Posted: 5/5/2014 9:16:05 AM EDT
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Thanks. I built it off the ground for numerous reasons:
1) the area where it is located has a gentle slope, and I didn't want to spend the time/effort leveling the ground (would have meant renting a front-loader/bobcat, or a lot of work shoveling by hand) 2) we get multiple feet of snow during the winter, so the higher it is the less work I need to do clearing snow around it 3) the underside will act as a half of the eventual run and will provide cover and shade 4) more difficult for predators to gain access since the bottom of the windows are up fairly high 5) if some of the girls are reluctant to go into the coop at night, and think they can hide under it, its tall enough I can send in one of my kids to flush em out |
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Nice job!
You don't mention what kind of nest boxes you're going to build, but being able to access them from outside is worth the extra planning. Ours are all inside (metal nest boxes from the farm store), and it's not particularly pleasant having to go in there in the heat of summer to collect eggs. 
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My condolences on your future addition... My wife has wanted to nest for a few years - finally her brother sent us chicks to get the project started. We are getting about 9 eggs a day now - but somehow there are still never enough for me to actually eat them. So bil is wanting a little return on investment for the chicks (which I have no doubt my wife agreed to in advance) - so most likely ordering an incubator tomorrow so I can sent him a few chicks in return (our brooding hen failed us). My coop is probably 50 years old, but I did put a bit of work on dog proofing the chicken yard. So far only 2 chickens have died due to suicide by dog (they both flew the coop). My yard now has an 8' fence around it - try it again you crazy hens. Next project will be a chicken tractor (mobile pen). Those are going to the ranch. I am insanely thinking about raising 50 meat birds out. I figure we eat more chicken than that a year. Between coop repair, fence work, the incubator, and tractor - I will probably be out $1500 on this new hobby. Of course that does not even start to count the $10 a week feed bill. --- Not sure how you are watering or feeding. But I am using chicken triggers (trigger happy chicken) and horizontal nipples now. Both really cut down on mess. Our 13 birds need about 3 gallons of water a week (so one filling of the bucket every weekend does it). The feeder last longer I think - but that's someone else's chore. --- Wife figures that if she can get chickens on the ranch (that need tending daily), we will build their sooner. So chickens might end up costing me well over $100k before it's over with. |
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Quoted:
Nice job! You don't mention what kind of nest boxes you're going to build, but being able to access them from outside is worth the extra planning. Ours are all inside (metal nest boxes from the farm store), and it's not particularly pleasant having to go in there in the heat of summer to collect eggs. For now the nest boxes are going to be made from kitty litter boxes. I've got around a dozen of them that I have been saving for use as storage containers, trash cans, etc. Just need to wash them out really good first, and cut/debur the lids with my Dremel. Here is a pic I lifted off the net. I will build a small rack to hold 2-3 of these in place, and lift it off the floor a bit. But you get the general idea. 
I wanted to build outside access to the nesting boxes, but my wife felt it was something we could add later. I disagreed since I will be siding the coop with vinyl siding, so once its done it won't be so easy to add/change the exterior. I might still build the basic structure for outside nesting box access, maybe one day while she is gone at work. 
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Definitely do the outside access for the boxes.
You don't want to have to (or make this kids have to) go inside the coop every day. Anything you can do now with the design that keeps the maintenance chores down to a minimum will pay huge dividends over the long haul... ie, think through the chores of watering/feeding/egg collection/cleaning and how to streamline them. |
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Quoted:
My condolences on your future addition... My wife has wanted to nest for a few years - finally her brother sent us chicks to get the project started. We are getting about 9 eggs a day now - but somehow there are still never enough for me to actually eat them. So bil is wanting a little return on investment for the chicks (which I have no doubt my wife agreed to in advance) - so most likely ordering an incubator tomorrow so I can sent him a few chicks in return (our brooding hen failed us). My coop is probably 50 years old, but I did put a bit of work on dog proofing the chicken yard. So far only 2 chickens have died due to suicide by dog (they both flew the coop). My yard now has an 8' fence around it - try it again you crazy hens. Next project will be a chicken tractor (mobile pen). Those are going to the ranch. I am insanely thinking about raising 50 meat birds out. I figure we eat more chicken than that a year. Between coop repair, fence work, the incubator, and tractor - I will probably be out $1500 on this new hobby. Of course that does not even start to count the $10 a week feed bill. --- Not sure how you are watering or feeding. But I am using chicken triggers (trigger happy chicken) and horizontal nipples now. Both really cut down on mess. Our 13 birds need about 3 gallons of water a week (so one filling of the bucket every weekend does it). The feeder last longer I think - but that's someone else's chore. --- Wife figures that if she can get chickens on the ranch (that need tending daily), we will build their sooner. So chickens might end up costing me well over $100k before it's over with. I hope your chickens will lay some golden eggs for you to help recoup those expenses. So far, not including the few new tools I bought for the project (framing nail gun and 6' level), I'm only out around $300-$350 in materials, baby chicks, and feed. When all is said and done I expect my coop will have cost me around $500-$700 in materials. Same 8'x8' prefabbed shed kit at a big box store is around $2,500. |
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The +100k includes the people house. Not really fair blaming the chickens for the people house - but I am trying to put off that move. The ranch is changing rapidly. I don't want to build until things setting down a bit more. ---- dw ordered an incubator today (144 egg). Not wanting to count my chickens before they hatch - but expect we will try to run +/- 50 meat birds. I think that is about the limit I can run and still construct the tractor off site and move it by hand after it is finished. Toying with the idea of building a second tractor - but that is very premature --- Love your hen's condo. |
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Some predators have a harder time getting inside the coop, when it's off the ground. Mine is pretty high, which at least keeps the skunks out. Raccons and Opossums sometimes, however, will find a way (only lost a hen to a raccoon with the door opened, once). I'd probably invest in a trap, now. Wasted many evenings out back with the pellet gun, with noting to show for it. Actually, pretty easy to get Opossums, but raccoons are difficult. The trap makes that easy....
I raised mine high enough so they could mill about in a protected area, before the door is opened. One of these days, I'm adding an automatic door. And your girls will probably all go into the coop, every night. Once in a while, I'll get one or two that roost somewhere outside. If you find where they're roosting, and move them once, they'll go back to roosting inside.... happens once every couple months, but just 1-2 hens. And usually, it's because the wind closed the door or something like that. Might want to consider hardware cloth, as screens, for some of those windows. That's worked for me... Sounds like overkill, but you could add a bit of bracing to your 4x4s. Yours are low, so not a huge deal. But they would improve stability, especially when weathering has its way. YMMV. Quoted:
Thanks. I built it off the ground for numerous reasons: 1) the area where it is located has a gentle slope, and I didn't want to spend the time/effort leveling the ground (would have meant renting a front-loader/bobcat, or a lot of work shoveling by hand) 2) we get multiple feet of snow during the winter, so the higher it is the less work I need to do clearing snow around it 3) the underside will act as a half of the eventual run and will provide cover and shade 4) more difficult for predators to gain access since the bottom of the windows are up fairly high 5) if some of the girls are reluctant to go into the coop at night, and think they can hide under it, its tall enough I can send in one of my kids to flush em out |
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coons are evil creatures. Helped a man incubate out 40 guinnies long ago. He put them in a rabbit hutch. Coons could not get the birds out of the hutch - but could rip their legs off through the wire. Think he lost almost all of them in a single night. - my mother raised birds many years - 1/4" hardware cloth makes good window screens. Keeps rodents out too. |