Let me show you around the yard - Coop Pictures

[DawnSuiter]

So.. I'm so proud of our accomplishements. We started with chickens late this last spring, neither of us had ever had any before, and we just jumped right on in.

So.. we have around 30 chickens now, in various stages of housing... and here is what we have going on.

First up.. A view of the yard, or rather the row of chicken houses. From FAR left to right we have the A-frame Tractor, The Roosters Coop, The Freedom Coop & The Hen House w/Aviary. You can see the winter veggies growing in the aviary for the chickens!

The Hen House & Aviary (i don't know that it's technically an aviary but that was the inspiration for the addition so thats what we call it). On the left is the Hen House at 99sf & the Aviary on the right side at 63sf. Both with people entry doors, and both are accessable 24 hours a day to the chickens.

Inside the Hen House and Inside the Aviary

Right now the black hens are being reintroduced to the rest of the group so they are seperated for now, but normally both sides would be open to all birds. We're keeping one male GLW roo in here with the ladies. The nest boxes haven't been opened for business yet, but within a month I'll need to get those done for sure!

Next we have the Freedom Coop, this is the winter housing for our 3 Freeranging roosters... It's made of a truck camper top.

Next we have the Roosters Coop, this is the grow out pen/winter housing for 2 more roosters. It still needs a permanent roof and will get one but here it is now.

I'm so proud of our reuse of materials, the A-frame is empty for the winter as is our single rooster tractor so I didn't post those here but those plus the 3 houses featured here were made with 75% or more recycled materials.

I hope we can inspire someone!
We use concrete construction sand in the floor of every coop.

 

[SGM]

Looks like you've done a really good job. I like to see how other people use found materials too. That's a lot of times what we do.

 

[sara]

Love how your puppy is trying to put itself in all the pictures

 

[DawnSuiter]

Quote:
That's Sasha.. the house dog that is least scared of the chickens. We have 4 dogs total... a big pyranese mix that sleeps all day & patrols (barks) all night, and 3 house dogs that are on alternating daytime duty. They are all so good around the chickens, we feel VERY LUCKY

Here's Angel (can't help myself she's so cute).. she's also on duty at night if Boy is out of commission (he's recovering from surgery right now)

 

[wren]

Great job recycling! Lucky birds too. I mean the birds are lucky to have a good home!

 

[DawnSuiter]

Thanks wren....

what else would you have meant?

 

[harvey]

Hello,

I like your coops. They remind me of the open coop set-up my Grandmother used to have for her chickens. I'm from South Florida. Doesn't it get fairly cold where your from and how do you keep your chickens warm? I'm interested because I'm planning to build an open coop set-up here.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[suburban farm girl]

Thanks for sharing your pictures.

The aviary looks like a chicken wonderland.

I love how you named all the coops and made such creative use of things - the camper shell rooster coop especially.

 

[DawnSuiter]

Quote:
Hi Chris, thanks! Good question really. Well.. here our cold temps are only intermittent, we rarely dip below 20 degrees even at night at our elevation. Now.. the Hen House open windows & doors & the shared aviary wall will be covered in plastic for the winter, and there is a heat lamp available in the hen house.. so that will take care of them. They will have access to the aviary still but just through a hole in the plastic wall.

The Roosters coop & the freeranging coop (and the hen house) are situated so that they RARELY get any direct breeze, each one is closed solid on the windy sides... so I removed their drafts. The roosters coop is lacking 2 pieces of paneling still which will mostly enclose their roost area to prevent further draft, and the freedom coop will have a removable plastic or burlap flap on the front on the coldest times....but all in all.. The Roosters Coop & Freerangers coops are what they are, open. And I'm just winging it assuming that they'll adjust fine.

Also.. I have only cold hearty birds, that helps and everyone has at least one buddy to cuddle up with. A little added corn to the feed & scratch before bedtime and frankly I'm just hoping for the best, that they will adjust.

Now.. I have an absolute worst case scenario plan... I have a couple of dog crates that double as temporary holding/housing.. they are big & all wire... I can house the roosters inside the hen house if need be in an emergency situation.

Hope that helps!

 

[DawnSuiter]

Quote:
Thanks! I forgot to point out.. if you look at the VERY first photo, you can see that inside the aviary is a chicken garden, you can see the tops of the cabbage & broccoli, there is also spinach growing too. We planted them a couple of weeks ago and they are doing great great great! They are covered with chicken wire, so that only when they grow up bigger can the chickens start plucking away at them.