Coop construction

[Kassaundra]

You stated the chicken wire part will be covered completely at night, I'm assuming w/ the hinged panels?? Are you going to have other ventilation when that is closed? Not sure where you are located (weather wise) but the need for ventilation can not be overstated.

Love the repurposing of the pallets, a huge chunk of my coop is repurposed pallets, doors, and old house materials that was torn down.

 

[StonyGarden]

The coop is done!!! I will post pictures tomorrow.

 

[StonyGarden]

Ok here is the back of the coop. There are 16 nest boxes (way more than what I need but hey I might end up getting more chickens ). The walls fold down so I can access the boxes. There are lips on both the front and the back to prevent eggs from rolling out and the front lip gives the hen a spot to hold onto as she's getting in or out of the nest.


Here you can see the roosts and the nesting boxes. I only have 2 roosts but they are 8 feet long. You can also see the lip of the nesting boxes that I mentioned earlier. The bottom panels open as well so that I can get inside the coop to change feed/water and to rake out bedding/poop.


Yay the coop is complete!! The roof is corrugated plastic. You can see the vent on the side (there's one on the other side as well) that has hardware cloth on it. These vents will be open at all times. On the right you can see the hinges in the middle of the coop. This allows for the top half to be opened or closed. In the bottom right panel you might be able to see the pop door. Once the run is built I will take pictures with the pop door open.

 

[StonyGarden]

Forgot to mention, we will be putting decking boards on top of the pallet outside of the coop. This will make it sturdier and make it look nicer. Also a box will be built that's 4 ft wide to fit on the end of the coop in the last picture. It will be big enough to fit the metal trash can I have to store feed in and also any tools or bedding I want to store.

 

[JimWWhite]

you probably want to replace that chicken wire with something more solid. predators can rip through that stuff easily. look for some rat wire instead or something with a smaller hole than the chicken wire

What StonyGarden said! After the neighbor's dog ended up in my chicken run I went back and replaced the chicken wire with 2x4 welded wire fabric. But I think the neighbors still miss poor old Abby. But she's doing great now pushing up compost in the bin...