Our First Chicken Coop

The brown bear that terrorizes us came to visit our trash can last night. His visit has me thinking about the damage he has done which includes the destruction of our chicken coop. This year we need a new, larger chicken coop to house our flock so we have decided to convert our original coop in to a play house (don't worry I will be sanitizing it!)

When we decided to get chickens I fell in love we an adorable shingled coop I found online and my endearing husband built it for me.

Walls framed with 2x4s. The floor measures 4'x8', a single sheet of plywood. 

roof trusses and the nesting boxes off the back

Front door big enough to get in and out. The opening on the left side is the sweep door that lifts up and is used for cleaning. 

The chicken door. Made just big enough for a chubby hen to get in. We placed an automatic door inside of the opening that raised up and down. The automatic door was set on a timer. We had a second latching door on the outside as well because we read that raccoons could easily find their way in through the raising doors. 

Shingled the outside of the coop with more of our left over fence boards, alternating dog ears and straight cuts. 

we used corrugated metal roofing on top of the coop and top of the nesting boxes. 

We painted the metal roof red because it looked cute, but mostly because the steel roof reflected light straight in to our living room window all day!

The chickens loved the coop, but ignored the roosting bars almost completely in favor of roosting in the roof trusses. Our new coop will likely not be as adorable, but rather larger and even more secure. Although this coop was built strong and durable it was no match for the massive bears strength. He simply tore the swing door right off and shoved his way in. The new coop will be inside of bear fencing!!