The coop has been in place for a few weeks now. It is still not complete, but it stays dry inside. When I first brought it over to Leviathan Hall, I had a lot of cardboard covering various un-done portions. The ridge, the nesting boxes, the front and back doors all had cardboard stapled over. I’m down to only having cardboard over the windows now…
The dangling weight in the picture is the counter weight to the coop door. The coop door started out as an old Square D electrical panel cover. I cut the height down a bit to allow the pulleys enough room to operate. I put together some side rails to keep the door on track and to provide a positive stop in case the door gets pushed in.
The weight and the pulleys worked out really well with the weight of the door. The pull action on the counter weight is very smooth. The door stays put in the location determined by raising or lowering the counterweight.
This coop doesn’t have an attached run like my previous version. I put together a scrap wood covered area for them to hang out. There is shelter under the coop itself, but this gives them a little more room:
