I just took these chicken coop pictures today, and although it’s winter and the trees are bare, it’s easy to imagine what a lush setting it will be come spring. Our new 5×8 Amish chicken coop is sitting pretty in the yard at the edge of the wooded area:
The pen to the right of the coop is a potential scratch yard; it needs reinforcement and a covered bridge of sorts to make it accessible to the young hens on warm days when they get a bit bigger.
Here you can see the side of the coop with the hen door (currently wired shut since they are too young to explore outdoors):
And here’s the back of the coop:
It has a long vent with a tough wire screen over the opening, to aid air circulation in warm months while keeping predators out.
And of course there is a man-sized door (err, make that a child-sized door!) for human access to the coop:
The extension cord allows us to keep a heat lamp in the coop for the cold nights. We have it secured extremely well to keep our chicks safe and avoid a coop fire.
Here they are enjoying their new surroundings (and we’re getting pine shavings for their litter today — flat newspaper or paper should be avoided, I recently learned from a Facebook comment), to keep the chickens’ legs from damage due to slippery surfaces).
Another picture of our chicken coop interior with the chicks, which are now about three weeks old:
Are you raising chickens or planning a new flock for the spring? Will you build your own coop using chicken coop plans or buy a pre-made coop? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
