post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Sylvester017]

BruceHa2000 great feedback I guess...

Not sure if self proclaimed expert agervated at idiots building things they know little about and going on a rant. Or just misunderstood constructive criticism.

Either way thank you for the helpful suggestions I will be making a few changes to the coop.

Hi SHemphill - read the posts and use what applies for you. Not everyone's method will work for the next person down the road. I can sum up by saying security from predators and the elements are the primary focus - someone in VT needs an enclosed coop from the winter snows and someone in SoCal needs 3 open-wire walls year 'round from hot humid weather. How you manage that on your $$$ is your best guess. You'll get a feel for what works best for you after you get to know your flock. We kept modifying our coop for several months each time some new issue came up. Some posts are not meant to be offensive but just not good at expressing themselves in writing sometimes. My sweet DH is like that. His posts are so curt people think he's being judgmental. He's working on his written tact. Occasionally there's a troll on a thread but most on this thread genuinely hope their experiences will help someone else facing a similar circumstance. Ultimately the final choice is up the reader.

 

[TJordan]

I tried candling them today... Not to sure but I think I see a darker side on each... I've never done it so I'll wait another few days and do them again... If I lose them at least I'll have an idea... Plus my husband knows they are there now but has no idea about how long it takes, never looks at them and I can always slip a few new ones in if these flop ... to him...

 

[vehve]

Bruce, exactly, the thing to take away from this is to either break broodies right away, or give them eggs to sit within a few days.

 

[vehve]

TJ, around day 4-5 you should see veining.

 

[TJordan]

TJ, around day 4-5 you should see veining.

Thanks.. This was a hidden nest of 4 that I found and carefully moved back to the right area... The hen went right in and got back to work without missing a beat... I know they are about a week to 9 days old... Closer to a week I think... I was afraid to mess with them to much after I moved them until I knew she would sit again or abandon them... I'm going to try to find a few 7-9 day candling Picts to compare with what I saw...

 

[Teila]

Hey there Sylvester017

Yeah, I have seen all the lengths you guys have to go to to protect your flocks from predators and some of those predators are downright scary!

Out of the suburbs, rural Aussies face the threat of foxes, sometimes dingoes (depending on the location) snakes, lizards/goannas and aerial threat from Hawks. In the suburbs, the only real threat facing my gals is the neighbours' dogs or cats, maybe a snake but I have never seen one and the occasional 'lost or strayed far from home' lizard/goanna. I have seen a couple of cats lurking around but they have no chance of getting into the coop at night and during the day the girls raise the alarm way before a cat can get anywhere near close enough to cause harm and they would still have to get past the wire on the run. Working from home, I can just dash out the door and chase off the cat.

Had to share this picture, this fella was trapped by one of the Aussie BYCers who lives more rural (check out the claws on this guy!) He was trapped after trying to steal eggs from a broody hen who raised all kinds of alarms and fought him off, she lost a couple of feathers but survived, brave little gal!:






My gals do get a free range every day and nearly all day on the weekends but it is always under supervision with either myself or hubby watching them.

Having bantams, our biggest threat is Crows! I have seen a Crow try and kill a juvenile Turtle Dove and my bantams are not much bigger than some of the Crows around here. We have to be particularly vigilant with chicks as a Crow would see them as a tasty snack; another reason free range is supervised and runs are covered.

If I had your predator problems, no way my current coops be anywhere near adequate to protect my gals.

The solar panels actually run the pump on the fish pond; on top of the coop is just a good spot to put them .. no heating required here and lighting consists of a torch when necessary

This was taken when we had a coop at either end of the run, prior to joining them as one big coop:

 

[outlawfarmer]

Still working onit

 

[perchie.girl]

Still working onit

cute..... VBG

 

[Sylvester017]

Hey there Sylvester017

Yeah, I have seen all the lengths you guys have to go to to protect your flocks from predators and some of those predators are downright scary!

Out of the suburbs, rural Aussies face the threat of foxes, sometimes dingoes (depending on the location) snakes, lizards/goannas and aerial threat from Hawks. In the suburbs, the only real threat facing my gals is the neighbours' dogs or cats, maybe a snake but I have never seen one and the occasional 'lost or strayed far from home' lizard/goanna. I have seen a couple of cats lurking around but they have no chance of getting into the coop at night and during the day the girls raise the alarm way before a cat can get anywhere near close enough to cause harm and they would still have to get past the wire on the run. Working from home, I can just dash out the door and chase off the cat.
We had a Leghorn that would throttle any stray cat in the yard to the point they wouldn't jump into the yard anymore. Now our BW Ameraucana (my avatar) has taken over the duty as sentinel and chases off the intruders with a vengeance - yet is very kind and nurturing to her Silkie flockmates.

Had to share this picture, this fella was trapped by one of the Aussie BYCers who lives more rural (check out the claws on this guy!) He was trapped after trying to steal eggs from a broody hen who raised all kinds of alarms and fought him off, she lost a couple of feathers but survived, brave little gal!:




What the heck is this ugly thing! Looks more like a Croc than a Lizard! I thought Raccoons were a threat but this guy beats them!


My gals do get a free range every day and nearly all day on the weekends but it is always under supervision with either myself or hubby watching them.
Having bantams, our biggest threat is Crows! I have seen a Crow try and kill a juvenile Turtle Dove and my bantams are not much bigger than some of the Crows around here. We have to be particularly vigilant with chicks as a Crow would see them as a tasty snack; another reason free range is supervised and runs are covered.
The flock of Crows in our neighborhood actually chase off the Cooper's (chicken hawk) and never bother our LF or bantams. They sit on the rooftops or telephone poles and caw but never swoop on our chickens or the feed. They actually are quite good to have around to chase off parrots or hawks. Now I wouldn't trust Crows around chicks or ducklings in a ranged environment but they don't bother our LF or bantams. Of course we provide a lot of shelters like low lean-to's, doghouses, pop-up yard canopy, tall and potted plants, etc for the hens to hide should a hawk come by. The hawks don't go after the hiding hens so we spread shelters all around the yard. We watched a hawk standing a couple meters from a hiding hen and never bothered to go after her - darnedest thing. We see this scenario often in the yard.

The solar panels actually run the pump on the fish pond; on top of the coop is just a good spot to put them .. no heating required here and lighting consists of a torch when necessary

:

Beautiful spacious yard! I lost a lot of free-range yard w/ raised garden beds but it's all veggies for us and the chickens!

 

[Strux]

I finally got my coop done. We are so excited to get started with chickens.

[/IMG]

Pick up my chicks on the 14th