When it comes to building and use new chicken coops , we have certainly had plenty of preceding experiences to draw from .
Like the moral learned from building two prior coops for the farm , three more for friends , and 2 others for DIY plan for the web log . And , to iron boot , 10 years of get up chickens – and find at first hand what worked , and what did n’t for our hens.(See : lowly Flock Chicken Coop )
And so when it number time to create a new chicken coop at the farm this spring , we were excited to have the chance to put all of those “ lessons get a line ” to habituate .
That meant trying to address any return we have had in the past . Like mouse in the henhouse , freezing water buckets , and waste food for thought . All while creating a coop that was easy to strip and maintain , with ultra - easy access for feeding , tearing and egg aggregation .
In short , we wanted to build up henhouse that would make life easy and comfortable for the chicken , and for us too !
The New Chicken Coop
So why the new crybaby coop ? For entrant , we need to downsize our passel to 8 to 10 hens . With our kids all out of the house now , we only do n’t use as many eggs . But of row , we still require that manure for our garden !
That meant a much smaller footprint than our previous 12′ x 8′ henhouse that could support up to 36 hens .
But we also need to fulfil some additional goal . Like create a bigger run area for loose - ranging . And , even more , the ability to plug in it to our contend in garden .
That feature of speech would allow us to rent them scrounge and ascendency insects and weed seeds in the fall and winter months with relief . Another crucial part of pest control in the garden .
So using oursmall - flock chicken coop plansas a guide , we went to work modify the design to form for our farm ! And we thought we would share the completed hencoop today .
Here is a look at the farm ’s new coop , along with details of many of it ’s hopefully time - save , low - upkeep feature of speech . We also included a quick video tour of the coop at the death of the clause as well .
The cage measures 6′ wide and 4′ deep , with a sloping cap from 6′ in the front , to 5′ in the back . With three cuddle loge and a large attached test , it has plenty of space for the 8 to 10 chickens we will be keeping .
It was so significant for us to keep this cage secure , insulated , and easy to clean .
The intact inning is built from 2 x 4 ’s . We sided the outside with plywood , and then sided it with true cedar to facilitate repel insect and rot .
For the interior walls , we used galvanized alloy . Not only will it be prosperous to clean , it will serve reflect Christ Within within the coop . In between the walls , we insulate with thick froth gore and foam atomizer .
For the trading floor , we mixed and poured bag concrete to create a 4″ thick concrete foundation . Before stream , we also installed a heart drainpipe to help drain excess wet – and make it easy to wash down when needed .
Hopefully , the floor and sealed walls will keep draught and cold out . And even more – keep out mice and other pesterer too !
One of the features we are most excited about on the new Gallus gallus coop is the exterior egg box collection door . By simply unlock the front hatch , we will have easy memory access to collect egg from the outside .
No more having to come in the coop and combat the lady friend for space !
We also added an approach room access on the side of the new chicken chicken coop to speak urine and eating . For the provender , we made two machinelike gravity feeders from 4″ PVC pipe . We simply unscrew the top drain plug , pour in the solid food , and it drops as needed .
By having this design , the chicken ca n’t spill the food all over the floor . It should lead to much less permissive waste , and a clean food supply .
For the tearing system , we created an automatic chicken waterer from a 5 congius bucket and screw in water nipples . For $ 10 in material , it holds 5 gallons of water , and countenance the chickens hen-peck for water when needed .
It is way cleaner than our old gravity weewee system – and way of life less uneconomical !
We also add together an sales outlet to the exterior of the newfangled chicken cage to plug in a water warm through wintertime . It would also earmark us to heat the coop if ever necessary . That addresses the old consequence of frozen winter water !
We are really activated that the run is so much larger for the wimp . The independent run is about 25′ long x 16′ widely . But when we open up up the garden to them for fall and wintertime , it will add another 60′ x 40′ surface area .
The fence is 60″ tall , and will have 2 x 2 weld wire fencing to keep them safe and unattackable .
Last but not least , we have one final matter to put in to the fresh wimp coop when it arrives next week – an machinelike poulet doorway to the run.(Product Link : Automatic Chicken Door )
It is a unsubdivided design that opens a door to the run at cockcrow , and closes it at gloaming . It works all from a bare sensing element , and will be so nice to allow the chickens out when we might not be able to . And of track , keep them safe at night by close down the doorway from predators .
Now that it ’s all perfect , we ca n’t wait to put our new poulet coop to practice next week when our novel baby chicks arrive ! Here is to the joy and benefits of raising chicken – Happy Chicken Raising ! Jim and Mary .
Jim and Mary Competti have been compose horticulture , DIY and formula articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 Akka Ohio farm . The two are frequent speaker on all matter gardening and honey to travel in their free clip .
