Interior Coop Pics

[StarryEyzz]

Finally done!!!!

 

[StarryEyzz]

Finally done!!!!

 

[StarryEyzz]

Finally done!!!!

 

[WinterLadyAK]

I'm a new chicken mama. Here's mine ...



Little coop on left is for a pair of silkies

This is great! Do you like this set-up with the silkies sleeping separately? A little off-topic, but I have 6 silkies right now, but am only going to end up having two (think at least 3 maybe 4 are cockerels), and so I had been thinking of giving them their own little sleeping space so they're not on the sand floor in the main coop. Was thinking of a little box like yours with the deep litter method for them so they'll be kept cozier since there are only going to be two of them. Is there any chance they'd fall even lower in the pecking order sleeping separately from the others? I do think that not jockeying for the roost space already puts them at a disadvantage, so maybe the difference between the floor of the coop and their own little area might not be too much.

Anyways, love your coop, and the colors. Especially the chairs set up for chicken TV!

 

[6chick*start]

It's changed a bit since then! Will try to post tomorrow.

 

[Costa Rica Art]

This is great! Do you like this set-up with the silkies sleeping separately? A little off-topic, but I have 6 silkies right now, but am only going to end up having two (think at least 3 maybe 4 are cockerels), and so I had been thinking of giving them their own little sleeping space so they're not on the sand floor in the main coop. Was thinking of a little box like yours with the deep litter method for them so they'll be kept cozier since there are only going to be two of them. Is there any chance they'd fall even lower in the pecking order sleeping separately from the others? I do think that not jockeying for the roost space already puts them at a disadvantage, so maybe the difference between the floor of the coop and their own little area might not be too much.

Anyways, love your coop, and the colors. Especially the chairs set up for chicken TV!

All of our chickens scramble for a spot on the roosts, egg hens, silkies, bantams and the guinea hens. A couple manage to get into the nest boxes with their chicks. Some of the chickens stay on the deep litter as they can scratch out a nest in seconds. No one gets preference where, it is different every night. As of now the silkie roo is top roo, the other roo hasn't decided he is bigger. The only problem with silkies is I think they are related to rabbits!

You start out with two but it doesn't stay that way, in two years we've given away at least fifteen silkies and there are more on the way.

Now the great thing about silkie hens is they are great moms and great surrogate mothers too. They will adopt any chick even if the eggs they are sitting on haven't hatched. I just put 4 - 3 day egg chicks in with a broody silkie and they scooted right under her and she started making her mommy clucks.

One of the egg hens went broody and was sitting on silkie eggs (go figure), when they hatched one at a time they would eventually fall out of the nest only to be adopted by one of the silkie hens, the egg hen only ended up with one chick to raise but that showed me she is a good mom too. As far as I am concerned the silkies will fit in with no problems.

 

[Coop de Grille]

My coop is an ongoing process lol.. It's a converted 10x16 shed. We put up a wire wall with two doors four feet in from the front. The inside is divided from front to back with a wire wall, giving me a left and right side. Each side has access to their own outdoor run.



This is what it looks like when both wire wall doors are closed, but the main doors are open for ventilation.




Left Side:
Two roosts on the dividing wire wall, one along the back and nest boxes on the outside wall.



Right Side:

One roost on the wire wall and one along the back. Nest boxes on the outside wall. In this pic you can see the chicken door in the middle of the wire wall. I block that off when I have chicks of different ages. They grow up seeing each other and then I take it down once the babies are old enough to mingle. Right now it is open and they all have roam of the entire coop, both outside runs and my baby area.



The front four feet I have for my storage and feed area. I am having a built in brooder made for this area:




On the right you can see the metal garbage cans to hold feed:



I keep the main doors open for ventilation. When we have bad weather or it's cold I close the big main doors. The front section in front of the coop is my baby pen area. It can be closed off from the coop and the run so the babies have their own area. Right now my babies are integrated so all the doors are open. My next project is to cover the baby pen area in the front so it stays dry and shaded.



This is the brooder the babies go in once they come outside. When I have babies out there I angle that piece of wood to cover the front at night and when it rains to give them dry shelter. A future project will be to raise this brooder on a platform about 18 inches off the ground.

 

[gale65]

 Now the great thing about silkie hens is they are great moms and great surrogate mothers too. They will adopt any chick even if the eggs they are sitting on haven't hatched.

So true. About 20 yrs ago when I had chickens I borrowed a silkie pair (because they didn't want them separated) from a neighbor to sit on some RIR eggs. Those chicks looked huge next to her and that poor little hen had a heck of a time tucking them all underneath her.

 

[Sally8]

Unbelievable on the poop scraping. It's a good thing my chickens can't use my computer. They'd be wanting to live with you. It's in the 90's here today and I just took out fresh cold water again and a couple of frozen milk jugs to sit around. I never knew that chickens panted. I love the pictures. Thanks.

 

[WinterLadyAK]

All of our chickens scramble for a spot on the roosts, egg hens, silkies, bantams and the guinea hens. A couple manage to get into the nest boxes with their chicks. Some of the chickens stay on the deep litter as they can scratch out a nest in seconds. No one gets preference where, it is different every night. As of now the silkie roo is top roo, the other roo hasn't decided he is bigger. The only problem with silkies is I think they are related to rabbits!

You start out with two but it doesn't stay that way, in two years we've given away at least fifteen silkies and there are more on the way.

Now the great thing about silkie hens is they are great moms and great surrogate mothers too. They will adopt any chick even if the eggs they are sitting on haven't hatched. I just put 4 - 3 day egg chicks in with a broody silkie and they scooted right under her and she started making her mommy clucks.

One of the egg hens went broody and was sitting on silkie eggs (go figure), when they hatched one at a time they would eventually fall out of the nest only to be adopted by one of the silkie hens, the egg hen only ended up with one chick to raise but that showed me she is a good mom too. As far as I am concerned the silkies will fit in with no problems.

Okay thanks. I think I probably need a more silkie-friendly ramp to the roost, it's a bit steep.