Our movable coop is finished!!! (Well, almost!)

We finally got some reliable help around here!

Anderson decided to help me finish up a few things today while Mike was at work, and we got it almost complete. (Taylor Anne was very busy practicing roller-blading) Mike will really finish things up tomorrow morning while I'm at the Girl Scout Leaderee getting my CPR/First Aider Training complete.
"Looks good from here Mom!"

Anderson had to test out the ramp, and Buster, of course was an onlooker. You can see how the door to the lower section is in the center, and opens upwards so it's out of the way if we need to get under there.

The hinged side of the roost is a problem when it rains, so we got some weatherstripping which we hope will keep out the rain like on a doorway or window. It's sandwiched in the hinge area pretty tightly, so I think it will work! We don't want everyone getting wet in there when there's a storm.

Here's the roost area. We used a 2x3 for them to roost on, and we had some leftover plastic wall board (like you use in bathrooms sometimes) - so I cut that to line the plywood floor of the roost area, so it will be easy to keep clean.

This shows the nest access doors... they latch closed, but make it easy to get the eggs without removing the whole side of the roost area.

The ramp to the roost and nesting areas.

Here's another view of the ramp, before we put on the line that pulls it up - it looks pretty much the same, but now we're able to pull up the ramp from the outside and lock the upper area closed at night. There will be no intruders in the roost area!

Here's the final product... minus the handles and the roof cap... It's really turned out nicely. (I think, anyway!) We're planning to paint it at some point, but most of the treated wood will need to 'age' a little first. I hope the hens like it, and will be our friends!