post your chicken coop pictures here!

[OnlyOrps]

We don't have a rooster to 'gaurd' the hens but our Corgi (a hearding breed) watches over them like a rooster would. He has ever since we brought the chickies home. Then again maybe he just wants their poop to eat!

cute! Ewww yeah, our dog is the same way. She thinks they're like her own personal gumball machines lol

 

[perchie.girl]

My dog used to love to dab a little Cecal behind her ears... talk about....eeewwww.

deb

 

[TJordan]

cute! Ewww yeah, our dog is the same way. She thinks they're like her own personal gumball machines lol

 

[kidsNchicken]

My coop finished with the chickens now in! : )

 

[fduncan]

Still working on it but I'm pretty proud of it . My awesome mom is building this for me ) with a little help from me & my kids ) & so far everything but the siding is recycled so my 200 sq ft coop will cost us under a $100 . It's 2 coops up top & will have a 3rd one on the ground for my larger breeds

 

[crazyhen]

fduncan,
That is really pretty. We just bought a large building and devided it into three parts inside. If i ever do it again I will buy a really long one and put in at least 4 sections. It is surprising how many coop areas you end up needing to house baby chicks, a breeding group and old layers etc.

 

[perchie.girl]

very nice all you guys keep me inspired not to give up...

@fduncan

that coop is Adorbs....

@crazyhen

I too want to go bigger.... My form factor is six foot increments... because of materials I already have. So I will have partitions that will be six feet by twelve... with an additional alrea that can be reconfigured as needed. with a whole roof over top. i will have an area that is twelve by twelve for workspace... feed storage and access to all partitions for feeding and watering and maintenence.

I keep gleaning ideas for making the roof because I cant climb and I have to do this myself. The whole enclosure willl be 24 x 24 feet. I 90 percent of the materials...

My exterior run area will be 24 x 50 initially. With expansion capabilities of another 24 x 50... Mostly new materials... I am hoping to use cattle panels and hardware cloth for canine exclusion with an arched frame of some sort to support Aviary netting.

I finally have new software where I can draw it out again... Yay.

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Here is what I have so far...



Now that I have an actual CAD system again I can flesh out my changes... The guinea area is ell shaped.

and No I dont expect them to lay their eggs in a nest... little reprobates... My best guess is the commercial guinea farms just do a slanted floor so as the eggs get kicked around they gather in one spot...

deb

 

[Sylvester017]

Your chickies appear to be a Sexlink hybrid that carries various names like Cinnamon Queens, Golden Comets, Isa Browns, etc etc.

Do your ducks sleep outdoors or are they like chickens and go into their housing on their own at dusk to roost?

Wow, Thanks so much for helping us identify the little brown ones! We started reading up on all of the sex-link hybrids and were wondering if you think they could be Red Shaver? Also, our ducks have a small metal goat shelter. We want to build a large hinged door for the front of it to put them up at night, but haven't done it yet.

I think Red Shaver is more of a U.K. name as Isa Browns seem to be European, but there is so much international breeding that many sexlink names have been created depending on the hatchery or breeders that created their own particular crosses. The basic thing about the red sexlinks is that the Rhode Island Red (or in some cases NHR) are used for breeding with a white hen breed and that's where the mostly red feathers come from on the red sexlink hens with a smattering of white patches mainly in the tail feathers. Rather than agonizing to discover exactly what your hybrids are you know at least one of the parents was a red breed (RIR or NHR) and that the sexlinks are known to be high productivity. Just expect them to be spent after the 2nd year as high productivity exhausts the hens. These breeds were coined the phrase "battery cage hens" in the U.K. Chickens that don't brood and crank out high egg production are tossed by egg ranchers and there are many rescuers of these sexlinks after the egg production drops. The only breed I know from research and from having them myself are the White Leghorns that crank out up to 300 eggs as pullets and keep laying well into their 5th to 8th year at only 20% reduction in production each successive year. I would classify RIRs and BRs up there but I've never known a more reliable producer than White Legs. Of course production breeds do have higher incidences of reproductive issues - tumors, cancer, prolapse, etc because of their high production. White Legs are used for cancer research because 45% develop ovarian issues by age 4. If they can live past that critical 4th year without health issues they will continue laying well into their later years. We re-homed a White Leg that is in her 4th year of XL egg production now and we're hoping to see her healthy through this year in her new home.

I'm curious about your ducks, if they put themselves away to roost on their own or if they have to be herded into their shelter. My folks herded their ducks but the chickens went to their coop to roost on their own.

 

[RoswellOrganic]

Hi all, I finished my chicken tractor a while ago, wanted to add the pics here. Dimensions are 3x5 for the main coop area, it is 2 stories with the roosts and an external nest box upstairs. Food, water and a dust box downstairs. I just expanded the run fromt he original 5x5 on the pictures, I added a 4x5 with 4 doors, so I can rotate the 5x5 paddock style.

I have an ADOR door that automatically opens and closes that I love, and a D cell battery electric fence that helps with keeping the girls safe from predators.

I move the tractor once a week so the girls have new grass.

I do like how it turned out for the most part, but it is heavier than what I wanted, so not as easy to move as I hoped.

I only have 2 SLW so far and I am hoping to be able to add 2 more, for a total of 4 large fowl. Do I have enough space? After observing the girls for the last couple of months, I don't know how they can be kept on the very small A frame type of chicken tractors, they got really aggravated with each other for the one week I kept them in the 3x5 only and they were only 3 months old.

More pictures in my signature