post your chicken coop pictures here!

[lacymorgan]

We are on a budget too. So we opted to order bird netting with one inch holes from ebay. It cost just over 34.00 for a 25 by 50 foot single netting piece. We also added reed fencing outside the chainlink we got for free from our neighbors. It blocks some sun and wind, but still lets in light. We also ordered for 24.00 a 6 by 15 shade cloth from amazon to make a shade cover over part of the run. This way it makes it harder for things to get in or for over head raptors to see anything worth going after.

 

[lacymorgan]

Interesting shape, but I would never ever use shiny material like that, it would cook my chickens.

 

[TalkALittle]

Interesting shape, but I would never ever use shiny material like that, it would cook my chickens.

The fact that it's shiny means that it would reflect rather than absorb energy. Surfaces are rated with emissivity coefficients-the ability to reflect energy. The ideal reflective surface would have a coefficient of 0 and a surface that reflected no light would have a coefficient of 1. The better at reflecting, the smaller the coefficient. Polished stainless steel is low, 0.16 vs. a painted surface which is about 0.9ish or plain wood at about 0.8ish.

http://www-eng.lbl.gov/~dw/projects/DW4229_LHC_detector_analysis/calculations/emissivity2.pdf

One of the benefits (or curses) of having an engineer for a husband is I get to learn all about this kind of stuff.

 

[Sylvester017]

Interesting shape, but I would never ever use shiny material like that, it would cook my chickens.

Well, look at it this way -- it'll save you steps in the kitchen to prepare chicken dinner!

Seriously, what WERE those architects thinking? Other than a nice pointed roof for rain or snow run-off what good is the rest of it?

 

[bruceha2000]

Saw a Hampton chicken coop designed by an architect featured on New York Times. Nice looking coop, but it could be a rotisserie chicken heaven.

Pros: he coop has radiant floor heating, a metal roof and easy-access doors, beautiful arch construction.




Cons: The coop has no ventilation, no natural light, got a hot metal roof, radiant floor to "warm" the chicken poop, cedar panels(?), round metal roosting bars.



What do you think of this fancy coop?
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/g...ern-coop-by-aro-architects.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

I am disappointed, Sylvester, in your lack of comment on the egg collection "design" but perhaps you didn't notice the first picture is the egg collection door open.

Not only is there no overhang, the door is hinged on the BOTTOM so when you open it to collect:
1) the door is in the way as it is held up by chains
2) any precipitation will go DIRECTLY onto the open door and run into the coop.

I think that the roosts are made of wood, not metal but they are not a large enough diameter.
There is a wee bit of ventilation at the peak of the end walls but it isn't enough for a coop that size.
Agree on the problem of no natural light.
Agree that the metal roof won't necessarily make it a chicken broiler, especially with the wood ceiling to modulate heat gain/loss.

From the article:
"When the contractor brought up radiant floor heating, I thought, ‘That’s ridiculous.’ But then I thought, ‘That’s a really good idea.’ If the heating fails, you’d have a bunch of dead chickens in winter."

Um, first we know that chickens living in unheated coops have no problem surviving without heat (including one of mine that moulted starting the end of January last year. Feb temps in the seriously below 0F range are common). Second, if the coop IS heated and the heat fails, exactly WHY are the chickens NOT going to die BECAUSE the coop has radiant floor heat, which by definition HAS failed?? It they don't die because it is a lot colder than what they are used to, it will be because they use their feathers to stay warm, same as chickens without a radiant heat coop.

Also from the article:
"I think it’s safe to say it’s the best chicken coop we’ve ever designed."
Easily so since it is the ONLY one they have designed and I suspect that won't change for a long time

Form over function. And while he thinks "faux rustic farm buildings. That’s not very interesting." I'm afraid his design would be out of place in most yards.

 

[WthrLady]

Had a super 52' weather day, with only 20 mph winds. Dh took the day off to help me lift plywood. Spent 10 hours yesterday working. First coats of paint were done prior in the barn.

Everything else, i've done on my own when weather cooperates. Slowly, but surely. And yes, it is a fabulously, shocking bright teal! Trim will be white. Windows go in this week.

Roof is ready to go up, but need to wait on dh's schedule to lift the osb, then shingle.

 

[bruceha2000]

Lifting plywood in 20 MPH winds is just shy of masochism! How far did the two of you fly??

 

[WthrLady]

It wasn't bad. We're used to it up on this hill. You just hold on tight, carry it flat. We got one wall up and then worked in the lee of the wall. The only hard walk was the 100 yards from the barn to the coop. I am sore today though! Lol.

We built a temporary ledge for the wood to sit on when we lifted it up. So it is all flush with the decking bottom. Tacked it up. I marked all studs and openings with pencil on the inside. We took the ply down, cut the openings, and i pre drilled the screw holes for the studs. We slapped it back up and put in the screws. Easy.

Oc today the winds are howling and the wind chills are in the single digits. So day off! Whoot.

 

[TJordan]

Well folks... I have to give my hubby a reprieve this weekend due to unexpected . Developments....

We've all caught that bad stomach bug going around... I've been laid up all weekend, my daughter had it this past week and now both my hubby and son have it as well.... Let's just say ewwwww....

But this weekend only... Work supplies have arrived, dumpster is here... Time to knock out that fence, coop and run.....

 

[Sylvester017]

And yes, it is a fabulously, shocking bright teal! Trim will be white. Windows go in this week.

Don't worry about the teal color. Blue is one of THE fastest fading colors in the sun no matter what the quality of paint. Our friends' house was painted quite bright blue and now 2 years later it is a pleasant softer blue. Enjoy the white contrast windows on the blue walls while you can because in less than 5 years you'll not see much difference. Reds have a tendency to fade to brick, brownish, or pink depending on the color mix to start with. The dirt that blows onto the walls also makes the colors less lustrous. I wanted a bright red for our new coop but think we might go with a subtle tan with white trim -- we want the canopy over the coop to be a khaki tan as well to blend. Don't want to advertise a bright hen house to the whole neighborhood!