Flock Master64's Coop/Hutch Photo Contest!

[Sylvester017]

lol ok i will have to beg my dad to help me fix it but it is pretty freaken heavy it took 3 people to struggle to movve that thing!

Well, at least modifications can be done where it stands so hopefully there won't be a need to move it! You can join the rest of us flock owners who always find ways to modify/improve our existing coops. It's like our homes -- the work is never done! In our case we got motivated to do something after the stray dogs broke our gate and attacked our first little coop. A few weeks later we saw a raccoon the size of a goat crawl out of our street's storm drain at 2:00 a.m. and we got motivated again to further secure our yard and coop

!!! Then a heavy rain hit and we had to improve diverting water from flooding the coop's dirt floor! I vowed the next coop we got would be under a patio roof and on a cement slab so I didn't have to struggle with those issues again but it took 5 yrs before we could afford to do it. I'm thinking a chicken housing must never really get done since so many BYC owners keep posting their newest additions/modifications/ideas about their coops.

Our current coop 4x4 w/add-on 4x4 run (total 4x8) on cement slab with patio roof over it. (2 Silkies by the chair on the left of photo) We quickly discovered even two little Silkies overwhelmingly preferred free-ranging rather than being "cooped" up in a run -- but the run is nice on days we need to lock them up.


Our original 4x6 coop - this is the little coop that stray dogs tried to chew thru the poultry chicken wire. We used tarps and sometimes a pop-up canopy to cover it from harsh sun or pouring rain. Our new coop is in the same location as this little coop except we fixed the gate and fence and built a patio overhead.

 

[Flock Master64]

Well, at least modifications can be done where it stands so hopefully there won't be a need to move it! You can join the rest of us flock owners who always find ways to modify/improve our existing coops. It's like our homes -- the work is never done! In our case we got motivated to do something after the stray dogs broke our gate and attacked our first little coop. A few weeks later we saw a raccoon the size of a goat crawl out of our street's storm drain at 2:00 a.m. and we got motivated again to further secure our yard and coop !!! Then a heavy rain hit and we had to improve diverting water from flooding the coop's dirt floor! I vowed the next coop we got would be under a patio roof and on a cement slab so I didn't have to struggle with those issues again but it took 5 yrs before we could afford to do it. I'm thinking a chicken housing must never really get done since so many BYC owners keep posting their newest additions/modifications/ideas about their coops. Our current coop 4x4 w/add-on 4x4 run (total 4x8) on cement slab with patio roof over it. (2 Silkies by the chair on the left of photo) We quickly discovered even two little Silkies overwhelmingly preferred free-ranging rather than being "cooped" up in a run -- but the run is nice on days we need to lock them up. Our original 4x6 coop - this is the little coop that stray dogs tried to chew thru the poultry chicken wire. We used tarps and sometimes a pop-up canopy to cover it from harsh sun or pouring rain. Our new coop is in the same location as this little coop except we fixed the gate and fence and built a patio overhead.

How much do you hire for?

 

[JackE]

This coop design was one of the best ever and used since at least the early 1900's for good ventilation even in snow areas. Beautiful design -- do your hens ever romp in the snow?

They'll come out of there, if I clear an area for them.

 

[JackE]

Id like one like that but a lot bigger. Enough to hold about 20 or 30 birds. Some of mine like the snow but I got some new ones in August so we'll see how they like it.

This coop is big enough for 30 birds, easily.

 

[Sylvester017]

How much do you hire for?

TeeHee! I'm 72 yrs old so a contractor had to do it for us! I can put up a small garden fence or decorative gate but for things that require permits I leave to the professionals

.

 

[Flock Master64]

TeeHee!  I'm 72 yrs old so a contractor had to do it for us!  I can put up a small garden fence or decorative gate but for things that require permits I leave to the professionals 

I wanted a really big garden with a little pond and a few apple and cherry trees in it. And I wanted to keep my flock of about 15-20 birds in there and I wanted to hire someone to build a nice big walk in coop for them

 

[Hackle Master]

My coop and run nothing great but it works, still working on the run

 

[Sylvester017]

I wanted a really big garden with a little pond and a few apple and cherry trees in it. And I wanted to keep my flock of about 15-20 birds in there and I wanted to hire someone to build a nice big walk in coop for them

Dare2Dream.com in our State will come onto the property and custom-build a coop on the premises - I'm sure other States have people who will come out and build too. TuffShed has only one chicken coop model but they will come onto the property and build it but it's not a walk-in design. For ourselves we needed a coop on wheels to move about the yard so we can do remodeling, gardening and landscaping, so we custom ordered through ChickenCondos.com for a Barn Coop w/ heavy-duty wheel pkg that assembled or dis-assembled easily as needed. One drawback about coop manufacturers or builders is they overstate how many chickens their coops will hold. In our case the manufacturer said 15 chickens would fit our 4x4x6 ft tall Barn Coop but I wouldn't put more than 4 or 5 chickens in it. Chickens poop a lot and a 4x4 coop floor space can no way handle 15 pooping chickens overnight

and the ventilation was woefully inadequate so we ordered the optional dog kennel wire flooring for ventilation for our hot climate. Other than those two drawbacks to remedy -- the rolling coop met our requirements.


While remodeling we rolled the barn coop (minus the attached run) all over the yard - here it is tarped during our rainy day last year. I don't care how well-built a coop is they all eventually seem to get leaks so we took no chances and kept the nestboxes dry.


The contractor framed and built the patio roof right over the coop to make sure there was plenty of overhead room and space to roll it out and away from the garage wall in case we needed to paint the house or patio in future. He charged $2K for this coop patio and walkway cover and $2K for the people patio roof at the rear (12x25) which we figured to go ahead and put in the 2nd patio since we have so much sun beating down on us almost year-round. We never even got to freezing temps last year our heatwaves were so intense.


The backyard "people" patio - a yard in progress.


With our State going into its 6th year drought our only yard greenery are raised garden beds.


Another raised garden bed in progress. This is the view as seen from the coop patio.


This is how green our backyard was 5 yrs ago without needing to be watered - before drought was declared.


This is our backyard now after 51/2 yrs of State drought!


With no grass to water we use a lot of paver squares to cover the ground so when it finally does rain we and the chickens won't be slushing around in muddy soil. We don't have a dog -- the 5 doghouses are for the chickens which they use one or all every day!

 

[Flock Master64]

Great photos everyone

 

[chickluvinfreak]

When does this end?