post your chicken coop pictures here!

[jcam2881]

Our lean-to's are not fancy but protective. A long plank of flat board 6 to 8 feet long by 1-1/2 to 2 feet wide. Hardware stores will cut a 4x8 plywood panel in half for you giving you two shelters. We prop the plywood plank on cinder blocks positioned under each end of the plank. We use 2 stacked cinderblocks at one end and 2 stacked cinderblocks at the other end - or 6 square stepping stones per side. That's all.  2 or 3 of these go around the perimeter of the yard and/or against a building where chickens seem to like to gather for their afternoon snoozes. We had a leftover long plank of closet shelving that we salvaged and a small damaged bookshelf to use as shelters. We have a lot of wind so to keep the planks from sailing off the cinderblock bases we anchor with a brick or stepping stone at each top end of the plank (so the stones/bricks don't sag the plank in the middle). Of course we have a recycled dog house from the thrift store that was still in great condition that our Silkies like to hang out in - I'm looking at 4 chickens right now using one of the shelters and the dog house (afternoon siesta LOL). I plan to set up a large shelter in the middle of the open section of yard for them also - this one will have to be a bit more decorative being center view. Chickens will always cruise the yard not just to forage but they're checking out good future hiding places and bushes at the same time. The key is to have several scattered hiding areas around the yard. They will use low benches and tables for hiding too if they are positioned up against a wall, fence, or row of plants. My girls liked to snooze under a large stickery climbing rose bush that finally died after 25 years. I'll have to get another one after I figure where to plant it.

To keep mine out of the garden beds I use a 50' roll of 2 feet high green rabbit fencing to keep them out of digging there. A couple times when new they tried to fly into the area but I promptly but gently showed them out of the area and they respect the barrier now even though they can easily fly back in. You may want to use a 3 feet or 4 feet tall rabbit fencing to keep your birds from going way back into the property and just contain them within your view. To secure the fencing there are green stakes that will anchor the fencing and easily remove if you need to move the fence later.

As for dogs we decided not to invest in one. The hens are so adept at keeping themselves hidden in the free-range backyard for 3 years that we didn't find it necessary. Too expensive for vet bills, yearly licensing & vaccinations, training, food, housing, etc. Anyway, our spooky kooky Ameraucana is our barnyard alert and she chases stray cats out of the yard. She used to chase the wild birds too but has come to accept them as ok. We have a wildbird feeder that the Cooper's Hawk likes to frequent for easier prey than our chickens. We don't hatch chicks so there is no temptation for little chickie prey.

For dogs it's best to introduce puppies to chickens rather than the other way around. From puppies it is much easier to keep them around poultry and accept the birds as part of the "pack". Unless a particularly clever adult dog is easily trained they usually eye the birds as something to chase or down for sport. Stress is not good for laying hens or any hens for that matter LOL  My friend has an incredibly intelligent little purebred dog that is protective of the flock but one incredibly stupid mixed breed that wants to dig into the chicken pen. I gently warned her that one day she will come outside to find her laying flock scared, injured, or dead but it's up to her to choose her action. You can't take unruly children to a dog pound but you can always send a dog back to one - sounds harsh? Not when the peace of my household is at stake - people re-home unruly bully chickens so why not re-home an unruly dog? As one wonderful BYCer said - read, read, read, research, research, research to gain knowledge about chicken behavior, housing, health, feed, treats, etc. I'm sure there is some info on training adult dogs around chickens as well. My daughter had to finally re-home an unruly shepherd mix after 6 months of expensive training in the $1000's - just one of many reasons I'm not a fan of mixed breeds. With purebreeds you can almost count on specific traits where it's not so easy with a mixed breed. That goes with chickens for me too. These are just my preferences and I'm sure there are many that will agree as much as disagree LOL.

Wow didn't mean to write a novel. Good luck with your girls! Chickens have been my most favorite pets up-to-date and we've had dogs, cats, budgies, cockatiels, parrots, ducks, geese, goats, cattle, horses, sheep, tortoises, and even a boa snake!  Never had rodents like rabbits, guineas, rats or mice so can't speak about them.

Cheers!

Thanks so much for the info... Good stuff! I will take it slow on the free range with them and let them out supervised at first. Can't wait to show them their new home Saturday!

 

[LindaB220]

Do you know what the dimensions are to your nice coop? And how many birds to you house in it? Thanks in advance

Do you have a coop plan yet? How many birds do you plan on getting?

 

[LindaB220]

Made from an old child's play fort.
Only new material was tin for the roof and some 2x4s.

That a great use of old materials. That's how it's done!!!!

 

[DarleneE]

Sylvester 017,
Thank you for all that information!! I gave it all to my husband and his wheels are turning as I write this. Basically what I'm thinking is that we need to have an enclosed outdoor area that's wired in BUT it ALSO needs to have an enclosed area with some type of roof for their protection at least over half or a good part of the fenced or wired in area??!! I think that would work very well and YES you are correct..watching from inside isn't going to get me to them fast enough to protect against a hawk or that type predator so it much have an area they can get under for protection. What WONDERFUL ideas you've given us!! Oh and btw I was able to post that video!! Thanks again!!

 

[Sylvester017]

maybe you should write a book about chickens you are very knowledgledgeable about them

No, not knowledgeable, just OLD and opinionated from very little experience LOL. My folks used to raise all sorts of farm animals and it stuck w/me.

There are a lot of opinions even on the BYC threads so I glean and use what I read and then research it more rather than just taking people's word. My vet is my first and final authority for me. He has a specialty in exotic birds (chickens are exotic?) but yes chickens are exotic and he is very thorough whenever I go in on a sudden panic appointment. I spent over $200 in less than a year on vet visits with just one problem Silkie and what he and I share together I pass along for others to use or not.

 

[roostercantrell]

No, not knowledgeable, just OLD and opinionated from very little experience LOL. My folks used to raise all sorts of farm animals and it stuck w/me.

There are a lot of opinions even on the BYC threads so I glean and use what I read and then research it more rather than just taking people's word. My vet is my first and final authority for me. He has a specialty in exotic birds (chickens are exotic?) but yes chickens are exotic and he is very thorough whenever I go in on a sudden panic appointment. I spent over $200 in less than a year on vet visits with just one problem Silkie and what he and I share together I pass along for others to use or not.

age=knowledge youth=folly we do thank you for your knowledge it is great to have a site like this to help us newbies.. i did have to take my 2 silkie hens to the vet today she gave them a shot of antibiotic with dewormer in it they seemed to be doing better this evening when i put in the coop for the nite

 

[CottageChic]

Ohhh I love your coop!

 

[huntonchicks]

Those are beautiful!

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks so much for the info... Good stuff! I will take it slow on the free range with them and let them out supervised at first. Can't wait to show them their new home Saturday!

Yes, you sound like my DH and me 3 years ago when we started backyard chickens with no roo (not zoned for roo).

First we stood outside and watched them in a little 25 foot circumference rabbit fence.

Next day we had them in the fence again with soft bird netting covering the top in the shade for a couple hours while we were inside the house. We nervously kept watching them through the sliding door as they weren't more than 15 feet away and they were having so-o-o much fun foraging in the weeds and grass!

We decided to go full free-range (we have a little cottage backyard and not the 25 acres we used to have). Well some nice chickeneer wrote on a blog about having low shade shelters around the yard for free-range chickens. We set one up and turned the chickens loose - first we had 2 Silkies, then added a rescue Leghorn and rescue Marans and found they were very hardy hiding under the thorny rosebush and low lean-to. Eventually had to re-home the bully Marans and then the White Leghorn who got aggressive after we added a couple new pullets. Now we don't keep any LF over 5-lb with the Silkies. 2-lb Silkies are hardy but not against a 7-lb bully Marans.

If we left the house, we herded the chickens back into the coop while we were gone. Later we realized this wasn't necessary after we saw how well the girls can hide when there's a Cooper's Hawk sitting on the fence watching them. Chickens aren't stupid - they can see hawks very well. Chicken eyesight is excellent and they can pick a tiny piece of corn off your finger without you even feeling it!

Once we were finally comfortable that the girls were adult and "experienced" in the backyard after a year we felt good about leaving the coop open for them while we were gone and they free-ranged to their hearts' content. We still get home at dusk to close them up from any chance beasts like Raccoons or Opossums who kill more for sport than actual food. We still count heads at night before closing them up for the night - always a good practice.

Silkies can't fly. But Leghorns and Ameraucanas get very good lift - even the fat Marans flew 7 feet up. But they never fly out of the yard - are you kidding? They aren't going to leave a property with yummy treats like cucumbers, cantaloupe, grapes, cooked brown rice, etc etc etc LOL

 

[Southerlys]

Thank you!