post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Sylvester017]

We have heavy latches on nest box and both doors. The slab does give a lot of additional security as well. We also have the 6ft privacy fence surrounding the backyard. Plus we have a american bulldog, a pit mix, and a bichon (scared of the chickens) that have easy access to the backyard. My biggest concern is the bird netting accross the top i do need to reinforce that but between the tarp and plastic thing from kids old playset there has been no issues. The birds seem to love it

Sounds like you gave it some good measures. Are the dogs out at night? Most chicken predators are slinky night critters. Bird netting won't keep out city raccoons or possums. They can collapse their bodies to fit through the smallest cracks.

I love the sleepy content look of your perched birds!

 

[Sylvester017]

It certainly looks nice and sturdy. However, remember what they say about making something foolproof (or bearproof)...

So far in 31 years we haven't had a bear in the neighborhood but our mountain friends behind us get the critters in their swimming pools! We fortified our yard for city raccoons, possums, and feral cats. The block wall is keeping out the stray dogs but 'coons, 'possums, and cats can still leap tall buildings in a single bound! All us neighbors cut down our old trees so that critters can't easily jump from yard to yard using branches any more.

 

[bigmrg74]

Well, it's easy to see from the last three pages nobody's been building any coops recently...

The Aussies, Kiwi's, South Americans and basically anybody else from a warmer climate needs to step it up. That or we can talk about any tweaks we've done to our coops lately.

I recently added two solar panel lights in my coop. so far they seem to work alright. I just kinda wish they made the lights were you could actually affix them to the wall versus just hanging off of the wall, and a bigger switch on it as well.

 

[junkman56]

The Aussies, Kiwi's, South Americans and basically anybody else from a warmer climate needs to step it up. That or we can talk about any tweaks we've done to our coops lately.

I recently added two solar panel lights in my coop. so far they seem to work alright. I just kinda wish they made the lights were you could actually affix them to the wall versus just hanging off of the wall, and a bigger switch on it as well.

 

[Intheswamp]

We have heavy latches on nest box and both doors. The slab does give a lot of additional security as well. We also have the 6ft privacy fence surrounding the backyard. Plus we have a american bulldog, a pit mix, and a bichon (scared of the chickens) that have easy access to the backyard. My biggest concern is the bird netting accross the top i do need to reinforce that but between the tarp and plastic thing from kids old playset there has been no issues. The birds seem to love it

Heavy or regular-duty latches...doesn't much matter. From what I know, it's mostly just coons that can open latches...if the latch is a bit complicated then that is what thwarts the coons, not the strength of the latch. Coons and larger animals will probably go through the chicken wire before they open or force a latch open.

The bulldog (I love American bulldogs) or the pit can easily walk through the chicken wire. Sometimes even friendly dogs can go into a frenzy for unknown (to us) reasons. If it was my coop/run, a 50' roll of 4x2 welded wire fencing would make me sleep better....woven wire, even better. Just sayin'....

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[FlyWheel]

Chickens can pick apart and go through chicken wire. I know this because when I built my first run I used CW for it and the garden. They managed to gnaw a hole in both!

 

[Molpet]

The Aussies, Kiwi's, South Americans and basically anybody else from a warmer climate needs to step it up. That or we can talk about any tweaks we've done to our coops lately.

I recently added two solar panel lights in my coop. so far they seem to work alright. I just kinda wish they made the lights were you could actually affix them to the wall versus just hanging off of the wall, and a bigger switch on it as well.

What brand did you get? I was thinking about this too

 

[DaveTheDamaja]

Still a few items left to finish before the coop and run are complete, but I'm almost there!! Inside dimensions are 6'x6', stands about 10' tall.

 

[FlyWheel]

Nice, your ladies should appreciate all the room. However I do see one potential problem (for you), if you have to collect the eggs in the rain the roof will be draining right on top of you! I would recommend gutters along that lower edge.

 

[DaveTheDamaja]

Thanks for catching that! That is a great idea! On that note do you think I should waterproof the hatch to the nesting box? Do the hens mind getting wet if it rains?