Beyond frustrated

[ronott1]

We will start the rainy season soon here too!

 

[MissChick@dee]

Some how that just doesn’t look like a chicken coop. Heck I’d move my MIL into that!
Sorry for all your troubles. Each year we improve. We all gotta start somewhere ~right?
I knew I wanted chickens. Had the coop sitting on my patio for 2 years. I was gonna do everything right!
Till one day a friend shows up with a tote full of chicks. He said you pick we’ll split them.
In hindsight I think he knew I’d pick all roosters and one hen.
I had to set up the coop. I had nothing else. Ended up putting my patio chairs in a square and running chicken wire around them. Talk about ghetto fabulous!
Looking back I’m shocked that I didn’t loose any to predators.
To relate to you. I put it right in the low spot of the drainage flow of my yard!
In winter it was a ice rink!
Chin up~this too shall pass
Best wishes

 

[rosemarythyme]

Love the photo choices!

I have to admit it was trying for me the first winter... I didn't know about putting litter in the run (I figured plain soil was good enough HAHA, until I literally got my boots stuck in the mud) and the coop was small and backbreaking to clean since I had to stoop over and struggle to get smelly bedding out.

Now I smartly save up materials for run litter through the year and the run floor is dry enough to easily walk on, no mud at all, no bad smell. Upgraded to a walk-in coop and now I don't have to bend over to clean and the bedding is dry, eggs are clean. So learn as you go, and make changes when you can, and the whole chicken keeping process becomes a lot easier.

 

[andreanar]

What I thought having chickens would look like:
View attachment 1584837

What actually having chickens feels like:
View attachment 1584838

YES!

Tarps are my friend, Im sick of tarps. Im sick of the whole thing looking like some homeless encampment! I actually cant wait for it all to just freeze. No matter where I put the coop, it ends up a muddy mess from walking around in it all the time.
I want a serene, beautiful place like the Chicken Chick!

Is it sad that if I win the Lotto, the first thing I think about is my chicken coop dreams?

 

[Folly's place]

Loved this!
We started with bantams from a neighbor roosting in our pole barn, because she said it would be fine. Not so! After many losses to predators, we retrofitted an old chicken shed turned garden shed back into a coop. Ugly, but wonderful!
Three upgrades later, it's still ugly and wonderful!
It helped that we already had horses and cattle, and didn't expect 'Martha Stewart wonderful', so mud and mess weren't a surprise here. And we knew about drainage management!
My best advice is to enjoy the process, have barn boots, and win Lotto so you can have Staff.
Mary

 

[Beckaberry]

Oh we've gotten so much rain this year, it's been the worst!!! I actually dealt with large roundworms this year due to the mud and puddling water. It was easy to get rid of, but still... I hear ya. It's been a brutal year...

 

[animalyodelers]

I am so sorry for your troubles but the pictures crack me up! I completely understand how you feel. Oddly we haven't had much rain yet this fall, but we will... and then it won't stop until next August. Literally. We have 2 seasons here- rain and road construction.

I too had these dreams of a gorgeous shed with windows, maybe not quite as pretty as your pic, but IDK why I really thought that was realistic! Instead I have this weird ugly scrap pile formed into a coop, but I'm trying to love it!

Just hang in there! It will get better.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'm anxiously awaiting the ground to freeze too. It's much preferred over the mud. I'd rather deal with snow drifts than mud.

 

[aart]

The pics...too funny.

for all the strugglers.

 

[Hobbits Mommie]

The 1st one is what I started with (Purchased online and it seemed so much bigger). Paid $300 and could only use it for 2 weeks. The 2nd one, while it isn't pretty, is very functional and safe. I'll try to paint it in the next couple of weeks and maybe add some plantings, etc to increase the appeal. Function over form is a hard lesson to learn.