Tricking out the chicken coop

It has been a crazy busy week here at the urban farm. The chicks are growing quickly-- becoming very crowded in their brooder box-- and living in the stuffy garage gets warm this time of year. Preparing a space for them to live outside became priority #1.

My wonderful parents gifted me a chicken coop for my birthday.

Original coop

The three main issues with the coop were the height (about 3 feet tall), it didn't have predator protections (the neighborhood fox could dig right under the run), and the top of the run was open (rain and snow would be an issue). So we decided to modify it to fit our and our chick's needs.

There are many coop design ideas available online. This is one example of a complete plan.

Playhouse coop

The main features I like: the run is tall enough to walk in (important for feeding and cleaning) and the coop off the ground (to avoid rodent issues). Once we knew our goals, it was time to build.

The trips to the hardware store were numerous...

The first thing we needed to do was expand the run. We were able to repurpose the original coop and run materials and add to them, and we planned to use wood stain so that the new and original lumber would match.

The new run is angled with the taller side facing south for winter sun.

A sturdy metal roof over the top of the run keeps the chickens dry and cool.

The front of the coop has a full size door.

Hardware cloth is stapled to the bottom and lies flat on the ground around the run. 12"x12" decorative blocks were placed on top of the hardware cloth. This keeps digging predators out.

I then learned the hard truth about our birds... they were going to get big! Beach ball big!

Because they are going to be large birds, we needed to give them more sleeping space in the coop. The original coop has a very nice coop design and style, so we doubled the size by building another identical coop and connecting them to make one large coop.

Double-wide coop with original nesting box (all stained dark).

The last issue we have (and I'm guessing this is an issue with most chicken keepers) is that we can't always be at home by sundown to lock the chickens up. I found this door online, and as soon as we get the chicks coop trained (where they will put themselves to bed each night) this will be our answer to late nights out.

The door runs on solar power (there are other power options as well) and it has a photo sensor so that it opens automatically at dawn and shuts at dusk. It's heavy duty and gets great reviews online.

Pullet-Shut Chicken Door

My last addition to the coop I am going to install tonight... a chicken nightlight. I just learned that chickens can't see in the dark at all. When dusk comes, it's lighter outside in the run than inside the coop. We sat outside and watched them wanting to go into their coop last night, but they were afraid of the dark and ended up piling into a corner of the run (I scooped them up and put them into the coop when I realized that they were sound asleep). Tonight I am adding a nightlight on a timer so that they will see the coop as a light, safe place to go when it's getting dark outside. After a few nights with the night light I'm hoping they will be trained and we can start using the new door. 

Do you keep chickens? How did you coop train them?