Coop, in more detail

Thank you for the requests for more details of the new coop. I snapped some photos this evening, and hope you find the details helpful, or at least enjoyable. Chicken coops are such a fun project since you can keep things simple, or make them as fancy as you'd like. I know basic carpentry (thanks, Dad!), but am not really much of a "finishing" carpenter when it comes to chicken coop details. I do like to keep things pretty simple and functional, but things might be a little rough around the edges. Chickens don't seem to mind, and neither do I. *grin*

We have a larger coop on the farm as well. If you would like to see our other coop, enjoy a scroll through the Chicken Coop category. You'll first find posts about this coop, and as you scroll through the posts you'll see the other coop as well.

I have a little "welcome" decor hanging on the front of the coop. I didn't have a chicken themed one in our decor stash, so garden themed will have to do for now.

Because it gets so *freaky* hot here, I like to have big screen doors for lots of breeze. I made two hardwire screen doors so that I can have either one, or both of the big front doors completely open, and still have the coop screened in. The screen doors are mounted to the door frame just inside the main solid doors.

In the summer I like to be able to keep the solid doors open, so the screen doors need lots of stability to keep out any coyote, etc. The door on the left has a long bolt that drops down through the floor and eventually rests on a structure beam beneath the floor. When I could, I used things we already had on the farm. I found this big rusty bolt in the dirt by the barn. No telling how many years it's been there, and finally got kicked to the surface!

The left door also has a bolt latch that secures it to the top of the door frame. The hole you see in the frame is for the top bolt on the solid door. It slides up into that hole to secure the top of the door when closed.

The right screendoor is secured to the left screendoor with two sliding bolts, one at the top and one at the bottom of the door.

When the solid doors are open, they are held open in place with eye bolts and a double ended clip. Simple and secure.

I hung the screendoors so that they opened straight out. By placing the hinges on the front of the doors (instead of on the edges of the doors like you'd hang a regular door) I was able to set the screendoors farther back in the door frame. This allows enough room between the screendoors and the solid doors so that the door handle on the solid door has room to function, even when the screen doors are bolted in place. Having the doors open wide will make for quick and easy cleaning.

The red can in the background is feed storage. We ended up moving in some older nest boxes for the girls to use. To dress them up a bit, I added some flowery curtains in front of the openings. The curtains are strung up using clothesline tied between two screws, and cup hooks at the points between nest boxes to provide support to the line. They can hang straight...

...or be tied open with cute white bows (shorter lengths of clothesline).

Oh, look! Breakfast!

On the back wall of the coop is a window. I built a hardwire screen for the window and hung it on hinges like a door, so that I can swing it open and still open and close the window when needed. The screen is held closed at the top and bottom using hook & eye latches. Right now, they're just regular hook & eye latches, but will be changed out for safety hook & eye latches after I buy some. 

I made a curtain for the window with the left over fabric from the nest boxes. Cute, right!? Peeper thinks so.

There are two perches in the coop, both 8' in length. Below each perch is a poop tray, so that as the chickens are roosting at night, their droppings fall onto the tray rather than down onto the floor. Since the coop is small, I wanted to be able to keep the floor of the coop as clean as possible and provide the girls with a bigger, cleaner space. For now, we have some old plastic roofing that's been rattling around in the barn for ages tacked up to see how the idea works. If it works well, I can either leave them in place, or replace them with wood.

They're doing a great job of catching the droppings and keeping the floor cleaner, but I'm not too thrilled with the curve (sag) in them. I think legths of plywood will work a bit better. Which is just fine .... we have a couple other projects to work on around the farm, and with those will come some scraps that will work perfectly to replace these two sheets of roofing. But for now, they're just dandy.

In the front corner of the coop opposite the nest boxes I have a small lamp fitted with a small florescent bulb. The lamp is secured in place, so if a bird knocks into the lamp, it won't fall. The young birds in the coop don't need a lamp for heat any longer, but having a bit of light for them to see at night helps keep them calm. Especially the young geese. The battery operated clock on the wall is for my benefit, not so much the chickens. Haa!

Outside the coop there have been some updates as well. Their yard is a 10x30 covered run. Under the sun shades the roof is lined with 1" chicken wire. There are two gates on the yard -- one next to the coop, and one at the far end near our larger coop.

Inside the run are lots of goodies!

The large old dog house in the far corner will eventually be where the geese hang out at night. As they get bigger they won't want to sleep in the coop at night. Having a place they can go that's on ground level and a little safe haven is important.

There are also two chick brooders in the yard. I like having brooders in the coop yards for various things... sometimes they're used as chick brooders, but usually as TLC wards. Right now I have one gal in the closest brooder who has a bit of an attitude problem. So, she gets to hang out in the brooder for a few days, observing the others as they mill around. In the other brooder, during the day I keep a teeny tiny young hen that's so small yet that she can fit through the chain link fence. So, until she grows big enough that she can't wiggle out of the yard, she chills out in the brooder with a friend or two. At night, her and her daily buddy go into the coop with the others to sleep.

There are also feed stations and water stations in the yard, at various levels. The big straw bale gives the girls something to climb on and tear apart, and the old wood fence post laying up next to the fence gives the girls a low to the ground place to perch. What you can't see, because they're out of frame to the left, are perches I have in the back corner of the yard in the opposite corner from the door. There are two 2x2s spaced about 1' from the ground, and 3' from the ground, to give the birds a place to roost during the day. The lower perch is for the frizzle and silkies, who can't fly up to a higher perch on their own.

In the side of the coop I cut the chicken door. I finally got the trim made, and now it just needs to be painted! I made the ladder out of an old 2x10 piece of lumber we had left over from when we built the raised garden beds. I added steps to the top, spaced just right for short bantam legs.

Here, Poof (my oldest silkie hen) demonstrates how it works.

Finally, I hung an old rusty tin rooster that has been in my garden for years. Every coop needs a little art, right? In fact, I think I might need some art for the inside, too!

So, that's the little red barn coop in detail... When we change out the poop catchers to wood, I'll post an update.

Comments

[leslie (crookedstamper)]

I just love your critter posts!

[S. Carter]

When does the drywall go in? :)

[diane mcvey]

WOW...WOW....WOW !!! THIS IS FABULOUS!!! I just love every little detail about your chicken coop, I read every word. I'm with Marcie, if I'm reincarnated, I want to be your chicken!
Everything you did is magnificent...you are just so amazing. I love your generosity and sense of humor; and you are the best chicken and goose mother on the planet! Your coop is PERFECT.

[Nebraska Dave]

Anna, I would expect nothing less than a tricked out chicken coop. Your girls are very fortunate to be living in the ritz chicken hotel. You did a great job building and decorating the coop. If I was a chicken and living in such a coop, I'd try my best to lay two eggs a day. :-)

Have a great chicken coop decorating day.

[Kathy D.]

Love the info about your "girls" and barn, 6am and learned about farm life. Thanks for that. Love the curtains! Great job.

[Carolina]

Adorable & Cute!!!

[Dan Wight]

On the poop tray, make a frame that has the transverse members (the shorter one aligned with the wall studs) bolted through the wall studs and secured with wing nuts so the assembly will swing down and hang nearly vertical from the wall a full length cross member on the front edge that is attached to the wall at each end with your favorite gate hook and latch ring assembly on each end will allow for a strong support for the drop down tray that will support the plastic or fiberglass sacrificial tray. With the hooks released on each end the tray support frame will drop nearly straight down so you don't have to bend over or crawl under the thing to clean the floor... Love, Dad You should sell pre-rigged hen houses when you have a bit of spare time from all your other multi tasking jobs. Enamel painted interior walls are easier to clean and reflect light better, but there is the matter of paint costs....Hmmm It's fabulous!

[Melody B]

Love to see the details involved. What chick wouldn't want to live there? I was wondering what the dog crate was for and now I know.

[Sharli]

Adorable! You have the best kept chicks in the world, Anna!

[Jami]

So awesome! This city girl loves getting a taste of life on the farm from you, my friend!

[carol dee]

OMG only on your farm would a chicken coop have artwork and curtains. I will show this to my son as he is dividing his back yard shed into a 1/2 coop 1/2 shed. I bet no curtains for his chickens. LOL.
Everything looks simple and functional. A lot of thought and good planning. They all look real happy in the new digs. :)

[Marcie Rhys]

If or when I get reincarnated, I want to come back as one of your chickens. It is so wonderful to know that there are still farm animals having lovely lives and being revered by their owners. It also takes a powerful amount of talent to do all you do for them.

Thanks for the wonderful post, and I'm thinking about red curtains for my kitchen now.

[Sue W.]

I thought the clock was a reminder for the girls that it was time to lay another egg! Love your mini coop and the tour of the new digs!

[Jennifer Woodward]

Thanks so much for the detail, descriptions and beautiful photos! So much information and creativity you've shared. I know I'll be checking in with you when I get started with "my girls" some day in the not too distant future.

[Sally]

The coop looks great. We used some bargain basement countertop for a poop board. Really keeps it off the floor, was stable, and a few swipes with a grout spreader and all clear.

[Michelle W]

That's fabulous! I love the curtains on the nesting boxes, so cute! I giggle every time I see you mention this is a "small" coop. I think my coop and run must be a micro-coop, or perhaps a nano-coop. ;-)

[Rose Kerry]

Wow, you did an amazing job on your little red barn. Love the curtains and all the extra details to make it so cute. Great photo's and descriptions. Thank you for taking the time to share.