for a few day's? I was going to let them in the run while i'm in there with them, 30 minutes and put them back is that ok? Also will they roost and go up the ladder soon? They are all under the roosts and I had to put them all in the coop they didn't even try to go up the ladder. I'm so glad i have this sight!!
 
tamsteve143 said:
Thank you for the advice! We do have 2x2 stainless steel hog wire, with the chicken wire over that, our chicken will be locked in the coop at night. I have read that you should keep the chicks in the coop for a few day's? I was going to let them in the run while i'm in there with them, 30 minutes and put them back is that ok? Also will they roost and go up the ladder soon? They are all under the roosts and I had to put them all in the coop they didn't even try to go up the ladder. I'm so glad i have this sight!!
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You're welcome. Hopefully you don't have any predators that will squeeze through the mesh in the chicken wire. Definitely keep the chicks in the coop for a few days so that the coop will imprint on them as "home." As they get older, they will probably start using the roosting ladder. If not, you can hand place them on the roosts when its dark and they settled down for the evening until they start going up onto the roosts on their own. Make sure you have plenty of room for all of them on the roosts, preferably with 18" inches of clearance all around.
 
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Very cute! When we built ours, I never kept the chicks cooped up. I let them have free run of the coop/run and it was only a few days before they learned to go up the ladder to get in. I put them in the coop at night and shut them in there though. I don't close them up in the coop at night now because I live in South Georgia and it's hot and humid here already. They have ventilation but I still think it's too hot in there. I used hardware cloth for my run because I know predators would be after them at night of I didn't coop them. I also have mine on 12x12 patio pavers with wire buried 2 feet out from that. Probably overkill but coyotes, raccoons etc had me worried:)
 
cindy parker said:
Probably overkill but coyotes, raccoons etc had me worried:)
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Where protection from predators is concerned, and as many BYC members who've lost chickens (while flocks in some cases to predators) will tell you, I don't think there's such a thing as overkill. As TwoCrows always said in her posts, you need to build those coops/runs like Fort Knox. :eek:)
 
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There is no "too safe" designation for any type of coop and run. Some wily predator will take the time to find loopholes in any system.
 

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