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Take a video tour of the coop!

The coop is finally finished! As always though, there are a few things left to do on the coop. Most of them will have to wait until Spring. We’ll be putting in permanent electricity and water and adding some murals to the outside of the coop. But for now, here it is:

Here’s where we started with the coop: a plan. We designed the coop to be sturdy and safe for the chickens.

We wanted caring for the chickens to be fun and comfortable for us, so we designed an Entry & Storage Room. This room allows us to retrieve eggs while out of the elements (instead of a hatch that is accessed from the outside). Each level of the nesting boxes has a hinged access panel from this side. This way, we can collect eggs without bothering the girls too much. The floor was painted as a homage to Jackson Pollock…and it was a great way to get rid of several near-empty paint cans

On the chicken side of the coop, there is a chicken door and ramp, nesting boxes, a man door leading to the run, two levels of perches, food and water. For protection from predators, the windows are screened with metal mesh (which is smaller and stronger than poultry wire).

We think the chicken coop is pretty cool, but the chicken run is pretty awesome too. The girls have a ton of space outside. We went overboard on predator proofing the outdoor space. Around the perimeter we dug a trench, and hammered in 2 foot pieces of rebar which is attached to the bottom of the chain link fence. Then we filled the trench with cement. Our cement trench didn’t reach the base of the coop. To prevent predators from crawling under the coop, we tacked on three feet of poultry wire all the way around the coop and then covered it with big boulders. Across the top of the run, is a poultry wire lid that is attached to the fence and the coop.

The first night the girls slept out in the coop, the coyotes howled like crazy. Perhaps they were howling out of frustration because this place is like a chicken Fort Knox. The girls don’t have any idea about all that stuff, but they do like the space and comfort.

As soon as we get a fence built in the adjoining future orchard, the chickens will have access to that area too. Life is good for a chicken at Moosicorn Ranch.

More about predator proofing: Chicken Coop Progress & Predator Proofing

More about the chicken coop construction: Chicken Coop Construction

Update 1-9-12:

The ladies are looking very grown up and are laying eggs!