Le Chicken Coop Tour

We just recently moved our 4 backyard chickens into their new coop and they love it! I am writing this post to give you a quick tour of the coop that we purchased at www.mypetchicken.com. I want to  focus on all of it's features just in case you're on the fence on building one or purchasing one. We will definitely upgrade with mypetchicken.com when that time comes! Their coops are fabulous!

"The Saltbox" Coop

This coop was definitely an investment, but so worth it! It took the hub and my middle son about an hour to put it together. The directions were easy to follow.  We set it atop of pavers to keep the wood off of the grass/moisture and also to keep critters from digging under it to get to the feed or worse, the chickens!

        Exterior dimensions: 7'4" wide x 31" deep x 4'3" tall at peak

                                   

                                    Interior dimensions, house: 30" wide x 25" deep

                                    Interior dimensions, nest box: 14" wide x 24" deep x 13.5" at highest

                                   Run dimensions: 39.5" wide x 25" deep (main run) plus 30" wide x 25"                                                                             

                                                                    deep x 18" high under the house

This coop is ideal for 3-4 full grown hens.   I love that this coop has an attached run. The run is surrounded with half inch galvanized hardware cloth.  They are able to bathe and scratch around close to home. It makes it convenient in the rain. They are protected, but still have room to roam.  Eventually we will add to the run, just so  they have more room when they get bigger.

 I'm sure there will be little changes here and there. There are all sorts of different ways to upgrade and make things easier. But for now, this is our little coop!

On one end of the coop there are the nesting boxes. They are kept locked all night so that nothing can get in to steal eggs;)  There is also a vent above the box that we keep open during the day and shut when they are in there over night. 

For now, we have pine shavings in the nesting boxes. These girls are not laying yet, but once they do we will switch over to alfalfa (greenish hay).  Mainly because it's easier to clean out and it's old school;)  

The pull out tray feature makes cleaning out their main living space so easy! The bottom of the tray is deep and metal. The clean out is less often since the deep tray allows for more clean pine shavings. Our middle son has coop cleaning duty so every other day or so he just unlatches the tray, slides it out and dumps it's contents (pine shavings and chicken manure) into the area surrounding our fruit trees. It's great compost for the trees and the pine shavings act as a mulch. No waste here!

There is an adorable plexi glass window. In the mornings the girls jump and peck at the window in excitement! They can't wait to start their day on the range!

On the other side of the coop is the run.  The little ramp is so cute.  It's funny to see them walk up and down. In the mornings, they actually bolt down the ramp! Or bypass it all together and just fly/hop down.  But, they are ladies when they want to be, so once in a while they strut! It's very entertaining!

Inside the coop are two roosting bars. Chickens love to roost! And, believe it or not that's how they sleep! I have yet to see it. These little ladies squish back there into the nesting boxes and sleep there.  Maybe when they get bigger they'll change their sleeping arrangements.

Chickens need to have access to food and water 24/7.  This feeder above, we had in Chica's brooder when she was a few weeks old.  My hub custom wired around the feed canister so that we could hang it. We originally had a water er similar to the feeder but changed it to this galvanized water can. We noticed that the chickens are very messy eaters. They fling their feed all over the place. So, the previous water er was catching the feed and creating a "mash" for lack of a better word, and it didn't smell too good. It left a permanent odor in the plastic plate where the water settled for them to drink.  Hopefully this new water can will work out better. 

My hub purchased two hooks and screwed them in at the ideal height for the water er and feeder.  

Side Note: Notice the the hub's type A personality... perfectly twisted wire. I have to laugh. My idea of twisting wire around so that they hang, looked so different in  MY head. Ha!  

Gotta love him;)

On the opposite side is another vent window. Again, we keep it open during the day and closed at night so that they keep warm.  It's nice to have these vents for when our Southern California summers hit! 

We fill the run with lawn clippings. They love it! They love to eat the grass and all of the bugs! And it's a great way to reuse our lawn waste.

We use these large galvanized feeders and waterers.  There are a lot of different feed and watering methods out there, but I wanted to keep it old school. This method has been around for years! It wouldn't be a "homestead revival" if I did it any other way;)  Plus, they are easy to clean and they look great.  All of our supplies we purchased at our local feed store. CW Feed & Pet Supply. They are very kind and helpful!

These girls are pretty funny to watch. Every evening at dusk, they start to make their way up to their coop. There is a convenient handle on the outside of the coop that slides the coop door shut after everything is latched and locked.

Last one is in!

Goodnight ladies! See you in the morning!