Due to my dogs I need a secure place for my chickens. I now have that. I have a 24 foot by 7 foot rectangle of chain link panels with a gate in them. We will be adding chicken wire to the inside to keep chicks from getting out. The roof will be wood over 11 foot of it and shade material (still undecided, either shade screen, reed fencing, or thatch) over the rest of it. I wanted them to have an area to get out of the rain but also an area with even more air flow. This time around air flow is the main goal for my "functional" run and coop.
Here is the main question. I can finish this coop with just reed fencing to give the chickens a little shade and shelter in one end of the run/coop where I'll put the nesting boxes OR I can spend more money and try to make it cute. I had the thought of using lattice and shade cloth to build breathable walls around one small section to build a "coop". My plan is to not have a coop in the true sense since I think my girls kept over heating in the coop last year. I still plan on keeping it completely open inside with no wall between the "coop" and run.
My husband brought up Tour de Coops, and I could kill him because our design is currently is nothing I'd feel like showing off. My husband thinks it's a great example of a dog proof run/coop, with creative use of resources, but it doesn't look like much and I don't think it's very new of an idea. I've seen plenty of people re-purpose construction panels. Money is always a concern but what is more important? A coop/run that you feel looks good, or one that didn't cost as much and is purely functional?
Okay I took a very long time to get to the question but I just wanted to reiterate that what I'm trying to get a feel for is people's opinion. Would you save the money and build a simple, functional only run/coop or spend the money and the extra time to try to make something you could show off?
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We have mostly ducks and only 2 chickens, so we are constantly battling mud and dirt around the duck pond. So for us, the coop and run are always a work in progress. I don't think there has been a season that has gone by without some sort of maintenance/improvement/preference change/beautification. Honestly, I would always choose function over looks because of that. It's always a matter of making sure the area is easy to maintain for sanitation purposes.
Hi Erika. A couple of years ago, we acquired a chain link dog run and I built a coop to go on the end outside of the run. I covered two-thirds of the open run with a solid corregated plastic roofing material and the other end is open so the girls can get some sun when the weather permits. I added to the outside of the run along the west side, some shade cloth to keep them out of the summer sun. In the winter, I take the shade cloth down. To answer your question, functionality over aesthetics but I do also want it to look good. If you'd like a few pix, email me at stream2699 at cox dot net and I'd be happy to shoot them to you.
Thank you all so much for your information. I think I needed to hear this. I was being silly about wanting it to look special. The important part is function. Although I may see what small cost ideas I can do to meet somewhere in the middle. I'll post what we do when it's done. Thanks for the reality check!
I am dealing with this issue also and am hoping to get more ideas about coop design at the upcoming class on Chickens. I would love one of those cute little houses but I am told using one of those is a great way to get dead chickens. So that is obviously out. I will keep you posted on if I learn any cute, cheap, coop designs!
Hello there Erica. I would go with functional myself. Mine is nothing to look at, but the chickens are happy. I do have a suggestion for you.....my coop also has chicken wire on it. I ordered it online, without looking at it first because we were in such a hurry to get the coop built. I was looking for a vinyl coated wire so it would be easier to work with, and the guy said it had small, diamond shaped holes that no wild bird could get into. Well, they sent me vinyl coated chicken wire!! I could tell the kid I was talking to was young, so he was probably new at his job and I should have asked for a picture first! Live and learn! But time was of the essense, so we put it up. Now, all the wild little wrens get into my coop and it is driving me crazy!! I saw two of them leave the coop through the chicken wire. So if you enjoy feeding the wild birds, get chicken wire. Most people use the wire screen.....with very small holes. That's what I'd recommend. We also had coyotes that came around from time to time, so I reinforced the sides with some decent looking fence panels that were at Loew's, pretty cheap. It's nice and strong now. But since I got a shepherd who I taught to help me take care of the chickens, I haven't seen any more coyotes! So cool! And my shepherd was a rescue, so she's a happy camper and so are we!!
IIn the 22' run, we put up a solid roof from Loews...plastic type, along with a screen top at the back part of the run, so they could get some sun. The chickens love the protection that a solid roof gives them. Once, when the chickens were in the back where the roof is chicken wire, I was visiting with them and they were all hanging out on a perch about eye level. A coyote jumped up on the wall right behind them and scared the you know what out of them! They have never jumped up on that perch again, and that was at least a year ago. They don't feel as protected there.
Our coop is good at getting some sun in it during the winter and not much in the summer. We lucked out where we had to place it. If you get sun in the coop in the summer, I would order sun shades (just like the canvas shades, that already have the grommets in them to make it easy to install, made into any size, for the top and sides. I use a few fans and a cheap mist system for the summer time, and my girls love it. I have two waterers that are hooked up to the hose, on very low pressure, along with one big one that I fill each day. That way, the chickens hopefully never run out of water. My friend lost all her chickens in one day on a hot summer day as they had no water.
Talk about using what we had.....My coop is from a 14 x 14 horse pen, which had a cover already. Then we extended it to include a 22 foot run. I'm not done yet!.......then we made another 5 x 8 area, that's only 4' high, with perches, on the one side of the run, and that's where they love to congregate during the day as it's well protected with the sun shade and they love that. Then, on the other side of the back area, I had a garden that didn't work out because the chickens would get into it. So I covered that area with some 4' high horse panels with the wire screen, put a sun screen on top, and they have that area too. And my chickens still feel like they are suffering terribly when they can't get out! They should see how factory farm chickens live! Sounds like what my mom used to tell me about the starving children in Africa when I wouldn't eat my dinner! :-)
You have the right idea.....keep the coop cool and safe! I use canvas to cover the side walls in the winter where the chickens go to roost at night. I'm sure that helps on cold, windy or wet days.
Good luck to you and I can tell you already know what you are doing.
Sincerely,
Another chicken lady,
Linda Schneerer
My coop is also ugly. It began life as a dog kennel. It stands alongside my barn with about a 12" gap between where I've placed a long narrow water trough. Chickens can reach through the chainlink for a drink, but can't poop in it :D Half the length of the roof is only shade cloth, the other half has a corrugated metal sheet that used to be part of a shed, and two part sides are also pieces of this metal which are simply lashed into place. Only the front and back are visible, and the back is visible only when inside the horse corral. The longest facing out side is completely shaded by an enormous creosote bush that provides lots of shade. My husband was not in favor of this construction, but once he realized how little of it is visible from anywhere, he dropped his objection. We're on a ranch in the middle of nowhere. If I had an urban or suburban backyard where the coop would easily be seen, I might have put more resources into making it, but my girls are comfortable and safely secure in there. In more than two years, I've only lost two girls to what might have been heat. I run a single "personal mister" during the hottest hours of the day in the summer so they have a patch of mud to wade in or mist to walk through. My opinion is that so long as it's appropriately functional and not an awful eyesore, I'd go simple and not splurge just for appearance sake.
That's a good question! In my opinion, a simple and functional coop is perfect. I've also seen some beautiful, and inexpensive, coops. So I think you can have both. For us, we converted an old shed into a coop and closed off half of the back yard adjacent to the shed for the bird run. It's simple and practical, but not necessarily beautiful. A coat of paint will do wonders for us - and it's a cheap project.
Bottom line is do whatever makes you happy. What do you want to see when you walk out there to feed them? Good luck!
Laura