Do coops really look like this

[Momagain1]

???

STARTING OFF BY SAYING THIS IS NOT MY COOP; THIS IS MY BIL's coop and he has said he doesnt do anything to the chickens anymore, he doesnt
even feed them..so they get what they find..they dont even collect eggs anymore.. (dont ask..I dont know why..they have 5 kids..you'd think they could
water them!)...

anyway...this just looks really really dirty..I mean...is this normal?? (remember; I'm a city girl; never being around chickens!!)(and i've seen all your pretty li'l coops..sooo)


This is a nesting box for a chicken tractor:

these next 2 are nesting boxes:

This is their run...???

 

[Tala]

Looks alright to me, the run is MUDDY but that's what happens to a lot of us when it snows. I've been putting down shavings, sweet PDZ and sand to combat this, but not everyone enjoys spending time in their chickens' run so they don't feel the need. The mud is annoying, but the chickens don't seem to mind it too badly. I think your BIL is pulling your leg a little about not feeding them. They look pretty fat and there's feed pans out in the run. I suspect maybe he's not buying layer feed for them, but giving them table scraps at the least. They wouldn't lay eggs reliably if they were underfed.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Those pics look normal to me...

He's probably teasing you.

 

[elmo]

It's not the way my coops and runs look, I'll say that much.

 

[austin.ray22]

Is that a dead chicken in the top right of the last photo?

 

[Momagain1]

OK, well lol maybe I should rethink this whole thing; I really dont want to look at muck/mud on my sideyard all the time...or I'll be one that constantly puts stuff down..

maybe it wont bother me after I get it up n going??? maybe I'm just to much of a neat freak??

 

[Momagain1]

austin.ray22 :

Is that a dead chicken in the top right of the last photo?

oh crud..I dont know...I didnt even notice that...I"M SO SORRY IF IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know they were eating a deer carcass he threw to them today...my husband said they went crazy nuts...squawking etc..​

 

[farmerlor]

It's not too bad and the chickens look fine to me. Yes, the run is WAY too muddy for my taste but then I always have a much bigger run than I really need because I think the chickens should have LOTS of room to graze and we seed our run to keep it growing. But the coop....I guess it's okay. It could use a quick cleaning and some fresh bedding but it could be worse I guess.

 

[dsqard]

Um if you live in an area that has a real "mud season" then your runs are pretty much going to look like that unless you are out there all the time putting stuff down. The inside of my coop is a lot cleaner than the pics but my run looks just like his. Not much I can do about it since mud season here runs from December to about April.

 

[JackE]

That's why my birds freerange. So they are not concentrated in one area creating a big mudhole. I would guess that would be hard to avoid if you keep them penned up in a small area. I would in that case, definently find, and put the chicken run at the HIGHEST ground I had available.
Jack