New Chicken Coop

[bennelson]

My Dad has been working on a chicken coop.

He got a dozen hen chicks a little while back, and had them in a wire box, under heatlamps in the garage while he built the coop.

By trade, he is in residential remodeling and construction, so you might notice that this chicken coop is a little nicer than most. Also, it is in plain sight from the neighbor's house and the road.

Almost the entire project is made from recycled, salvaged, and used materials, although it doesn't look it. (The chicken wire was new.) He really cleared out all sorts of old materials and items from his warehouse for the project.

Interesting highlights of the project are that it is on stilts AND has a full attic!

It has electric for light and heat (a timer still to be added....) I think there is some possibility of playing around with an Arduino or something similar for automated temperature control in the future as well.

Because the chickens come and go through a trap-door, the heat stays in and we don't have to close them up at night! It is penned-in, to keep predators out. Nope, these are NOT free-range chickens. It is a suburban residential neighborhood and there are dogs and other troublemakers out there.

Take a look at the video for the tour!

Chicken Coop construction and tour - YouTube

Last night, we moved the chickens in. So far, they LOVE it!

I'll get a video of "moving day" up for you to see soon as well!