post your chicken coop pictures here!

[perchie.girl]

@SlickChick76

I hope you did a coop page this is awesome....

deb "off to go look at Pictures

 

[Latestarter]

Very nicely done @SlickChick76 ! I see that you joined back in March but didn't really get started posting till September. So, A quick welcome to BYC from the front range in Colorado!

! Thanks for sharing all the pics of your coop build. As Deb said, you should really consider doing a coop page where you can detail out all that you've done/accomplished. I'm sure many would appreciate the ability to learn from your experiences.

 

[Sylvester017]

Good Afternoon, Friends at BYC!

After eight very long, hot and tiring weekends, my coop and run are finally completed.

What impresses me is that you have a good flock mix of mostly assertive-type egg-layers without mixing in the more docile breeds like EEs, Ameraucanas, or Silkies. Your little Serama will be able to stay out of harm's way of the big birds just because he's a good flyer!

As for dogs I prefer a guardian breed over working or herding breeds. Not too many dog breeds are trustworthy around birds. It's an easy temptation to play a bit too excitedly with chickens -- but that's JMHO.

Lovely construction and thx for all the photos! We love it!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Sounds like you have good security awareness. I've lived around chickens before so when DH decided to try chickens I wouldn't let him until the housing was all secure with a paver stone foundation with a bit of dirt floor and it was 6 months of preparation before we added our first two bantam Silkies with a White Leg added a month later. Even with advanced preparation we found the chickens needed more space than the little 4x6 coop run. Also a couple stray neighborhood dogs broke our fence gate and might've got our chickens through the flimsy chicken poultry wire if a good neighbor didn't chase them off for us. The mutts couldn't dig through the paver stones TG but they sure mangled the flimsy chicken wire (it keeps chickens in but doesn't keep predators out!!!). Now we have a much more secure coop made in the USA with heavy kennel panel run below it with another kennel addition for more run space. We free-range the hens in our small cottage backyard and some of our hens prefer the new coop enough to hang out in it more than the old one. We also tore down the old flimsy chainlink fence to replace with a new block wall and new iron gates. We're doubling gates on both entrances to the backyard just to be extra secure from the careless owners of stray dogs. This is our first little 4x6 coop built by a customer at our local feed store. Old chainlink fence was covered with blue tarp until we finally built a block wall. The paver stones made a nice foundation to keep out digging critters and we left a patch of dirt floor in the center of the coop to keep it softer for chicken feet. This is the same location as the above photo with a new concrete slab replacing the old paver stone foundation and we'll have a patio roof over it to keep sun and rain off the new Barn Coop. I don't care how well-built coops are they always seem to eventually leak, crack, warp, or get weak areas from weather elements so we decided to add a roof over the patio to help extend the coop's life. We always tarped the old coop and kept a pop-up canopy over it for protection -- it helped us stay stay dry when we collected eggs in the rain. The new block wall is visible in the background where the old tarped chainlink fence was. Our new Barn Coop and we're glad we got the wheel package for all the moving we had to do during construction of the block wall. This is some of the chaos we're living in during construction. The patio roof for the Barn Coop's final location isn't up yet so we're back to using tarps until construction is done. We've had rain every week! My raised garden bed is the only patch of dirt the chickens can have for now. Sigh !

Yeah, I definitely try to be aware. Especially with being on here so long, despite it being off and on, ya kinda have to be aware there's enough horror stories as well as both good advice threads and articles and questions I've asked myself over the years so definitely have learned a lot and still learning. The major thing being the HC despite a vast majority of people here in our area just using chicken wire. Also thinking about a roof for the chickies. I hadn't even thought of protecting the coop, I just thought the birds might be more comfortable, but that's a good idea. I was originally just going to put like wire or something to keep them in and the predators out but now I'm thinking solid roof, at least on part, may be best. Always learning and evolving. That's awful about the dogs but.good they deterred them! Can't imagine if they weren't home. we fortunately have no strays here, maybe.one or two stray cats but no dogs, and no loose dogs either. In fact our dog is the problem dog. Used to get loose all the time then we put him on a rope then he was so good we let him off, it started again, so on rope permanently now. No more escapes but he barks too. Normal with the Pyr but deep and.loud. he barks at anything walking by. We immediately go out and get him and he will come.back so it's usually only a couple barks but still. He used to be able to lay out there for hours but now he just pees usually. I'd love to get a fenced yard and/or work on it. Maybe need to sit with him. He won't bark as much if someone is there. He is cute though, often he won't come so will have to pick the leash up then he comes running and when he does, if there's still a "threat", he will automatically place himself in front of me. He did it even from 8 weeks old. Of course he hasn't quite inherited the protection instinct for the birds but maybe he would have if he had been raised with them. Instead he thinks they're REALLY fun to chase around the pen. Guess that's the Lab half. He is good at a distance but get him up close and he will run circles around it until we catch him, utterly terrifying the birds, need to continue training. I really haven't worked with him much more than 2timess but I've been planning to go below threshold and work slowly until he doesn't run circles even close. But this.isn't about dog training and I got off on a tangent sooooooo..., I haven't been letting the cat out for a little while now but I used to and I never had a problem but always good to be prepared so making the skirt and.roof asap Yours looms really great! And wow that coop looks great too! Was it expensive?

 

[cabinchicky]

SlickChick76 very nice job you did! I love the paint inside! I have yet to paint ours so I am a bit envious!) What types of birds do you have? I can't see them well being on a mobile. But the is there a peacock?

 

[cabinchicky]

SlickChick76 I reread post and seen your list of birds. Very nice mix. Also your run sounds awesome! we have two runs that are half the size of yours. I only wish I could get our tractor in ours. Great job!

 

[Ro-Ro]

Great looking coop. My hubby plans on putting wheels on our coop so that I can move it around easily. Will you be posting pictures of your flock once they move in? Have a great Christmas.

 

[SlickChick76]

Thank you so very much for all of the wonderful compliments!
I will surely make a coop page for others to see.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all
danielle

 

[UlmerChickens]

 

[hillbillyreefer]

From this dungeon......







To this....



To this, this afternoon





The roof was replaced with coroplast and 6 turkey and 9 chicken "condos" nesting boxes were added on as a lean to. It transformed the coop from a dark dungeon into a bright warm place for them to spend the winter.