Chicken Sit
Relocating the coop and run
I have to admit, when I first got chickens and ducks I had no idea what I was doing. Like many people I picked up the poultry at the local box farm store. “Chickens are easy,” is what the employee said.
Right.
Anyway, the starter coop I bought didn’t actually accomodate the number of adult birds it claimed. I ended up converting a plastic storage shed into a coop.
To create some ventillation I used a saws-all to cut a couple openings. I covered the opentings with hardware cloth. I also removed the plexiglass windows and covered them with hardware cloth. They can be very hot in the summer so you need to have plenty of shade and roosts for the birds outside.
The original run was just chicken wire and temporary fence posts. I hung a tarp from the top of the coop down to the posts to help keep some of the rain off and give some shade.
A few weeks ago I bought a used pen (see above) to make a better run. Now the chickens have more vertical space, and they all have a couple square feet more floor space. What you don’t see in the photo is the slope behind the run, giving them all another 10x10 feet of run.
I have put some lemon grass in a grow bag, some marigolds in a planter, and some lavendar in a pot at the front. A plastic table and chair provide a spot to chicken sit. The old teapot hosts a marigold.
The original, starter coop is now connected to the large one, using an original chicken door. The chickens prefer to lay in the nesting boxes of the original coop, rather than the ones created in the big one. It makes it easier to collect them. The top of the nesting box raises up.
It isn’t the prettiest setup, but it is functional. I continue to tinker, adjust, and fiddle with it. I’ll add some decoration or something later.
What do you think?