post your chicken coop pictures here!

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Craftygirl said:
Thank you! It's a 30x20 foot dog kennel on the back of the garage that we don't use. I'm going to plant some herbs and flowers in there and a stone path and put in a swing and make it all my country retreat. :)

Where I stood to take the picture is the garden and I want to plant some stuff for my chickens. Lettuce...and more. I'm not sure what all they might like or eat. It's going to be fun.
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I don't know about every breed but our Silkies, Leghorn, and Ameraucana devour cucumber slices and cantaloupe rinds (we leave extra fruit when cutting rinds for them), cantaloupe guts with seeds, grapes, cooked sweet potatoes and/or cooked yams, chopped up little bits of green cabbage or finely shredded carrots (big leaves and long stringy stuff can impact their crop), watermelon rinds (extra fruit left on the rinds for them), raisins, apples/pears (no seeds - toxic) cooked brown rice (we sprinkle w/powdered Brewers Yeast), one Silkie loves my fresh bell pepper seeds from the garden (we tried to give her store bought bell peppers and she wouldn't touch them), another Silkie loves the raised garden bed to glean all the finely crushed egg shells I mix into the soil for calcium for the tomato plants. I have a Buff Leghorn who loves to chew on tomato leaves so I have to keep her away from any of the fenced garden beds because tomato vines/leaves are toxic to chickens (humans too if eaten). My Leghorns are the only ones that will eat fresh tomato. Some people feed pumpkin to their chickens - none of mine will touch it whether fresh or cooked, whole or cutup yet my friend's chickens love it! Mine won't eat squash or zucchini either.

My Silkies I can trust in the garden beds but not the LF as they eat the tomato leaves and try to dig in the soil too deep. At end of growing season I turn everyone loose in the empty beds to glean the last of the egg shells and take dust baths or whatever they want until the following spring when I have to fence it off again for planting. I've had to resort to all organic safe products for gardening whether it's pest control or fertilizer because of the chickens. I don't know why but I read a toxic list of foods that said citrus like oranges, grapefruit, etc is to be avoided as is avocado. I think eggplant, fresh potato, and cilantro is also a no-no. Someone said strawberries were ok but again my hens won't touch it but they love blueberries. After Googling for websites on toxic foods to avoid for chickens, start experimenting to see what your chicks like to eat in fresh produce then plan a garden around their favorites. You have such a nice clean slate to start with in your setup - what fun!
 
LindaB220 said:
Yeah, I got suckered on Cragslist one time. I bought a grow out pen with hardware cloth. The guy said he had used it a couple of years. 3' x 12'. So I sent SIL after it and he came home so proud of himself for finding it for me. Well made with good heavy wood and green plastic netting. He didn't know the difference. Never been used and I haven't predator proof it yet. I will be a good one eventually.
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At least the wood is desirable and useable!
 
I think on trash day and yard sales I'm going to glean the neighborhood to see if anyone has stuff I can recycle. After 26 years on my property there's nothing left to salvage here and I need to put up a couple more low lean-to's for the hens to dive under! The Cooper's Hawk has been making daring fly-bys - last time over my DH's head. Every spring the Hawks get aggressive. For 3 years the low lean-to's and a recycled thrift store dog house have been shelters for the girls from the aerial predators. It's worked for 3 years for the backyard free ranging so I want to put up more for them.
 
After looking around on this site and shopping online for what is available here in Belgium I have pretty much decided to go with this model coop but want to go and have a look at it before making my final decision.




It seems that felt roofing is popular here so I've had problems finding a coop with a wooden roof and a run. I know it should have ventilation, be easy to clean, open up well so I can air it out....anything else I should consider? What do you think of the coop in the photo? I plan on having two hens and they will have a place in the backyard to forage for insects so they will have time out of the run.
 
chalet girl said:
After looking around on this site and shopping online for what is available here in Belgium I have pretty much decided to go with this model coop but want to go and have a look at it before making my final decision.




It seems that felt roofing is popular here so I've had problems finding a coop with a wooden roof and a run. I know it should have ventilation, be easy to clean, open up well so I can air it out....anything else I should consider? What do you think of the coop in the photo? I plan on having two hens and they will have a place in the backyard to forage for insects so they will have time out of the run.
Click to expand...
Wow...that is beautiful! And your run is larger than the kit I ordered, but I plan on chopping my run "off" and after raising the coop up rebuilding a much bigger run for the ladies...

Best of luck and let us know how it goes for you!!
yippiechickie.gif
 
chalet girl said:
After looking around on this site and shopping online for what is available here in Belgium I have pretty much decided to go with this model coop but want to go and have a look at it before making my final decision.




It seems that felt roofing is popular here so I've had problems finding a coop with a wooden roof and a run. I know it should have ventilation, be easy to clean, open up well so I can air it out....anything else I should consider? What do you think of the coop in the photo? I plan on having two hens and they will have a place in the backyard to forage for insects so they will have time out of the run.
Click to expand...

Not certain what your experience or knowledge of chickens happens to be, but they only use the coop for laying eggs and roosting at night. They are foraging mobile creatures and need a LOT of ground space to move about. The housing is less important than a secure ranging area so if there are attachments to add to the run space it will be appreciated by your birds. This is a darling and easy-to-clean model of coop but as with all kits there is never enough foraging area especially after some of the ground space is taken by feeders and waterers. If you free-range the hens daily then this coop model and floor space should do very well for 3-4 hens. You may need to tarp cover the egg box nest during snow or rain as these boxes are prone to seepage. We tarp even from the sun to preserve the wood from sun rot.

BTW the coop kit is adorable - now if it was about 3X larger it might be large enough for our 4 hens who don't have a large coop but free-range all day LOL
 
Hi Sylvester!

Yes I agree the run is too small to keep them in all of the time. I'm going to see about extending the run and they will get daily trips out in the garden. I'm going to see about having another 'run' or two in the backyard where they can scratch and move about without me having to keep one eye to the sky for hawks. Maybe two light weight runs that are easy to move about....we will see...

Glad you like the coop...I think it looks like a little Chalet and will complement my Pilates Chalet very well
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finally finished my chicken tractor. Well the tractor part is still in the works, still trying to figure that part out. 4x4 coop, with a 4x12 run. My understanding is it should be good for my 4 barred rocks.

 

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