Chicken Coop: Revealed

The new house for the chickens is finally done.  AH had fun designing and building the coop after we looked at buying a pre-made one.  The pre-made coops are really expensive, used cheap material, and lacked a layout that we felt would work for easy cleaning and access to other areas; so AH took the matter into his own hands. 



Here's the coop.  It's sits on stilts and AH has framed in a run to the left that is essentially attached to the main coop and enclosed in chicken wire.  The run also has it's own door, separate from the coop itself.  The first day the chickens were put out in their new home they all immediately congregated to the area under the coop and rolled around in the dust.  They love to sit on the perch that's located under the coop as well.

 

Here is the right side of the interior.  On the floor of the interior AH put down linoleum 12x12 tiles to make cleaning the coop easier. The nesting boxes are on the upper and lower area and total 6.  Amazingly enough all 7 birds will huddle together in one nesting box and sleep at night. 

 

This is the left side of the interior, which shows the clever trap door AH built in so we don't have to get our feet wet each morning when it's time to let the chickens out.  The trap door leads to a ramp that takes the chicken out into the enclosed run area.

 

Here is our rooster (Midnight) as he exits the chicken run for the main yard.

 

This is the far right side of the coop.  AH designed it so that the side door folds down for easy access to future eggs!  There is also a string that works the trap door (so I don't have to leave the patio).

Here's the right side with the door down and Little Walker anxiously trying to get my attention.

 

 A view of the trap door as viewed from the right side nesting boxes though the coop.

I was very nervous about getting chickens due to a coyote that has been our backyard resident for over a year now.  From what I've seen he has been keeping to the far side of the yard while the chickens are up against the main house/garage.  Thankfully AH has made a very sturdy coop that will keep the chickens safe from all predators, while giving them room to roam during the day.  We let them out into the yard when we are outside during daylight hours (they are great at eating bugs), and find that they make their way back into their coop in the late afternoon all on their own, which is around the earliest time that Mr. Coyote usually shows up. 

It's kind of fun being chicken wranglers!