Recent content by redfoxco

What a nice way to check in with inactive members! What have I been up to? Well, last fall, we relocated our chicken coop to be closer to our horse barn and have been slowly upgrading it with insulation, built-in brooder cages, permanent (and very safe) electrical wiring, etc. I like having...

I just posted this in my intro and thought I'd cross-post it here too. Got a few pictures of the girls today! They chose a new spot for a community dust bath and were very proud of themselves. (DH's comment is "3 phase chickens" ... a little electrical engineering humor for you :plbb .) Poor...

Got a few pictures of the girls today! They chose a new spot for a community dust bath and were very proud of themselves. (DH's comment is "3 phase chickens" ... a little electrical engineering humor for you :plbb.)

I've just about decided that my "foyer" is more trouble than it's worth. I may ditch it and just install a simple 6' long roost on one side of the coop, with the opposite wall hosting the nest boxes, food/water, and storage shelves (maybe something like this: https://pin.it/6bkTkFL). I think...

Great tips, @Ridgerunner ... just what I was looking for. Thanks! Thanks for the link, @ColoradoPip.

Do you have any trouble with wasps getting through your hardware cloth and making nests?

We have a walk-out basement that opens out under our main floor deck, so the deck joists are about 9' above ground. Luckily, that side of the house faces south, so between reflected heat and thermal mass, the snow doesn't stick there for long.

Sure do! I've been using this project as an opportunity to learn SketchUp. This is the basic design (it's missing a few details -- I primarily used this to generate a framing/siding/roofing plan). The ridge is vented, and each door has an awning-style window (hardware cloth inside). We will...

I just realized that I don't have any current pictures of our flock! I'll have to fix that. In the meantime, here's a picture of our first coop (which is not nearly so pretty now and will soon be replaced). After I finished assembling and staining it, my kids spent days playing a game they...

Love your coop, @DobieLover! Ours is a 6'x12' structure overall, with half being an enclosed coop and half being a secure, covered run. I'd like to divide the enclosed coop portion into two sections: the first will be an entry/storage/egg gathering area for humans and the second will be for...

Just a thought ... If I were in your shoes, I'd put down a few inches of crusher fines or roadbase, compact it, and then lay hardware cloth over it. Then I'd put a few inches of sand, wood chips, or your bedding of choice on top of that. The chickens would have a comfortable bedding layer to...

Thanks, everyone!

I'm trying to pack a LOT of function into my new walk-in coop -- hopefully not too much! 😉 I have a fairly small footprint for the chicken area (roughly 3' x 6') but I have lots of height to work with (6' eaves sloping up to an 8' peak). I'll be keeping 3 hens (6 max) and they will also have an...

We're in the middle of building a new coop for our 3 hens (and maybe a few more someday). We went with 6'x6' for the coop portion (there's also an attached run) and have had surprisingly little building material waste. We just bought mostly 12' 2x4s and used 1.5 sheets of 4'x8' siding per...

Hi everyone! I've been lurking for a while and thought it was time to join and introduce myself. So here goes... (1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens? Still fairly new -- we've had chickens for about 1.5 years now. (2) How many chickens do you have right now? 3 (3)...