alright chicka-dee . some photos for you !!! the rain has finally stopped... and that is my excuse for the MESSY pen. ignore all the mess. i did clean it all up after these photos. why i didnt think of cleaning it first then the photos.... i dont know !!!! but it has been rain here for serval days so not much cleaning done in the pen.
This first photo is where the chooks have taken up sleeping now... they sleep on top of the dog crate in a huddle and on the hanging branches sometimes during the day. i guess it is one step closer to roosting on a perch.
i put their food and water in there too as it keeps it dry from the rain. also there IS a door if i need to lock them up. i just took it down while i was building, as it always got in my way.
This is my metal ladder thing i found.... makes a great ramp. the chicks can use it with no problems.
and if your looking in the back ground... YES my gate is held on with cable ties... LOL. i'll get around to wiring it eventually. works great though even with cable ties as hinges.
this is undercover hang out.... it stays dry under here when it rains.... i'll rake it and put hay under there for the chicks.. they like to sit under there when it is raining.. waiting for a break in the rain to go out again.
Another ladder. My 9yr old was the main builder of this creation.... haha. he did a fantastic job.
the ladder leads up to.........
This ! the laying boxes.... well they need some more work but hey they are turning out good. just hope the chooks use them.
There is a gap at the back of the laying boxes thing... the actual boxes sit over this gap, so no chickens or eggs will fall through, but for cleaning purposes i thought a small gap at the back will come in handy to just brush everything out if there is a mess in there.
i used a feed bag to go on the floor of the sleep area. so they have something to stand on instead of just wire. the gaps int he wire are a bit big but they walk on it ok with no issues. just if they were day old or small they could fall through....LOL ...but they are way to big now to fall through. so no probs there.
theres a old dog crate in the sleep part too.. they use to sleep in that when they were little. they do nothing but scratch the straw out of it but i thought i'll put it in there anyways as they can shelter from the cold if it gets cold or even lay in it if they chose to when they bigger... or they can just poop all over it and sleep ON TOP of it like they are now....LOL
The roof is corrugated something metal. and i've got a piece for the right hand side too. then all the walls and roof is water proofed. except for the front which is metal grate and ply wood. (the door)
This bucket is the best hang out ever .... according to the chickens... sometimes i turn it over and the chickens don't notice and fall right in...LOL whoops ! but it's ok they can jump out again.
the whole coop/pen is 6 foot high... the fence is temporary as it is being held up by stakes and some posts. i used most of the posts in other parts and forgot to leave them for the fence. oh well... for now it is holding up strong anyways with a bird netting roof. YAy i dont have to duck down anymore !
there is LOTs of random bricks laying around in and on the pen/coop. i might make a path or brick area. i dont know what to do with them all so left them laying around in random spots.
i finally got a feeder too. they started to just scratch all their food out of the dog bowl and it all falls down to the ground where it gets trampled. much better in a feeder. less waste.
for shade it is partially under a giant mango tree and now the under cover area is good for shade too... so don't need to add more. there is enough already.plus there is a wood shed right next to the pen. so that provides afternoon shade too.
the ground is dirt....but it is REALLY sandy (was a sand pit area 20+ years ago). and when it rains it isn't too bad at all. it drys really quick.
so far i have spend...... $0000000 NOTHING 000000. and will add more and make improvements as time goes on.
Any tips, feedback, suggestions appreciated. I'll do whatever to improve this. I just thought it would be fun to try and make something myself. but it will be an on going project.
and again... ignore the mess. that's resolved now....