post your chicken coop pictures here!

[bruceha2000]

Still in the building process of my Woods-style chicken coop, but it's enough to get the chickens out of my shop and into the coop. Still have to build the top window, paint, and lots of trim work to do. Looking forward to being done with the building process soon. My daughter seems to enjoy them as well

Looks great!

Our coop. Can't wait to landscape around it for the girls!

They will be happy to help with that and are especially helpful making dust bath areas.

 

[ShellAndSteph]

Looks great!

They will be happy to help with that and are especially helpful making dust bath areas.

 

[ShellAndSteph]

We just put a plastic underbed type storage box filled with wood ash, DE, and sand in the run area underneath. Hopefully they will be happy with that for a while.

 

[A2Kzoo2]

If there are very many of the Least weasel around there is no point in trying to fence in the run. Ill get rid of the chickens before i spend a fortune on 1/2 inch hardware cloth and silicone caulk to seal every gap. Ill take my chances i guess. Even a fully enclosed building could not ensure they could be kept out. The only control that works to my liking is poison. I have nearly zero mice on my property but the few i have wander around where ever they want. All i can do is keep poison where they will find it and put up with an occasional stinky one. With any luck Least weasels will eat decon too, if not, Oh well!!

The one attack i saw (after the fact) was due to a determined weasel chewing and ripping at the wall where there was a gap until he got in. Weasels are related to ferrets and they can dig with the best of them. They can also climb any structure on the planet so there is no stopping them if they are hungry enough.

A great way to get rid of mice is to put a5 gal bucket out with 1"of chicken feed or grains and half full of water. The mice will climb in and drown and if not poisoned, you can feed it to the chickens.

 

[perchie.girl]

I reside in Las Vegas, NV where temperatures exceed 110 degrees. In my coop I elevated it off the ground and added in radiant barrier to the walls and ceiling, gable vents and double doors on each side to aid in cleaning. Instead of a floor I put in a wire floor so that the poop falls through and makes it easy to clean. I have full power, a red LED and ceramic heat lamps in the winter. I have food and oyster shell, along with water 24/7. The radiant barrier keeps it about 30 degrees cooler in the summer heat.

Additionally I keep a small mister on out back for them during the day. I have a pool for my geese and have two auto fill dog bowls that I just kick over every time I go out. They always have fresh cool water. I add electrolytes year round.

first of all

as a former Vegas Resident now in the high desert in San Diego County.
No coop perse here just roebust wire and a wind break for the prevailing winds. We get 110 here for a few days in the summer but its not nearly as hot as Vegas.

Honestly you dont need heat lamps or heat at all during the winter. My girls jsut get a cuddle area where their own BTUs work for them. and we get about 72 hours of snow.

deb

 

[mclanea]

first of all

as a former Vegas Resident now in the high desert in San Diego County.
No coop perse here just roebust wire and a wind break for the prevailing winds. We get 110 here for a few days in the summer but its not nearly as hot as Vegas.

Honestly you dont need heat lamps or heat at all during the winter. My girls jsut get a cuddle area where their own BTUs work for them. and we get about 72 hours of snow.

deb

Hmm... this is kind of what we're wondering. We live in the city of San Diego where it's much more mild than where you are. And the zoning requires some sort of a coop. But I'm not sure how robust that really needs to be since most of the time it stays between 50-90 degrees where we live, with a day or two down to 40 and maybe 10 days per year about 100.

 

[junebuggena]

Hmm... this is kind of what we're wondering. We live in the city of San Diego where it's much more mild than where you are. And the zoning requires some sort of a coop. But I'm not sure how robust that really needs to be since most of the time it stays between 50-90 degrees where we live, with a day or two down to 40 and maybe 10 days per year about 100.

In your case, the coop would be for shelter against rain, and safety from predators. Southern California has all the primary chicken eating species. You're going to need something very secure. Heavy-duty hardware cloth is going to be needed.

 

[mclanea]

junebuggena - great, thanks. No problem building what we need to build. Just don't want to overbuild.

 

[junebuggena]

With the amount of raccoons, coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions prowling around Southern California neighborhoods, there is no such thing as overbuilding.

 

[TerryH]

With the amount of raccoons, coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions prowling around Southern California neighborhoods, there is no such thing as overbuilding. 

Or much of anywhere really. Just because one hasn't seen said predator doesn't men that they aren't there. Better safe than sorry.