"The Cottage" is finally complete (for now anyway.) I made changes as I went along and it was truly a trial and error thing. I love how it turned out, though, and I think the girls do, too.
If I'm at home during the day and can occasionally check on them, I let the girls free-range in the entire back yard. If I need to be gone, however, I enclose them in the circular run that I made from a discarded trampoline frame wrapped all around with poultry netting (chicken wire) and draped over the top with bird netting. For an extra cottage-y touch, I attached rolled picket fencing purchased from American Fence and Supply Co. in Georgetown, Texas (http://www.afence.com). At night, after they've put themselves to bed (and they really do that!), I close the "screen" door-- safe-keeping for them and peace of mind for us. We live in a rural neighborhood so other than a few cats and dogs, we don't seem to have the usual predators hanging around. You never know, though, so it's better to be safe than sorry. In the morning, they are eager to leave their small run and venture out into wider spaces.
The coop was originally designed to be one piece, with the roofed run screwed permanently onto the house part. Even though I could move the entire thing by myself (but just barely) to another location in the yard, I was afraid of eventually tearing it all to pieces so I removed the screws and attached the run to the house with latches, one at the top and one at the bottom, on both sides. I also secured the open-ended run by attaching a piece of 1" x 2" to completely frame in the bottom and make it stable when not attached.
I love how the screen door turned out but I wish the gingerbread trim, that I bought online from a dollhouse supply company, had been a little larger. I did find one source for "architectural corners" that might have looked better but the cost would have put me in the poor house!
Just for fun, when the ventilation door is closed.
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