post your chicken coop pictures here!

[lynnehd]

There is much at the top - the roof is not air tight at all. Also, I don't close the ramp door ever as they're inside the pen. The bottom has screening as well. I may add more at the top but I've never seen them inside during the day as of yet. It also in the shade almost all day.

I agree you'll probably need more ventilation along the top near the roof, not just for ventilation, but also perhaps a couple of windows backed by 1/2" hardware mesh to allow the coop to cool off during warmer months.

The ventilation is to get ammonia laden air out of the coop while they roost. Chickens produce a ridiculous amount of poo at night. That produces a lot of ammonia and moisture that needs a way to escape, otherwise you will have ongoing respiratory issues and frostbitten combs in the winter. And that pen is just chicken wire and no cover. The door should be shut at night to keep any nighttime predators out.

I think @ilikechikin mentioned that he was upgrading the run to 4x4 posts and welded wire?

 

[bruceha2000]

I know my coop doesn't look as fancy or beautiful like the rest of your coops but it's protected my chickens for more than three years so I think it deserves some recognition

The chickens don't give a rat's @55 about fancy or beautiful

There is much at the top - the roof is not air tight at all. Also, I don't close the ramp door ever as they're inside the pen. The bottom has screening as well. I may add more at the top but I've never seen them inside during the day as of yet. It also in the shade almost all day.

You might want to put where you live in your profile. The types of predators you deal with hinges on that. We have members from lots of countries and, for example, raccoons aren't a problem in most of them but they are a problem most everywhere in North America.

But ventilation is key no matter where you live.

 

[ShanandGem]

I do not have pretty coops, but I always have a stack of pallets and some wire kicking around. My husband can throw up a very secure, ventilated coop for 2-10 birds in a couple of hours. We call them 'cubes'. I like the flexibility of having several small coops to separate birds. I can totally understand someone in suburbia not wanting to have to look at my hideous coops 20 feet from their house but we are fortunate to have room to spare.
Just this past weekend I picked up a trio of Buff Orpingtons and called my husband from the road to put together a 'bad boy cube' as the ladies were badly overbred and needed a break from the big guy. By the time I got home an hour later his solitary accommodations were ready.

 

[ShanandGem]

This is a 12'x8' cube with two, 4'x4' cubes attached. You can only put one or two birds in the 4x4s of course, but a couple of perches help maximize the space and they make great sick rooms or bad boy boxes for roosters. I have two groups of young birds in there I am trying to integrate at the moment. Everyone gets to free range daily and I put fresh hay down on the floor to keep them occupied.

 

[ilikechikin]

As I said - the pen is temporary right now so the chicken wire will be upgraded. That said, my yard is also fenced and I have 4 dogs. I don't necessarily agree with locking them in at night - they like to go in and come out when they're ready to. As is, I've never had an incident. This morning a red shouldered hawk swooped in on the pen but couldn't gain access. There is ventilation - and I keep the coop clean so I don't have a big ammonia problem. Like I also said...I may add some additional screened ventilation at the top still - probably via hole saw. I've checked out the inside during 95 degree temps at midday and since the coop is in the shade it was fairly cool inside still.

I'll also be adding a heat lamp during the winter despite that the chickens are hardy in the cold.

 

[junebuggena]

As I said - the pen is temporary right now so the chicken wire will be upgraded. That said, my yard is also fenced and I have 4 dogs. I don't necessarily agree with locking them in at night - they like to go in and come out when they're ready to. As is, I've never had an incident. This morning a red shouldered hawk swooped in on the pen but couldn't gain access. There is ventilation - and I keep the coop clean so I don't have a big ammonia problem. Like I also said...I may add some additional screened ventilation at the top still - probably via hole saw. I've checked out the inside during 95 degree temps at midday and since the coop is in the shade it was fairly cool inside still.

I'll also be adding a heat lamp during the winter despite that the chickens are hardy in the cold.

Adding a heat lamp to a coop that small is a bad idea. And the coop should be secured against any predators at night. Leaving it wide open is kind of asking to wake up to a massacre.

 

[Braxton Brigade]

This is one of our coops during the building process. All of our coops have chain link runs. Actually our coops are within our dogs yard as well, 5 foot no climb welded wire horse fence, then the chicken pens with chain link runs. This coop is actually 2 in 1 if you're wondering why there is a nest box and pop/chicken door on each side, it can hold about 10 chickens.







There it is once it was completed. Each run has a metal roof for shade and weather protection. The coop itself was made from a old shipping crate, as you can tell by the forklift/pallet jack slots. It is raised to deter nifty pawed creatures and to create a shaded spot for our dogs to hang out.

 

[ilikechikin]

The coop is 4x4x4 - not tiny. I only have 8 chickens and don't need a larger coop.

As said this was my first attempt and I think it's great for a hundred bucks.

Point was to share a pic of something I am proud of - not to have someone nit-pick it's shortcomings so thanks for that.

You have a nice day...

 

[Sweetman1205]

The coop is 4x4x4 - not tiny. I only have 8 chickens and don't need a larger coop.

As said this was my first attempt and I think it's great for a hundred bucks.

Point was to share a pic of something I am proud of - not to have someone nit-pick it's shortcomings so thanks for that.

You have a nice day... 

very cute coop!!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Not fancy, our first try at a coop - built in a day. Bought on 4x8 T111 siding sheet, hinges, roofing, 4 cinder blocks, and pressure treated posts. Used scrap 2x4's from a wall take down between my kitchen and dining room for the interior framing. Total cost about $100. Am improving the run this weekend to 6' 4x4 posts with welded wire all around. I still have to shingle the nest box roof. The run is 5'x25'/125 sqft. We have a 1/2 acre of property with about 2/3 fenced. We allow supervised free ranging as we have a lot of flower and vegetable gardens that we don't want destroyed. The fenced yard is half grass (if you can call it that!) and half wooded. The chickens love the wooded part the most.

I do not have pretty coops, but I always have a stack of pallets and some wire kicking around. My husband can throw up a very secure, ventilated coop for 2-10 birds in a couple of hours. We call them 'cubes'. I like the flexibility of having several small coops to separate birds. I can totally understand someone in suburbia not wanting to have to look at my hideous coops 20 feet from their house but we are fortunate to have room to spare. Just this past weekend I picked up a trio of Buff Orpingtons and called my husband from the road to put together a 'bad boy cube' as the ladies were badly overbred and needed a break from the big guy. By the time I got home an hour later his solitary accommodations were ready.

This is a 12'x8' cube with two, 4'x4' cubes attached. You can only put one or two birds in the 4x4s of course, but a couple of perches help maximize the space and they make great sick rooms or bad boy boxes for roosters. I have two groups of young birds in there I am trying to integrate at the moment. Everyone gets to free range daily and I put fresh hay down on the floor to keep them occupied.

Nice! I like it. seems fast and easy too. Although I'm wondering if you could rip the pallets apart and rebuild or at least put plywood or something over it? Of course it would probably take longer but I'm thinking if I ever expand my parents may not want to spend more money on another coop but also wouldn't want an eyesore (no offense lol) even if I don't mind the look. So thinking if maybe it could be covered or painted or whatever. Probably? I'm actually getting 5 more chicks in October but I think they will fit in the new coop. I have 8 in a 3x3 coop kit from TSC which is wayyyyy too small, obviously, and a 6x12 dog kennel run, also too small especially with the coop sitting in the middle of it (we took off the included run though so it's open) but the new coop is 4x8. I know technically the maximum number of birds for that size coop is 8 but my thinking is since it's a HUGE upgrade from the current coop that they won't mind. Especially since mine never even go in the coop during the day except to lay eggs and then at night to roost. Although I wonder if part of that is because they just can't fit inside, maybe with more comfortable accommodations they would. But anyway, if it does get crowded I think we can expand. We have an old dog house right near the coop we can probably fix and attach. Or we can maybe just expand out the back. We already attached the door and of course the gable vents have to go in but theoretically all we'd have to do is take the door off, expand, and put it back on. We also have a storage area we're putting in that we could maybe take out to add more space to the coop. We built the coop on a 6x8 frame to accommodate the nest boxes and a storage area. So it wouldn't add much space but maybe a little. But my other theory is I'm going to try to make the run as big as possible to accommodate for the coop and maybe free range. And of course have two 8 foot roost bars. Or an 8 foot and 2 4 foot. Maybe shelves or something for more floor space but I'm thinking that might take away space, I don't know. I think they'll be fine though, I'm going to try to brood outside and integrate early too. Sorry, I'm rambling hahah Anyhow, that box might be a good idea for fast extra space.