Pix of my chicken house and their run

[RoseMarie1]

Happy, happy chickens!!! Love to see chickens free ranged.

Thought I'd post a few pics of my roosts to show you my "style" of roosts. Disregard the white powder...was treating the roosts with a little preventative pyrethrin dust today after I cleaned out nest boxes and laced them with a little also. That's the only places I put dusts of any kind in the coop and I just started that this year to see how effective it will be...always up for an experiment. You can see that all the old gals want to be smooshed up with the rooster...Toby's harem.

The tan strips are nonskid rubber strips...that's something new this year too because I chose the wrong kind of sapling for the roost and the bark is too smooth...then it got even more smooth with use, so the birds were slipping off when moving around too much.





I have one roost going across the coop and one of the same length on the side of the coop on the right. Two smaller bars are mounted under the nest boxes to aid in getting into them...for some reason Ginny has taken to roosting down on one of them lately. She has always been a little bit of a loner. You can just see my stump in the bottom of the pic there. Some of them use it for a jumping off spot for ascending to the roosts but most do not.

I didn't realize that was a pop door between the nesting boxes back there until you pulled the cord when you shared the video of those free ranging on the meat bird thread.Now I see it's a pop door. I just love seeing your set up!!!

 

[Beekissed]

I'll tell you what..I loved building this coop! It was so much fun to create solutions like the sliding doors on the nest boxes and the sliding pop door. It was neat to have those tongue in groove flooring scraps lying around to use for that.

At one time I thought I would build smaller, more mobile mini coops out of the cattle panels and sell them..just for fun and a little cash. I was going to have built in feeders and waterers and a slide out floor for easy cleaning. Nest boxes on the outside with outside access on one side and feeders in a matching area on the other side, also with outside access for easy feeding inside the coop. It was going to have an attached run that telescoped out from the coop once it was moved and could fit neatly back into the underside of the coop when needed to be moved again.

On the end where the roosts were located, it would have a large door to open so that one could remove the birds from the roosts at night if they wanted. The other end was going to have an isolation pen that could be folded back against the wall when not in use. That would be used for broodies, brood pen, or for use in integrating flocks. The sides of the coop would have flaps that opened to let in airflow and light. This coop would be like the Leatherman of coops, I tell you!

 

[RoseMarie1]

I'll tell you what..I loved building this coop! It was so much fun to create solutions like the sliding doors on the nest boxes and the sliding pop door. It was neat to have those tongue in groove flooring scraps lying around to use for that.

At one time I thought I would build smaller, more mobile mini coops out of the cattle panels and sell them..just for fun and a little cash. I was going to have built in feeders and waterers and a slide out floor for easy cleaning. Nest boxes on the outside with outside access on one side and feeders in a matching area on the other side, also with outside access for easy feeding inside the coop. It was going to have an attached run that telescoped out from the coop once it was moved and could fit neatly back into the underside of the coop when needed to be moved again.

On the end where the roosts were located, it would have a large door to open so that one could remove the birds from the roosts at night if they wanted. The other end was going to have an isolation pen that could be folded back against the wall when not in use. That would be used for broodies, brood pen, or for use in integrating flocks. The sides of the coop would have flaps that opened to let in airflow and light. This coop would be like the Leatherman of coops, I tell you!

I hear ya and it sure does sound really cool to! A little extra cash is always nice to.

I have about got enough money gathered together to get me a large roll of hardware cloth for my grazing frames.

We're trying to decide just WHERE to put the nesting boxes so we can measure the area and get this guy around here to build them for us. He does really nice work for just about nothing. I couldn't buy all the tubs for what he charges to make the nesting boxes. He's getting lots of clients to since he does such good work AND is so in-expensive as well. Don't know HOW he does it so in-expensive unless he's getting his materials free or wholesale or something. Anyway I had wanted it to be an external nesting box so I could check it outside and had decided to put it on the west side BUT the more I think about it, the more I feel like I NEED an area to store my things in that area since it's covered in tin. I have two brooder boxes and I want to be able to put them in there even though it's not walled up but does have a door AND a roof. Anyway have about decided to put them on the east side which is in the back of the pen. Only thing that bothers me is it's the side that is close to the woods but not being able to figure out where else to put it that is not a too active area and an area under the roof as well. With as many hens as I have I'd have to have a 5 hole nesting box. Been weighing my options so I can choose the best area for them. The west side would be soooo hot when they go broody and like I said I need that area for storing stuff. I figure I can put my food in there in buckets as well as my ff when I figure out just HOW to keep the pesky ants out of it. We have them BAD around here and since I couldn't use pesticides.... so I think we've about figured we need to do it in the east side.

 

[Beekissed]

In my other coops I've had, I've always kept my nesting boxes near the doorway. Keeps me from walking over top bedding/poop to collect the eggs as the bedding near the door was never very thick or much manure deposited there. I really like outside access nest boxes...I think they are so cool! This is the first coop I built myself and that was one feature I wanted because I love easy and that kind of nest, to me, is the easiest.

Do you close up your pop door at night? If you never do, maybe you could have nest boxes in your run? Would sure be neat for the chickens and give them the idea they are laying outside, plus they wouldn't take up room in the coop.

Here's a question...can your equipment box be built into your nesting unit? I'll tell you what I did at the last place I had...found an old, sturdy hard wood 2 shelf cabinet and mounted it on the outside of the building for my equipment storage. Right now all my equipment is in a bucket hanging off the front of my coop...

...you can just see it to the right of the door.



I just love tweaking coops! So much fun...wish we were neighbors as we would have a lot of fun with all this coop designing!

So, why not keep your FF in the coop and let the chickens eat the ants that come to it. You can see my FF bucket sitting there, right beside my feeder and I haven't seen an ant one on that bucket, though I've seen ants when I flip up the bedding in places. Even if I did, I'd mix them into the mix when I went up to feed and feed them out. YUM.

 

[RoseMarie1]

In my other coops I've had, I've always kept my nesting boxes near the doorway. Keeps me from walking over top bedding/poop to collect the eggs as the bedding near the door was never very thick or much manure deposited there. I really like outside access nest boxes...I think they are so cool! This is the first coop I built myself and that was one feature I wanted because I love easy and that kind of nest, to me, is the easiest.

Do you close up your pop door at night? If you never do, maybe you could have nest boxes in your run? Would sure be neat for the chickens and give them the idea they are laying outside, plus they wouldn't take up room in the coop.

Here's a question...can your equipment box be built into your nesting unit? I'll tell you what I did at the last place I had...found an old, sturdy hard wood 2 shelf cabinet and mounted it on the outside of the building for my equipment storage. Right now all my equipment is in a bucket hanging off the front of my coop...

...you can just see it to the right of the door.



I just love tweaking coops! So much fun...wish we were neighbors as we would have a lot of fun with all this coop designing!

So, why not keep your FF in the coop and let the chickens eat the ants that come to it. You can see my FF bucket sitting there, right beside my feeder and I haven't seen an ant one on that bucket, though I've seen ants when I flip up the bedding in places. Even if I did, I'd mix them into the mix when I went up to feed and feed them out. YUM.

You ALWAYS give me a chuckle and I do mean always! I have lots of ants in their pen and when I gave them the dry layer crumbles last week I guess it was, came back and it was filled up with ants. I just figured if they stung them in the throat when they were eating it that it might swell and kill them or something. I guess I'm wrong. Hey I'm new at this so still learning.

Yeah THAT would be some kind of fun for YOU to be my neighbor I would LOVE THAT!
I have a table sit up in the back part of their pen for sitting stuff on and they are constantly on it pooping. lol TRIED training them to stay off it but that was hopeless. lol so they continue to get on it.
yeah the area on the east where we were talking about putting it is close to the side door on the south side. The tin goes at least 1 1/2 foot past the wall of the run there as well. Yep ME TO on the easy and I thought I wont be getting poop on my feet walking inside the pen to gather the eggs all the time.
Bee I don't have a pop door. Oh dear so glad you brought that up because this would mean I would HAVE to leave their door open so they could get in there to lay the eggs. I do have TWO doors though but we put the welded wire all around the roosting area and we never did cut out that other door in the wire. I guess I could just fence the area from the nesting area to that other door so it would be more secure and then cut out the other door to open and close for the night. This way they could get in there to their nests AND it would be more secluded as well. THEN I could put me a string on the outside of the pen like yours to open that other door with so we wouldn't have to go inside the pen in the morning to let them out into the run. GOOD IDEA thanx for making me aware of them needing to be able to get to their nests! DUH! lol I do keep that door to the run from the roosting area closed at night time since the roosting area is more secure with the welded wire. The run is mostly poultry wire and we're working on getting it ALL covered in the poultry wire but need at least one more large roll yet. That's where we were thinking about putting the nest, in the run. See the run starts where that door is on the south at the back side of the pen and goes all the way to the other end which I have taken pix of with them on those stumps. Part of the run is covered in tin and that's the area behind the roost. It's about 8' wide I guess back there. That's what I was referring to on the east side of the pen, that is in the run but covered in tin. But I don't have a pop door just large metal doors hubby welded together with poultry wire over them.
Like your bucket to for your things at least theirs no POOP in your bucket like on my table back there. lol The front of my pen is sooo high and the roof slops downhill I think my pot would get full of water when it rained if I hung one in front like you did. ;-) You know that's a GOOD idea and I hadn't even thought of that even though I saw that in one external nesting box where the end nesting area was for storage and that one I could have it closed up so they couldn't get in there on it.
Yeah that's what I wanted the other covered area for, where we had thought about putting the nesting area in originally for the food and stuff. That way I can shut the gate and they can't get in there and poop all over everything. Plus I really need an area for at LEAST one of those brooder boxes we built. I'd like to raise some babies to sell sooner or later because I enjoying raising them. Our nephew brought us some wooden crates they shipped stuff to where he worked in and we made a brooder box out of them. Well when I got the black australorps a couple weeks later there was NO ROOM in there for them to so he brought me another shipping crate and I tore it apart and we cut it the same size as the other one since it was larger and deeper. Then we fixed them so we could attach them together and take out the divider since I wanted both groups to be able to see one another so I wouldn't have problems when I put them together later. Worked like a charm.
Yep I like tweaking things to and making it better.

 

[Beekissed]

What a blessing to have shipping crates! I think I could really build some things with shipping crates on hand..nothing like having sturdy wooden boxes at one's disposal. Some people even use them for pig houses and goat shelters.

You'll have to post some pics of your brooders so that I can get an idea of what you are doing with it in the coop.

 

[RoseMarie1]

What a blessing to have shipping crates! I think I could really build some things with shipping crates on hand..nothing like having sturdy wooden boxes at one's disposal. Some people even use them for pig houses and goat shelters.

You'll have to post some pics of your brooders so that I can get an idea of what you are doing with it in the coop.

Yes it was a HUGE blessing for us at the time because we were trying to get started and had to buy food and the chicks etc. Hubby is retired so limited on the income. I thought it was sooooo sweet of our nephew to bring them to us!!!! HEre is a pic I had posted on the brooder page awhile back. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6233/brooder-thread-post-pics-of-your-brooders/2270 Mines the first post on this page.
We had the 4x4 post from that redo job that did out at the plant where he used to work so I told hubby I wanted to put legs on the brooder boxes so I wouldn't have to be on my knees tending to the chicks and plus I figured it might help keep snakes off them easier to. It worked out really well. Right now I am storing them on our carport. I made them a roost in each of them as well. I'm thinking of going back and cutting out the bottoms and putting in hardware cloth so I can just put something on the floor under them and not have to be buying all that wood chips for them when I hatch out some later when they get to laying.
I painted them this green color to help protect them from carpenter bees since they are horrible here.
When I set the brooders up in the coop I plan on putting the legs of them on some stepping stones so the termites wont eat them up.

 

[Beekissed]

Those are so darling! Your hubby does good work! I love the color...one of my faves. I can't tell from the pic how large they are in dimensions and I guess I was thinking that packing crates were bigger, though I realize they must come in all sizes. The ones I've seen were about as big as a truck bed and a man was using it for a huge chick brooder and another pic I had seen was someone turning a packing crate up on its side and making a pig shelter from it.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Those are so darling! Your hubby does good work! I love the color...one of my faves. I can't tell from the pic how large they are in dimensions and I guess I was thinking that packing crates were bigger, though I realize they must come in all sizes. The ones I've seen were about as big as a truck bed and a man was using it for a huge chick brooder and another pic I had seen was someone turning a packing crate up on its side and making a pig shelter from it.

Thanx Bee...... I LOVE doing stuff like this and I do think he is finally starting to enjoy it as well because every time I tell him I am going to make this or that he tells me to wait and he will help me.........yeah I think we measured them at 36" wide and long, that is each of them is that size. Pretty deep to but they would still jump out after they got bigger. Once I let them out to free range they ALWAYS wanted out of that pen to free range. lol I'd be trying to gather them all up and put in a small cage to take them to the fenced in area and they were getting out all over and the cats were all on guard waiting for a chance.

 

[Beekissed]

You ought to train those cats like you did your dog! They seem to catch on even quicker than the dogs as to what is considered prey and what is not.