post your chicken coop pictures here!

[bigmrg74]

Hi, thanks for the replies.

I think we have it much easier here in Kenya than you guys in the States, weather is very stable. so here cold temp (at night) is no less than 15/20 celcius, and since im very close to the beach the wind is pretty good so weather during the day is sort of perfect, maybe a little windy at night but nothing too serious.

As for predators, we also have it very easy, most flocks i see roaming in the bushes just next to the street, pretty much no predators, stray dogs/cats are uncommon, thiefs are uncommon too (since Kenyans are not particularly nice to thiefs). So in my compound we have a wall surrounding it with a gate at the entrance, only cats would show up here but since we got a yard light and a dog they stopped coming. So i dont really worry too much about predators.

Their open range will be fenced (inside the compound), so i guess there are 2 fences in place for them, we dont want them all over the place in case they decide to come to the house or whatever.

I love the idea of reusing stuff for them to play in, i will be using more stuff to give them as toys.



I live in Kilifi, arround an hour from Mombasa .

You make a very good point about them not being able to see enough of the outside, ill try to come up with something.

I just missed taking a picture of it earlier, but I had a couple of my girls up on a sawhorse out in their pen. Stuff like that will what you want to do. Can probably just lash some tree branches together for perches like that.

 

[cmccullough1390]

[COLOR=0000CD]We've been using 12x12" paver stones to fill in dirt areas and keep down weeds. We live in pretty hot weather in SoCal but when it does finally rain the paver stones keep us from sinking in muddy dirt on the way to the chicken coop or toward their covered canopy area. Keeps chicken feet from getting real muddy too![/COLOR]

I'll have to look k to that that's a good idea it's rainy here through a lot of the year I'm in nor cal right on the cost

 

[the poppster]

I'll be going in and getting eggs I'll also be adding sand to the run eventually I like the paver stone idea I'll have to do that it rarely gets down to freezing here or over 99 degrees there are vents and I may add a heat lamp for winter

If it rarely gets down to freezing, I doubt that your birds will need any kind of extra heat source...their normal body temperature is around 102 degrees Fahrenheit...they won't suffer from cold if the coop is well ventilated...I live in the western end of Michigan's upper peninsula, not only do we seem to get snow from late October to mid May....give or take a few weeks, one way or the other....it is also in the 10s to 30s for most of that time. My birds seem to thrive without any extra heat....as long as they have access to Liquid water and food....a dry well ventilated coop...they will be happy. I even leave the screen door on when it's sunny and calm outside. Although small or bantam might not be able to tolerate the cold as well as the larger birds.

 

[Cockon Candi]

Very nice!! Did you guys get some rain yesterday and today? It was raining 10 minutes north of us but nothing in my area until today. Your probably 20-30 minutes away from me.

Yes, blessed rain! We worked all day yesterday & now that it's cooler, we're wiped out & limping. I'm in Coventry, real close to Green, just across the pond from N Canton.

 

[Sylvester017]

I'll have to look k to that that's a good idea it's rainy here through a lot of the year I'm in nor cal right on the cost

Every approaching Memorial Day seasonal holiday both Lowe's and Home Depot will put their 12x12 paver stones on sale from the regular 1.19@ down to as low as 99 or 88 cents. The sale is for a short 4 or 5-day duration and not advertised but I keep watching the websites for when they are on sale during Memorial week and then stock up on the pavers at the sale price. When you are picking up one or two hundred paver stones the savings is significant on sale. With our lousy SoCal drought and water restrictions I am paving all front and back yards and just keeping container plants or raised garden beds. I make raised garden beds out of paver stones too.

 

[Cockon Candi]

Clearly you did not read the "How to raise chickens" manual. FIRST you get the chicks and while raising them in the house start building the coop. Then notice how fast those fluffballs grow and how much you WISH you had built the coop first!   Of course *I* wouldn't do it that way 

Funny!! I did that once only it was a stray austrolorpe, totally unprepared, but I had a horse barn & a big huge dog crate that she slept in. I had told hubby that I wanted chickens, years ago, & he said 'No more animals!' Then I saw what I thought was a big crow in the horse pasture one morning, got the binoculars & watched it do the chicken head bop, that's no crow!! Yay! Bo died at the ripe old age of 9 only because a raccoon took her head off...my fault that I didn't listen to her warning that morning, said she didn't want to come out...she was buried & has a headstone. To this day hubby still thinks I had her planted here...but I didn't. We live in an area where there just aren't any stray chickens. But I had a stray timberwolf too...

 

[Cockon Candi]

Is there more ventilation than the pop door and the one window??

Ed

Yes, 2 vents, one on top & one low & under the roof edges somehow? And 2 screened windows. Double door, which I can chicken barrier if necessary & their own door of course, & it's pretty shaded.

 

[Intheswamp]

Yes, 2 vents, one on top & one low & under the roof edges somehow? And 2 screened windows. Double door, which I can chicken barrier if necessary & their own door of course, & it's pretty shaded.

The big issue is air exchange rather than heat reduction, though heat reduction is still a definite issue. It is pretty much accepted that to keep healthy chickens and to reduce the chance of respiratory sicknesses that 1 square foot of *permanent* ventilation per large fowl chicken is required. Chickens are very susceptible to respiratory diseases. The problem with too little ventilation is that moisture and ammonia can build up inside the coop, both of these being very bad for chickens...proper ventilation moves these out of the coop. Also, in a freezing climate too much moisture in the air will cause frostbitten combs...another reason to have enough ventilation to get rid of the moist air. Chickens can maintain well below freezing as long as they are in a dry environment and out of the wind.

"Permanent" means that the ventilation opening is always open, never closed. Naturally this ventilation should not create a draft on the chickens in cold weather (hot weather they appreciate a breeze). For wintertime ventilation upper venting that is above the chickens' heads works good. Also, one big opening at one end of a coop where the chickens roost at the other end works good if there are no ventilation areas in the roost area...this creates a "pocket" of still air for the chickens to be in but still allows a good air exchange. Of course, during raging storms it is good to close down large openings but not all.

Measure up your permanent openings in square inches (multiply the lengths times the widths). Total all of these square inch areas together and divide that total by 144. That should give you the number of square feet of ventilation that you have...and that will tell you how many chickens your coop will house in regards to ventilation.

How many chickens are you planning for? Looks like you've got a good start going!!!!!!!

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[cmccullough1390]

Every approaching Memorial Day seasonal holiday both Lowe's and Home Depot will put their 12x12 paver stones on sale from the regular 1.19@ down to as low as 99 or 88 cents. The sale is for a short 4 or 5-day duration and not advertised but I keep watching the websites for when they are on sale during Memorial week and then stock up on the pavers at the sale price. When you are picking up one or two hundred paver stones the savings is significant on sale. With our lousy SoCal drought and water restrictions I am paving all front and back yards and just keeping container plants or raised garden beds. I make raised garden beds out of paver stones too.

Thanks for the heads up we've put the chickens in for a little bit and they loved it

 

[cmccullough1390]

If it rarely gets down to freezing, I doubt that your birds will need any kind of extra heat source...their normal body temperature is around 102 degrees Fahrenheit...they won't suffer from cold if the coop is well ventilated...I live in the western end of Michigan's upper peninsula, not only do we seem to get snow from late October to mid May....give or take a few weeks, one way or the other....it is also in the 10s to 30s for most of that time. My birds seem to thrive without any extra heat....as long as they have access to Liquid water and food....a dry well ventilated coop...they will be happy. I even leave the screen door on when it's sunny and calm outside. Although small or bantam might not be able to tolerate the cold as well as the larger birds.

I will always keep a good eye on the food and water because well it's essential to their health. I'm not to worried about the cold it's only ever that cold once or twice a year and well the chicks love huddling together when they get cold or hot lol they're so funny. Almost done with the coop will post new pics tomorrow