Coop Contest 2010 - Win $20 BYC Store Gift Cert. Ended 9/12/2010

This BYC Coop Contest Is Sponsored By https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-supplies.html


Get those digital cameras out and scan those plans you wrote on the back of your chick starter receipt. Throw them together with a great write up and you could be a winner! (okay... everyone on BYC is a winner... you'd just be a super coop contest winner!)

Contest Details:

This is a contest to see who can create the "best" coop page for BYC. The winner of the contest will get a $20 Gift Certificate for the BYC Store!

You'll be using the BYC Page Creation Tool to design your pages.

Deadline: The deadline will be based on the number of submissions we receive and how quickly we get them. Usually we wait for at least 20 - 30 submissions. Once we get "enough" we'll give everyone at least 1 week notice before the contest ends so they can put final touches on their submissions.

Here is what should be included in your page:
1) A write up of how you built your coop along with any information you think would be helpful to other people who may want to build a similar coop.
2) Any designs / plans you used to build your coop.
3) Pictures of your coop as it was being constructed.
4) Finished pictures of your coop.
5) What you want to change / add to your completed coop.

If you want your coop to win, make sure it has all of the elements above in as much detail as possible! Here are some additional hints to help you win the contest:

1) Follow the format of some of the existing coop pages.
2) The more details and pictures the better!
3) Plans plans plans. Very few coop designs have available plans. If you post plans (rough or detailed) of your coop you'll get bonus points for sure!
4) Pictures - We all love lots of pictures, but PLEASE follow these guidelines: Pictures on the page should be no wider than 800 pixels. If you want to add a larger picture please post a thumbnail link or regular link to the picture instead of the picture itself.

NEW RULE: ALL pictures MUST be uploaded to the BYC Image Upload Tool.
It is super easy to use and will help ensure that the pages always have the correct images and that they load quickly.

Here is a great example of a page with lots of good information and pictures during construction. You'll notice some pictures are in the body of the page and others are links from the page:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=8449

If you have any questions about how to use the BYC Page Tool, read the following thread and post questions here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=11399

We expect to add all of the pages submitted to the coop design page of BYC, but the best will win the contest.

TO ENTER THE CONTEST:

1) Create a cool page
2) Reply to this thread with a link to your coop page on BYC!
3) Have Fun!

NOTE: If you're one of those modest types and want to add your coop to the site but don't want to enter the contest, that is fine. We still need pictures posted to a BYC page and a link to your page posted in this thread... the more coop designs the better the community will be!

A few items to help everyone create BYC Coop Pages quickly and easily:

BYC Page Instructions: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2-Personal_Pages
Upload pics to BYC: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=52145
Create a BYC Page in 20 seconds: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=75877

Here's the process of how we get your coops rated / ranked and listed on the coops pages of BYC:

At the end of the contest we go through the process of creating thumbnails, sorting the coops by size, and adding them to the database. It is a long and manual process, so we tend to do them all at once and at the end of the contest. We use the contest to group them together into one place so we can crank through them all at one time.

So, to get your contest on the coops pages of BYC:

1) Create a coop page
2) Submit it to the current coop contest
3) Wait for the contest to end

We'll complete the manual process above, declare the winners, and add all the coops to the various coop pages

I built our coop as you would build any frame building. We installed 4" by 4" post in the ground and framed 2" by 8" floor joist.
With the floor joist finished, we put down 3/4" plywood for the floor and covered if with linoleum. The walls were made of 8' 2x4's and across the end of the building, we put 2x6 beam about 7 inches above the floor to put the studs on. This was for a place to slide the trays under the roost out for cleaning.
We insulated the walls and put on a shingled roof. The ceiling is insulated also. We ran a twenty amp 220 volt power line to the building and installed an eight foot florescent light on the ceiling. The pop door has an automatic door opener.
The only change that I can think of is the gate to the run is not as wide as the slide out trays,( hard to get the full tray out of the run)
We did not take pictures while we were building. The coop is 8' wide by 16' long by 8' tall.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=54259

Once I get mine done I will post pics and plan!

Please see my article on high plains coops in Backyard Poultry this coming month (mailed Friday).
I am pretty proud of the fact they published my work. I would be glad to email anyone who is interested
in the work.

Skip Eshelman
[email protected]

Here's our "Hot Chicks Room" Stealthy Tractor Coop entry:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=54546

I would love to submit our Coop & Run- I was bummed I missed the deadline to the last one:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=54072

Well, won't be able to enter the contest--my hubby built a playhouse for our daughters 12-ish years ago using a tiny Polly Pocket house from which he made a CAD. The thing has 4 gables with round windows, one on each side, and a cathedral ceiling! It is raised with a deck going the whole way around it. He framed under the platform and built a sandbox play area under it. We have converted the house to a really cool coop. Besides the 4 round gable windows, the house has 6 additional windows. The two by the front door have been converted to nest boxes with slide up openings. We built in some perches, put hardware fabric over the remaining 8 windows. We took out one of the steps up to the house level and made a ramp for the birds to get to the under level, which is sand/grass. Hardware fabric all around that, too. The house is varmint proof, still working on getting the under-pen secure. We created a temporary, low-tech, low-design pen out of left-over fencing from the garden which we have been moving around the yard. We want to be able to let the birds out into the safe, below-the-house pen on days nobody will be home. I'm afraid to let them out in the less-sturdy pen in the yard if no one will be around to check on them. Sand and not sunny, but OK for now and then. And it will be the ticket for outside forays during the winter, since it will get little snow.

I can't wait to post pictures, it is so cute. For years, people have stopped on the street to ask us where we got our playhouse. It was really hard to build, with all the gables, and the girls never appreciated it, but it is a terrific coop--high ceiling, lots of ventilation, built as well as a house.

A coop with all the best ideas from BYC posts





https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=58960

Here is ours...and moved with a crane too!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=49043

Love BYC by the way!

Quote:
Very nice...The coop of all coops!

I can see that we have our breeds in common!

Happy Memorial Day!

HMB