Our Coops are Extra Happy when they have “Extras!”
Opening windows, under coop panels, hardware skirts, flower boxes, and slide out vinyl covered floors!
Opening Windows
Chickens have no night vision, or put another way, they are virtually blind once our sun calls it a day. For this reason they head to the security of their coop and then to bed on the roost bar. Once on the bar they're there for the duration of the night and so with open widows placed strategically at the roost bar elevation they will be able to bask in that "Summer Wind" Sinatra sang about.
1/8" Plexiglas is inset into a redwood frame with redwood locking mechanism. And one not fear for your hens security resulting from a window left open through the nite, as galvanized hardware screens are affixed to the inside of the windows with the edges trimmed in redwood, not unlike a picture frame.
$145/Window
Under-coop Panels
The under coop panels are simply an extension of the run as the panels are made to fit snugly inside the legs of the coop. They offer up an area where your hens can congregate for both shade or cover from rain, as well as a location they will typically set aside for their much needed dust baths, either in the soil itself or a dedicated box of fine loam you provide. A 4' by 4' coop that affords your hens an additional 16 sq. ft. of space, or as in the foot print of the 4' by 6', a total of 24 sq. ft.
4' by 4' Coop de View and Grande - $215
4' by 6' Coop de Grande - $245
Hardware Skirt
With the third and last coop I built for the girls, I encased the entire underside of the run in a hardware cloth mat some 6" beneath finish grade, then turning up and stapled to the inside of the bottom plate so as to keep any predators from gaining entrance by digging under the run walls. The 6" in depth was needed in preventing the hens from catching the wire as they scratch, a needed if not required ritual. It was an arduous task of which I would discover unnecessary. The hardware cloth skirt is a simple and fool proof concept and of which I've yet been called back on for predators gaining entrance . Raccoons are the primary threat, but then skunks and rats as well will dig under to gain entrance. Such ply their trade usually at night and if by chance you leave the hen door open, your hens will be vulnerable.
The hardware skirt can only be installed after the coop and run are in place. Then a ribbon of soil is excavated at a depth of 1" to 2" with an average width (out from the wall) of 16" to 20" depending on the customers preference.
Two inches of the mat is then bent at a 90% angle and stapled to the outside bottom of the wall plate, then covered with the same soil excavated. The predator will start digging at the wall and as hitting the cloth will continue moving back, till ultimately doing the math and giving up. Roughly half my clientele have desired this added precaution, and so in the end it's up to you and your desires as some areas of the Bay Area are more prone to predators than others.
Also, the photos you see here where the skirt is showing were taken just prior to backfilling it out of sight, as I've yet encountered a customer that fancied the appearance of galvanized hardware cloth surrounding their coop n’ run
Standard 4' by 4' coop with under panels and 4' by 8' run - $315
4' by 6' coop with under panels and 6' by 8' run - $365
Flower Box
What's to say. A flower box for the girls. The door is reinforced for the added weight with weep holes at the front of the box for proper drainage. You choose the flowers.
$145/Box
Slide-out Vinyl Floor
The slide out floor is included in the cost of both the Coop de View & Grande. But as I would later determine, there is nothing quite like a vinyl covered floor that will save in time and effort as you maintain your girls abode. Plywood is naturally porous and prone to absorption and staining, but in borrowing from the likes of the older kitchen floors that we used to mop clean; to clean the hens floor is just a few swipes as you change out the shavings beneath their roost bars per the schedule you see fit. A 1" high redwood rim surrounding the floor perimeter is also installed so as to ensure containment of shavings beneath the bar.