A proper chook coop is long over due. While we have not had the chooks for that long, I had wanted to build a chook coop at the end of last year or beginning of this year at the latest. Of course things have not gone quite according to my idealist schedule. Our little girl often has that kind of impact on plans.Although in reality, the biggest issue with progression of the chook coop was the design plans. The location for the coop is in an area which gets quite wet during heavy rain falls. Even though Rhode Island Reds are a hardy breed, I do not feel that it is all that nice to have them in damp conditions. Thus this meant either a concrete slab or raised chicken coop.
I really liked the idea of a raised chook coop, particularly after seeing one of the members of the Samford Local Growers constructions. His design was based on a BuildEazy chook coop design with a few tweaks such as a flat roof design. The dimensions for my coop are 3.6m by 1.8m, so I am doubling the size of the basic plans. This is so that I can divide the coop into two sections for future purposes.
With a raised coop design, I figure that rats and mice will have a hard time getting access to the interior. I also plan to allow the chooks access to underneath the chook coop as part of their main run, thus it will provide valuable shade during the heat of the summer.
There is still a fair bit of work to complete as only the platform of the coop in place. But at least in the mean time it will allow my little girl a great place to perform her chicken dance.
