Chicken coop with run

we'll finish the trim work in the spring, but for now it's done

After the same dog attacked and killed three of our six chickens in two separate incidents we needed to adjust the way we kept our hens. Until the second attack we were in the habit of letting the ladies free range across the land most days, even leaving them out if we were only going off land for a few hours or less. They stayed well within the front acre of our two and half acres, walking back and forth throughout the day, feeding themselves, lowering the cost of raising them, producing more nutritious eggs and growing to be hardier birds than their cooped up counterparts.

our house in the background, didn't finish painting before winter

But a dead chicken does none of those things.

So I designed a coop that gives them an outdoor space and is large enough for our flock of thirteen to age into retirement and house their future replacements.

The coop is 8'x10' with an 8'x8' attached "run." In the morning we open the door between the two and close it at night. The run is covered at the moment because we're expecting snow any time now, but once the spring rains pass, I'll take the tarp off half of the run for them to get more sun.

On days we're outside working they get to free range, but this way they get outdoor time and lots of space even when we're gone all day.

We built the run first with cattle panels curved and secured to the wood base. The chicken stayed in here until the middle of November without a problem, while we built the coop. It was noticeably warmer inside the run even with the open ends.

We applied linseed oil to the floor for moisture protection before putting down hay and we will insulate the ceiling but haven't gotten to it yet.

We'll paint it in the spring, I'm thinking green with white trim, but that's probably because everything right now is grey and brown.

Design elements:

---Roof overhang: provides nice weather protection during feeding/watering chores.

---Metal roof: allows us to harvest rainwater for use with the chickens, nearby garden beds and/or to water the mushroom logs we store under the pines behind the coop. Also, we had them left over from building the house, waste not...

---Detachable run: in the summer we'll probably pull the run away and use it as a tractor coop to move them around the land.

poop board below roost, waterer and food below board

---Poop board: I found this concept on backyardchickens.com and was drawn to it primarily as a way of reducing moisture in the coop. Moisture and cold weather in the coop is a recipe for respiratory problems and frostbite; chicken poop is watery. Remove the poop, reduce the moisture. An additional benefit is every few days we add a good amount of this excellent source of nitrogen to our compost pile.
     A key element of permaculture design is trying to get multiple uses/benefits from one action; poop boards fit the bill. I was hesitant to install them as I read many folks decrying how often you have to clean them. While settling into a consistent routine of daily chores is both aspirational and fulfilling for us, life can get in the way and I was almost scared off. But I'm glad I went for it. We've only had to clean it about once a week. I'm sure once our ten newest birds are full-sized it will be more frequent but even then, it won't be daily. I left eight inches between roost and board, perhaps this is why we're not experiencing the "piles of poop" problem others have had, maybe theirs are closer.
       ---an added bonus of the poop board: we can hang the feeders and waterer under the board, protecting them from the inevitable attempts to roost on top of them and reducing the amount of litter contamination
      ---our poop boards are made from the ends of the metal roof panels we used for the house (cut edge against the wall of course). The metal is easy to clean and now we don't have two foot sections of metal roof panels without a use.

---Wide roost: in our tractor coop builds we used black locust branches for the roost, which look neat and rustic and are probably easy for the birds to grip. However, I read about installing a 2x4 wide side parallel to the ground so the hen's bodies cover their toes (rather than their toes wrapping around and being exposed to the cold) as a way to prevent frostbite. They seem to be very happy with the roost this way and I'm happy that their toes are warmer.

---Ventilation: the front window tips out to allow ventilation, chicken wire on the inside keeps it predator-proof


With each new project we get to see the land becoming our working homestead!

a work in progress