Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Chicken House

I know, I know, it's been two months. So sue me. It's problematic that Don and I both work full-time (and then some, in his case), so the time we have to devote to these projects is minimal. BUT, we have finished the chicken coop and have adopted three lovely Buff Orpington chicks. So, here's the coop, in various stages. It's in two parts: a sturdy moveable coop and a lightweight moveable run to go with it. Here's the run, in the beginning:



And this is the beginning of the coop. The back is two big doors that open fully, for cleaning and other birdie chores.



The front has a little door to let the chickens into the run-- still need to build a ramp for them to walk up and down, but they can fly a bit. It also has a plexiglass, awning-style window, for light and ventilation. We put down linoleum flooring for easier clean-up of the birdcrap:

Further ventilation is under the roof at the edges: air can flow freely through here, the screen is to keep out insects and predators.


Here's the roof going on:

And, the finished coop:

5 comments:

Bex said...

wow Mara, you guys did a great job! Where's the chickies? show me chickies.

Bella said...

Dare I say it; but that is probably one of the cutest coops I've seen! Not that I've seen a ton of 'em or anything but even my exposure to the fancy magazine variety says that yours is pretty spankin neat!!!

Mara said...

Thanks! I must admit that Don did like 95% of the building.

Bex, I'll get more pics of the chicks when they stop hiding from me! I'm afraid the camera would scare them right now.

Cathy said...

Great looking coop. Did you put roosts in for them?

Mara said...

Yes, the roost went in last-minute, after most of the pictures were taken. It's just one 2x4 spanning the whole length of the coop, about one foot from the floor. At first they didn't seem to notice it, but the third morning I opened the door and two of them were up there! Now I know it's getting used because of the droppings...