post your chicken coop pictures here!

[ladynewtochicks]

awesome job love the net Pole. 

deb

Thanks

it took us a while to figure out how we were going to do it but it seems to be sturdy now that it's up

 

[gotro17]

Please don't get discouraged because someone happens to disagree with you! We all have different circumstances with which we raise our hens. Please don't stop sharing what you've found to work for you!

@mclanea Ditto!!! I, in fact, forwarded your idea to my husband for when we remake the roof for the playhouse and coop, like an incubator can, I could see maintenance being as easy as using a keyboard air blower to clean, every few days- no biggie. Great idea!

 

[mclanea]

@mclanea Ditto!!! I, in fact, forwarded your idea to my husband for when we remake the roof for the playhouse and coop, like an incubator can, I could see maintenance being as easy as using a keyboard air blower to clean, every few days- no biggie. Great idea!

Add a screened diffuser, take a peak every few months, and if it dies in 3-4 years buy a new one with the electricity savings. I figure most people are smart enough to know what they do/don't need and their conditions. My lil coop has passive vents and so far seems fine. But that little solar vent helps in my office, completely eliminated the moisture issue I had.

 

[TJordan]

We have kayaks brand new haven't got to use them much yet because of the rain either.

If it keeps raining you can try them out

 

[bruceha2000]

It's interesting they won't go at the same time. Mine are semi the same. The have 3 boxes but usually there is only one hen in there at a time. Occasionally there will be a second in another box but they all want the best boxes. They used to lay in all 3 boxes but now they only lay in 2. Usually most of the eggs are in one. Sometimes if they can't get the one they want they lay in the coop corner or in the run but that's rare

MORE interesting is that TWO will cram into one of the open top divided nests; 1 usually gets shoved out eventually. I cut a second hole in the coop side of the community box yesterday so from the girls perspective now it is kinda like O O [] (the [] is solid wall). This morning at about 9 AM I found 3 eggs (plus both plastic ones) in the space behind the solid part. Guess that new hole isn't garnering a lot of enthusiasm just yet. But MAYBE someone will use it when the 3 open nests are in use. One is currently being hogged by the broody BA that raised the 7 chicks last summer. I'm sorta contemplating getting 2-4 sex links (because I do NOT trust that whatever is in the pullet bin at the feed store hasn't been miss replaced when someone changes their minds) for her to raise. I've currently got nine 4 Y/O hens, 4 of which go broody a lot, 1 that has been laying only shell-less eggs this year and other than the EE, the others are laying sort of randomly. Given none of them laid last winter (though the pullets were working really hard!) and they will be 5 Y/O next year, I think I'm looking at declining output.

I got 2 White Rocks in the last batch hoping they will be winter layers for a couple of years but who knows how that will work out. At least if I succumb to chicken math, the coop is easily big enough to handle 4 more.

Question: How long do we need to keep them in their Coop at first & can we let them out in their attached run in a few days? We put our 12 Cheeps(almost 5 & 6 weeks) in their Coop for the first time! Not great pics, the sun was making the light all weird. We will prob add another roost, stagger it a little lower, but just needed to get them in there & used to their new home. Finally out of our Garage, yay!! We will add a droppings board & will put the nesting boxes under that on the floor, sitting on 2x4's. Food & water is in a corner sitting up on a wooden type box, just up out of the shavings. Also, will we need to build a ramp for the roost?

Since the run is enclosed, I would just leave the coop door open and let them explore.

You can put a ramp in or some other step up access method but don't be surprised if they don't use the ramp much. They can fly to 2' at 2 weeks of age.

The contractor and workers actually did show up today and dug the post holes for the chicken coop patio and for the people patio. Hope they don't leave these 2-foot deep holes in the ground for more than a day - the chickens are giving the huge piles of dug-up dirt a wide berth as they walk around them. The workers had fun feeding earthworms to the chickens as they were working on the post holes!

The uniqueness of chickens! Most of my chickens would be hitting those piles digging for bugs!

.... I figure most people are smart enough to know what they do/don't need and their conditions. ....

That might be a bad assumption! Some people come here and do a lot of research and build accordingly, others skim and then build without realizing the importance of things such as year round ventilation in ALL climates and the weakness of chicken wire with regard to protection from predators vs containment. And then there are all the "I didn't know that!" chicken things that you find out from the chickens or by people posting them here and there.

 

[ShrekDawg]

MORE interesting is that TWO will cram into one of the open top divided nests; 1 usually gets shoved out eventually. I cut a second hole in the coop side of the community box yesterday so from the girls perspective now it is kinda like O O [] (the [] is solid wall). This morning at about 9 AM I found 3 eggs (plus both plastic ones) in the space behind the solid part. Guess that new hole isn't garnering a lot of enthusiasm just yet. But MAYBE someone will use it when the 3 open nests are in use. One is currently being hogged by the broody BA that raised the 7 chicks last summer. I'm sorta contemplating getting 2-4 sex links (because I do NOT trust that whatever is in the pullet bin at the feed store hasn't been miss replaced when someone changes their minds) for her to raise. I've currently got nine 4 Y/O hens, 4 of which go broody a lot, 1 that has been laying only shell-less eggs this year and other than the EE, the others are laying sort of randomly. Given none of them laid last winter (though the pullets were working really hard!) and they will be 5 Y/O next year, I think I'm looking at declining output. 

I got 2 White Rocks in the last batch hoping they will be winter layers for a couple of years but who knows how that will work out. At least if I succumb to chicken math, the coop is easily big enough to handle 4 more.


Since the run is enclosed, I would just leave the coop door open and let them explore.

You can put a ramp in or some other step up access method but don't be surprised if they don't use the ramp much. They can fly to 2' at 2 weeks of age.


The uniqueness of chickens! Most of my chickens would be hitting those piles digging for bugs!


That might be a bad assumption! Some people come here and do a lot of research and build accordingly, others skim and then build without realizing the importance of things such as year round ventilation in ALL climates and the weakness of chicken wire with regard to protection from predators vs containment. And then there are all the "I didn't know that!" chicken things that you find out from the chickens or by people posting them here and there.

Chickens are weird! I found some of mine in the same box a couple of times but now they're too big to do that hs but maybe in the new coop with the much bigger boxes they'll try to use the same nest boxes again lol hopefully they start using the other side of your box! Fortunately mine are laying well, though of course they are pullets, I hope by that old they still at least lay some. I think you should add more chickens

 

[Sylvester017]

Finally "finished" my run although I'm sure it will never really be finished...


Correct! We'll NEVER be finished either. 5 yrs later and contractors are still working on our own house plus building a new patio roof over the chicken coop (we got tired of using tarps for the chickens!).
The coop, I've posted theses before but I'm sure they are lost in the post...


I like the gradual incline of your Y-ramp. How is it attached? Removable for cleaning/washing?

 

[Kcarp03]

Since the run is enclosed, I would just leave the coop door open and let them explore.

You can put a ramp in or some other step up access method but don't be surprised if they don't use the ramp much. They can fly to 2' at 2 weeks of age.

3 of them flew up there no problem last night, I put a plastic bucket, upside down for them if necessary for a couple of the smaller ones. I checked before I went to bed & 5 or 6 were crammed together at one end of the roost, it's almost 10 ft long, haha The rest were in the plastic tub I'd put in there for them to nest in.

 

[Sylvester017]

The uniqueness of chickens! Most of my chickens would be hitting those piles digging for bugs!

The workers came back with the cement mixer today to set posts for the coop patio roof. The chickens are staying away from the racket. Only the Breda is curious enough to check out what they're doing and as a result got the bulk of earthworms they dug up. Leave it to the Breda to be first in line for handouts! She is so pesty/friendly. Nothing scares that bird -- not strangers, not neighbors' dogs, not noise, not construction equipment, not gardening tools, nothing! She knows when to be quick or get out of harm's way. So surprisingly unique that we've ordered another one! Never had such an unafraid chicken breed before - not like the Ameraucana who's wary of her own shadow! The only problem that took a little more time was to train the Breda to stay on the chicken side of the rabbit fence. She soon understood the barrier was not to be crossed when we had to gently usher her out of the garden a few times. Curiosity gets the better of the breed but that's also what makes them so incredibly pet/family friendly. What really surprised us was the laying rate of the breed - up to 5/weekly!

 

[ladynewtochicks]

The ramps are attached at the top with a door hinge, the middle part is basically a "stool" I built.

The ramps fold up and the stool comes out for cleaning... I had to add more cross boards for grip because it ended up being steeper than I thought