post your chicken coop pictures here!

[KennyRae]

 

[mots71]

My 4 chickens- coop with run and the garden.

 

[Sylvester017]

What about sheep? Small flock of Shetlands?

When I grew up on the farm we had regular-sized goats and sheep. Both were big and unpredictable in nature. Sheep will butt you from behind just as much as goats will. It's what they do. Babies are worse - active, chasing, and getting into everything - one swallowed my daughter's pigtail up to her scalp and we had to pull the hair out of the baby goat's gullet! Goats are crafty getting out of their pens. They chew anything they can get their teeth on - leather tack, tools, fences, clotheslines, barn siding, chainlink, tractor bumpers, bicycle tires, whatever - really annoying. It would've cost more for heavy metal pipe fencing for them than the goats or sheep were worth - wood or wire fencing of any guage eventually gets trampled/broken down - only heavy metal pipe works. We used the sheep for stew meat and BBQ and the goats were sold.

The cow was docile and staked in an open pasture and the chickens were relatively safe around her. Ultimately all large livestock was sold off and my parents just kept the chickens, ducks, and geese. It was all we needed for eggs or meat. We didn't miss the milk from the cow or goats because they produced way too much milk and my Mom got exhausted keeping up with the early morning and late evening milking. Too many gallons of milk, cream, butter, and cheese - no time for her to do anything else all day!

Mom cut it down to one Holstein cow but it was still too much for our family. When there is so much milk that you're giving it away it is not cost-effective. We didn't keep a goat as not everyone is a fan of goat's milk or cheese. My friend was in a co-op taking early 5 a.m. shifts milking a cow for raw milk but that got old quickly for her.

Now I can't verify the nature of Dwarf goats or sheep as we never had them - probably the same destruction power as regular-sized just in miniature. The small Shetland pony we had was nastier than the huge plow horse we had. I know there are miniature cattle which we saw at the Fair but boy were they expensive! Cows do better as a herd and as with poultry do better in a group so at least 2 miniature cows and at least 3 chickens in a flock bare minimum.

But the goats/sheep are not an animal to keep around poultry. Poultry needs no stress for egg-laying and large livestock are anything but peaceful in spite of the scenic photos of them - the paintings of idyllic mixed barnyard animals is a myth. People think chickens will fly out of the way of large livestock but a 6-lb hen doesn't have a chance against the unseen/unexpected butt or hoof stomp of a 100+ lb goat/sheep. Do the math. I don't even keep chicken breeds weighing over 5-lb around my 2.5-lb Silkies. Larger chicken breeds are sweet as pullets but by aged two or three start bullying smaller chicken breeds sometimes viciously. We had to re-home a bully 7-lb Marans age two and a White Leg hen who was sweet as a pullet but got very aggressive by age three toward the Silkies.

I don't expect sheep to be any different than goats in spite of their cute cud-chewing expressions. The lambs are klutzy jumpy babies and I wouldn't keep them around poultry either.

These are our humble experiences and as many as agree with me there'll be just as many that disagree - nature of the human psyche. My strong advice is to keep any goats/sheep in strong metal pipe pens away from poultry if you choose to have them.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

When I grew up on the farm we had regular-sized goats and sheep. Both were big and unpredictable in nature. Sheep will butt you from behind just as much as goats will. It's what they do. Babies are worse - active, chasing, and getting into everything - one swallowed my daughter's pigtail up to her scalp and we had to pull the hair out of the baby goat's gullet! Goats are crafty getting out of their pens. They chew anything they can get their teeth on - leather tack, tools, fences, clotheslines, barn siding, chainlink, tractor bumpers, bicycle tires, whatever - really annoying. It would've cost more for heavy metal pipe fencing for them than the goats or sheep were worth - wood or wire fencing of any guage eventually gets trampled/broken down - only heavy metal pipe works. We used the sheep for stew meat and BBQ and the goats were sold.

The cow was docile and staked in an open pasture and the chickens were relatively safe around her. Ultimately all large livestock was sold off and my parents just kept the chickens, ducks, and geese. It was all we needed for eggs or meat. We didn't miss the milk from the cow or goats because they produced way too much milk and my Mom got exhausted keeping up with the early morning and late evening milking. Too many gallons of milk, cream, butter, and cheese - no time for her to do anything else all day! 

Mom cut it down to one Holstein cow but it was still too much for our family. When there is so much milk that you're giving it away it is not cost-effective. We didn't keep a goat as not everyone is a fan of goat's milk or cheese. My friend was in a co-op taking early 5 a.m. shifts milking a cow for raw milk but that got old quickly for her.

Now I can't verify the nature of Dwarf goats or sheep as we never had them - probably the same destruction power as regular-sized just in miniature. The small Shetland pony we had was nastier than the huge plow horse we had. I know there are miniature cattle which we saw at the Fair but boy were they expensive! Cows do better as a herd and as with poultry do better in a group so at least 2 miniature cows and at least 3 chickens in a flock bare minimum.

But the goats/sheep are not an animal to keep around poultry. Poultry needs no stress for egg-laying and large livestock are anything but peaceful in spite of the scenic photos of them - the paintings of idyllic mixed barnyard animals is a myth. People think chickens will fly out of the way of large livestock but a 6-lb hen doesn't have a chance against the unseen/unexpected butt or hoof stomp of a 100+ lb goat/sheep. Do the math.  I don't even keep chicken breeds weighing over 5-lb around my 2.5-lb Silkies. Larger chicken breeds are sweet as pullets but by aged two or three start bullying smaller chicken breeds sometimes viciously. We had to re-home a bully 7-lb Marans age two and a White Leg hen who was sweet as a pullet but got very aggressive by age three toward the Silkies.

I don't expect sheep to be any different than goats in spite of their cute cud-chewing expressions. The lambs are klutzy jumpy babies and I wouldn't keep them around poultry either.

These are our humble experiences and as many as agree with me there'll be just as many that disagree - nature of the human psyche. My strong advice is to keep any goats/sheep in strong metal pipe pens away from poultry if you choose to have them.

Appreciate the input. I have a dry flock so there's no bouncy lambs. The Shetlands are mature, between four and ten years old. They are quite tame and placid and used to having chickens underfoot in their pen or their big field. They're for wool, not meat, so that's why they're older and calmer and more sensible. Yup, its true, they hurtle out of their pen in the morning and stampede towards the manger at night, and there are a few scurrying squawking chickens during those times. But touch wood, no accidents so far. And it would be an accident because there's nothing inherently mean about sheep. I've never been butted. Thankfully. Now, about that nasty rooster however!

 

[Sylvester017]

. I can understand chickens being too small to be around Goats.. But I'm wondering if very Large Geese are safe?? My goats are Dwarf size too...????

On the farm my Mom kept Pekin ducks in the same pen with Babcock Leghorns and it was a peaceful environment. Pekins are a quacky noisy bunch but usually calm and spend almost their whole day in/around a water pen - they are just extremely smelly/poopy so water has to be cleaned every day. Too messy so Mom just kept chickens and geese. She kept geese separated and they stayed in the yard and were the best watchdogs and their fertilizer was gold for the soil. They returned to their pen for laying their "golden" eggs - no, not gold really - seemed to be cream/white. She cut the Babcocks, Pekins, and Geese down to around a half-dozen each breed which was enough for a family of 4. Babies were raised to 7 weeks or more for meat - gross to imagine but that was how farmers got meat plus gardens and orchards for fresh produce.

Like I said in another post we never had anything but regular-sized goats but I can't imagine Dwarf goats are any less active, jumpy, or different from large goats? They wouldn't behave peacefully around layer hens who need a stress-free environment for uninterrupted laying. Keep the goats well penned in metal pipe fencing and don't mix with poultry. The active personalities of goats is too extreme around peace-loving foragers like hens. Geese will be happy around water pens and keep separated from chickens. You can't watch livestock 24/7 so keep them separated for security sake.

 

[Sylvester017]

Appreciate the input. I have a dry flock so there's no bouncy lambs. The Shetlands are mature, between four and ten years old. They are quite tame and placid and used to having chickens underfoot in their pen or their big field. They're for wool, not meat, so that's why they're older and calmer and more sensible. Yup, its true, they hurtle out of their pen in the morning and stampede towards the manger at night, and there are a few scurrying squawking chickens during those times. But touch wood, no accidents so far. And it would be an accident because there's nothing inherently mean about sheep. I've never been butted. Thankfully. Now, about that nasty rooster however!

We 've been butted by everything including roos and geese (but that's what made the roos/geese such good watchdogs). A little different getting butted from behind by a 100-lb+ goat or sheep! I think Spring makes all the animals go a bit haywire.

Our folks' farm was an experiment for 15 years and ultimately everything was sold off and the orchards went fallow. It was fun and I still consider myself a farm girl but too old to tackle that kind of experiment nowadays.

Good thing your sheep are in their arthritic years and that there's no bouncy offspring. Keep the chickens penned before letting out the sheep in the morns and that'll be less stress for the chickens' morning egg laying routine - at least that's when most of our 4 hens like to lay.

Do you sell the wool or use for crafts? Both? Fascinating to keep those skills active as it's a lost art.

 

[Sylvester017]

I've heard that about Cedar too. I live in the Pacific North West where Cedar is plentiful. It doesn't rot as quickly as pine. Insects don't feed on it like they do other types of wood. This coop is made out of yellow Cedar which is not the same as the aromatic Cedars used to line closets. Folks up here have been using Cedar to build barns and livestock shelters since the earliest homesteads. The native Americans used Cedar to build their longhouses. The coop is well ventilated and the chickens appear to be in good health. I use Hemlock shavings on the floor, which is a common practice up here. The biggest respiratory danger from Cedar is when your milling it. I researched coop materials and everything has it's drawbacks. Oriented Strand Board can release hazardous VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) from the resins and glues used to make it, as well as glues in plywood. Once again, it's greatest respiratory issues come when cutting it. Pine has to be painted or sealed in some fashion, a good paint that can withstand the moisture and ammonia from chicken poop is going to have it's own health hazards. Treated wood is toxic and should only be used in areas that won't be contact with the chickens, food, water or eggs. I live in a rain forest of Hemlock, Cedar, Spruce, Douglas Fir, Maple, Alder with a thick undergrowth of ferns, moss, etc. Everything molds, mildews, grows moss or mushrooms. Other then using metal to build my coop, Cedar was the most economical material that would last over time. None of the locals I've spoken with have had any noticeable negative health effects on their chickens from their Cedar Coops. That being said, I definitely wouldn't use Cedar shavings for the coop floor.

Thanks for the input. And unfortunately as you say for every benefit there is a drawback as well. We are considering a new Amish/Dutch stained pine coop because we couldn't see cedar, treated, or pressed woods on the interior where chicken poop gets everywhere and not easily cleanable. Our free-range chickens only use the coop to roost or lay eggs but still it gets messy having chickens and we figured pine walls would be smooth and easiest to clean. We had an Amazon parrot years ago that had an empty 10x10 room all to himself with plastic over the floor - his cage/pen was in the center of the room - how was he able to get poop on the walls from the center of the room? Birds are messy.

Apparently chickens easily succumb to respiratory issues from DE, cedar shavings, poultry dusts, lice powders, etc so we opted not to have any of those items around our chickens. Our Leghorns sneeze enough from dirt-bathing that I don't need to add to their allergies. For a lice/mite preventative treatment we use organic "Poultry Protector" in wet spray form on both birds and coop per directions - no flying powders or dusts to breathe into the lungs.

Again thanks for your input!

 

[Sylvester017]

As far as having goats with chickens, my friends have goats with their chickens on their farm with no problems. Their chickens are free range and often hang out with the goats. They also have free range turkeys, once again, no problem. If you have enough space and your chickens are free to roam the property, you won't have a problem. My friend keeps her two nasty , intact male goats in a pen attached to the chicken coop. The goats butted a hole in the adjoining wall between the coop and goat pen. The chickens now like to roost in the rafters above the goats. The goats just pretty much ignore them.

As previously stated - for as many opinions there are in favour of goats with chickens there are just as many opposed. Livestock can't be watched 24/7 and in favour of security it's best to keep a secure barrier between them. A show breeder lost her flock to two runaway goats that broke out of their pen. Some old goats/sheep are mellow. However many of the young bucks are too full of vim and vinegar and can injure/kill birds that require a peaceful foraging environment and for a good egg-laying environment. My old folks had 25 acres but kept the species separated for safety's sake. It only takes one incident to wipe out a few or all of a flock. Just MHO.

 

[Sylvester017]

Quote: Could I cut out the insides of a regular door, put hardware cloth on it and use as my screen door for my run??? Anyone have ideas??

Anyone out there have opinions, please?!

Quote:
Aren't there regular screen doors at the hardware stores? Both heavy duty metal or wooden ones?

Also I agree about the exterior doors can suffer. Our front door is only two years old and already splitting and showing signs of wear. Hope we can salvage it. The Southwest sun beats on it all afternoon in spite of being under a long front porch! I should've bit the bullet and invested 3x more $$$ on a steel door like our garage door!

 

[Latestarter]

I've only looked at the first 5 pages.... there are so many.... and the coops are all so great!! I wish I was more handy with building so I could build my own coop! Great job everyone!

Welcome Sharihern! There are some amazing coops here to look through. But don't stop here, there's a wealth of other info out there on the site to be found as well!

Enjoy!