Coop Construction and Design
Feathered Fortress Coops are designed with durability and ease of use in mind.
Read below about the features that make our coops and brooder secure, lightweight, and easy to use.
Wheels
All of the coops here roll easily on 20" flat-free wheels.
The large diameter makes it easy to pull coops over nearly any terrain. "Flat Free" means no maintenance for you, you'll never have to put air in the tires.
Hardware Cloth
Chicken wire keeps chickens in, but it doesn't keep predators out.
This is why the Feathered Fortress coops are built with half-inch mesh hardware cloth on the sides. It allows for proper ventilation for your flock, and superior predator protection.
Welded Wire Flooring
The floors of coops are made from one-inch mesh welded wire, with roosting bars positioned across the top.
The wider holes in the welded wire allow waste to fall through, which means less cleaning for you!
Wire bottom coops are designed to be used with electric poultry fencing to deter nighttime ground predators. (My preferred brand is the Solar PoultryNet from Premier One Supplies)
Poultry Net Staples
T-50 staples from a spring action staple gun can be wiggled out by hand (human or racoon), which is why all hardware cloth and welded wire are secured by 16 gauge poultry net staples.
(Only some thumbs were harmed in the making of this coop).
Specialty Screws
Not all screws are created equal.
That's why Feathered Fortress Coops are assembled with rust and corrosion resistant deck screws.
Designed to withstand the elements, with superior holding power in both pressure treated and cedar lumber.
Brooder Construction and Design
Brooders are build with real lumber (pine or cedar), and solid plywood that won't disintegrate with exposure to moisture;
no OSB (glued together wood chips) or particle board used here.
Front Access
Brooders from Feathered Fortress Coops are designed with hutch style doors.
Accessing the brooder from the front reduces the stressful predator response that comes from approaching chicks from above.
This also allows the heat source to be placed on the top, and it doesn't need to be moved to care for your chicks.
Split doors
The dual hutch doors on Juvie brooders allows you to get in, but creates a smaller window of escape for your more adventurous chicks.
Hang Feed and Water
Juvie Brooders come with hooks to hang feed and waterers (and will accommodate up to a 5-liter size water dispenser)
Hanging keeps them from getting filled with wood shavings and droppings, which means less frequent water changes for you, and cleaner, healthier feed and water for your chicks.
