Our first chicken coop ended up being too small. What we did next was a little EGGstreme!..
These are just updates. CLUCK Like if you see something that CRACKS you up! It's 95% done! Ok, so maybe I put a little too much Eggnergy & Eggfort into this. Best part is the roll out egg box. Just pick up eggs inside the box under the window. We get 9-11 eggs per day from 11 chickens.. No hen shoving, no chickens eating eggs, no poop, no mess. No EGG-ceptions!.
Their old 4x6 ft coop was too small for 12 hens, with 8 more still growing. One of them was Down on Her Cluck last month. She got eaten by something -- we fenced them in after that. Then I started the subfloor on the old concrete slab so I didn't have to do any EGGscavating. At first, nothing too EGGstravagant. Just 7 feet x 10 feet total space. Amazing what you can learn on YouTube about standard building concepts for floors, walls and trusses. FYI on trusses: I should have paid better attention in high school TrEGGgonometry. So I figured 6 feet high would give me EGGstra room for storage up top and good for walk-in easy clean feature, and keep us from hitting our NOGgin. Local Lumber store gave me a good deal on bundles of remnant opened weathered shingles. $20 total. I was EGGstatic! And yes, the inside was dry after it rained. WHEW: In summary, I wanted to convert a shed into a hen house but I didn't have a shed so I figured I start from scratch and learn alot in the way.
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Keep an eye on the hens when you're painting.. HENrietta decided to dip her beak in the paint lid before I caught her. OMMLETTE'n it slide this time
We decided to go with the trendy opHEN concept. The remnant linoleum floor is from Lowes, for easy cleaning. The plywood board flooring is not all that it's CRACKED UP to be. The EGGxit is at the back with the automatic solar door on the other side. And as you can see it passed HENspection. The real EGGventure was the move 50 feet over to the side of the pole barn. We didn't want fence in the middle of the yard. With a car jack, four 3 inch PVC pipes for rollers, a chain, a pickup truck and 2 1/2 hours later, it was relocated. My wife and I were EGGxhausted!. Moral of the story, Stay away from Pinterest, Youtube and Google, for Chicken Coop Ideas. Nothing is OVER EASY...
My wife said " I don't want to go inside the coop to gather eggs!" So I decided I better not EGG-nore her. By mid afternoon all we have to do is open the front HATCH and pick up all the eggs.
Let me EGGsplain - here's the inside view of 6 roll out egg nest boxes; when hen stands up the laid egg rolls to the back just inside the outer hatch (under window) The downhill slope is EGGsaggerated from 3 inches down to 0 inches for the total 24 inch ramp to the back, behind the plywood wall. (got this design from backyardchickens.com. Thanks Opa!) These are just wooden training eggs, screwed into the floor to give the hens and EGGsample of where their new nest box area is. Took them about 4 -5 days to get the hang of it. After the initial SHELL shock, these aren't needed anymore. Most seem to prefer the bottom nest. However, eggs laid parallel to ramp don't roll down very well. Seems hens don't know how to make an EGGROLL.
Solar HENergy motion detector lights on sale at Rural King. For night checks and hopefully predator suprise. Gotta keep the girls safe, This is serious stuff, no YOLK. Keeps the predators on EGGdge.
They didn't like the flash while they were sleeping, So I couldn't get a selife. Ya, they think I'm HENsane..When it's EGGstra dark inside, red is better. They can't see it. Also created a screen partition to have a "No Poop Zone" inside the coop, and chicken free storage area on top of nest box on right. Screen door also keeps them from "free ranging" without permission if the front door is left open.
Local farm supply store had 12 foot chainlink panels on sale 25% off, So we added to our original 12x12. Paying full price for anything is FOWL! Chickens like shade. The tarp keeps the sunny side up. From England. This is EGGciting. Door automatically opens when sun rises and closes at sunset. The chickens go in and roost before the door even closes. www.dawntillduskdoors.com; Who knew?
Ever wonder what to do with those old fall display pumpkins? They totally cored out the insides and left us a deflated paper thin pumpkin skin. After they EGGercise, they come back to eat. Six 2 inch 90 degree PVC elbows were installed near bottom of wastebasket. Holds the whole 40lbs bag of feed. One fill up feeds 11 hens for 2-3 weeks, and no mess
Full 5 gallon buckets are way to heavy to carry. Getting ready for winter. This indoor watering system Dennis made can be filled every 4-5 days by a hose from a port cap on the outside wall. Just the right height. The chicken just pushes the yellow tabs and it dispenses water into the cup
.
Getting ready for eggstreme winter weather by adding eleggtricity. Just finished wiring the coop for lights & warm water. Better get this outlet covered soon, or the only choice will be Extra Crispy!
Finishing Touches. To make sure they're all inside the coop we can count the chickens on the roost bars from our devices from inside the house on a cold winter night. Won't have to go get bundled up and walk the 60+ yards to check on them. Gotta love cheap wifi webcams on ebay. The sign is the corniest pun for Dennis and Kathi Atienza's Hen House. It's by some outfit in Hong Kong via ebay. They asked me what I wanted it to say. Was only $29 including shipping. I was eggstatic it came in 4 days
These are just updates. CLUCK Like if you see something that CRACKS you up! It's 95% done! Ok, so maybe I put a little too much Eggnergy & Eggfort into this. Best part is the roll out egg box. Just pick up eggs inside the box under the window. We get 9-11 eggs per day from 11 chickens.. No hen shoving, no chickens eating eggs, no poop, no mess. No EGG-ceptions!.
Their old 4x6 ft coop was too small for 12 hens, with 8 more still growing. One of them was Down on Her Cluck last month. She got eaten by something -- we fenced them in after that. Then I started the subfloor on the old concrete slab so I didn't have to do any EGGscavating. At first, nothing too EGGstravagant. Just 7 feet x 10 feet total space. Amazing what you can learn on YouTube about standard building concepts for floors, walls and trusses. FYI on trusses: I should have paid better attention in high school TrEGGgonometry. So I figured 6 feet high would give me EGGstra room for storage up top and good for walk-in easy clean feature, and keep us from hitting our NOGgin. Local Lumber store gave me a good deal on bundles of remnant opened weathered shingles. $20 total. I was EGGstatic! And yes, the inside was dry after it rained. WHEW: In summary, I wanted to convert a shed into a hen house but I didn't have a shed so I figured I start from scratch and learn alot in the way.
.
Keep an eye on the hens when you're painting.. HENrietta decided to dip her beak in the paint lid before I caught her. OMMLETTE'n it slide this time
We decided to go with the trendy opHEN concept. The remnant linoleum floor is from Lowes, for easy cleaning. The plywood board flooring is not all that it's CRACKED UP to be. The EGGxit is at the back with the automatic solar door on the other side. And as you can see it passed HENspection. The real EGGventure was the move 50 feet over to the side of the pole barn. We didn't want fence in the middle of the yard. With a car jack, four 3 inch PVC pipes for rollers, a chain, a pickup truck and 2 1/2 hours later, it was relocated. My wife and I were EGGxhausted!. Moral of the story, Stay away from Pinterest, Youtube and Google, for Chicken Coop Ideas. Nothing is OVER EASY...
My wife said " I don't want to go inside the coop to gather eggs!" So I decided I better not EGG-nore her. By mid afternoon all we have to do is open the front HATCH and pick up all the eggs.
Let me EGGsplain - here's the inside view of 6 roll out egg nest boxes; when hen stands up the laid egg rolls to the back just inside the outer hatch (under window) The downhill slope is EGGsaggerated from 3 inches down to 0 inches for the total 24 inch ramp to the back, behind the plywood wall. (got this design from backyardchickens.com. Thanks Opa!) These are just wooden training eggs, screwed into the floor to give the hens and EGGsample of where their new nest box area is. Took them about 4 -5 days to get the hang of it. After the initial SHELL shock, these aren't needed anymore. Most seem to prefer the bottom nest. However, eggs laid parallel to ramp don't roll down very well. Seems hens don't know how to make an EGGROLL.
Solar HENergy motion detector lights on sale at Rural King. For night checks and hopefully predator suprise. Gotta keep the girls safe, This is serious stuff, no YOLK. Keeps the predators on EGGdge.
They didn't like the flash while they were sleeping, So I couldn't get a selife. Ya, they think I'm HENsane..When it's EGGstra dark inside, red is better. They can't see it. Also created a screen partition to have a "No Poop Zone" inside the coop, and chicken free storage area on top of nest box on right. Screen door also keeps them from "free ranging" without permission if the front door is left open.
Local farm supply store had 12 foot chainlink panels on sale 25% off, So we added to our original 12x12. Paying full price for anything is FOWL! Chickens like shade. The tarp keeps the sunny side up. From England. This is EGGciting. Door automatically opens when sun rises and closes at sunset. The chickens go in and roost before the door even closes. www.dawntillduskdoors.com; Who knew?
Ever wonder what to do with those old fall display pumpkins? They totally cored out the insides and left us a deflated paper thin pumpkin skin. After they EGGercise, they come back to eat. Six 2 inch 90 degree PVC elbows were installed near bottom of wastebasket. Holds the whole 40lbs bag of feed. One fill up feeds 11 hens for 2-3 weeks, and no mess
Full 5 gallon buckets are way to heavy to carry. Getting ready for winter. This indoor watering system Dennis made can be filled every 4-5 days by a hose from a port cap on the outside wall. Just the right height. The chicken just pushes the yellow tabs and it dispenses water into the cup
.
Getting ready for eggstreme winter weather by adding eleggtricity. Just finished wiring the coop for lights & warm water. Better get this outlet covered soon, or the only choice will be Extra Crispy!
Finishing Touches. To make sure they're all inside the coop we can count the chickens on the roost bars from our devices from inside the house on a cold winter night. Won't have to go get bundled up and walk the 60+ yards to check on them. Gotta love cheap wifi webcams on ebay. The sign is the corniest pun for Dennis and Kathi Atienza's Hen House. It's by some outfit in Hong Kong via ebay. They asked me what I wanted it to say. Was only $29 including shipping. I was eggstatic it came in 4 days
