post your chicken coop pictures here!

[jtbass2756]

Not quite done yet.

Looking good so far.....! How high is that!!

 

[RachRed]

Burnsey, that is a beautifull design! 2 days!? My 4x8 coop is taking me months lol. Of course I've no experience, a two year old, and it's overbuilt. I bet people would pay good money for beautifully designed backyard coops.

 

[Sylvester017]

Ah she comes in at night. Hoping her scent keeps the raccoons away. But if not, they get locked up tight at night, and I even put a brick in front of their coop door.

I just love this coop thread! So much good input. Your brick idea reminds me that we have to use a brick to keep our coop door open. We don't have a small chicken pop-door as the coop never came with one so we have to leave the door open for the girls to access the nestboxes. We get gale winds in the afternoons and found the door blew shut every time. We tried several ideas to keep it open to no avail and now use a heavy brick for keeping the door OPEN ! The coop was a custom pre-built 4x6 coop in the feed store when we got it 3 years ago and isn't structurally made to allow us to add a pop-door. We want to invest either in an Amish or similar pre-built coop when we get the $$$ because we have neither the tools nor construction savvy to make one from scratch - too old, too much arthritis, and not years of time to tackle long home-made projects. We keep active but age/health has its limits.

Your dog looks like she's sizing up the chicks as additions to her "pack." Here's anticipating she'll do a good job for you and your flock.

 

[Sylvester017]

I am very new to this. Two adult girls Laverne and Shirley

that we were gift last Friday and then 8 baby chicks we now have for 10 days. Of course the big girls are outside in the run and coup and the babies in the house.
Our coup was already here attached to the barn and about 12 by 12 inside. We have added two perches from tree branches at different heights and today leaned
an old wooden ladder to the lower one. They seem to love that. Have a dirt bath outside made out of a big plastic barrel cut in half. Water and food inside hanging
from the ceiling and 10 boxes attached to the wall with straw for egg laying. So far 9 eggs starting Saturday afternoon. So hopefully I am doing okay. I am worried
sick over everyone and go out and sit by the big girls a few times a day (they are very tame) and just talk to them and they talk back. My son works for Chobani
Yogurt and gets all the free yogurt we can eat. Should I give them a bit each day or is that too much? Can I give some to the 10 day old babies too and if so
how often. I am In LOVE!!

Everyone is different and you can get 5 different opinions but this is just what we do and think it a safe way to go.

Good yoghurt like Plain Greek (higher in protein than other types and contains live cultures) is ok for chickens. We used to give a little to our older chicks/juvies if they fancied it but only a taste occasionally. Chicks should be on good balanced chick starter feed for the bulk of their nutrition with one daily treat of either a cucumber slice with most of the outside hard part shaved off to peck at, or mealworms, or boiled cutup egg, and some say strawberries but ours never touched fruits - fruits too poopy for chicks anyway.

We give some Greek yoghurt to the adults as a treat for bonding times - they usually don't consume more than a Tablespoon apiece at one offering. Some days they love it and other days not so much. You'll eventually get a "feel" for what your chickens fancy.

However I would stay away from yoghurts with flavors, colorings, sugars, aspartame, omitted live culture statements, etc - generally the over-processed kid's stuff. Some chickeneers serve their flocks liquid Keifur but again I wouldn't use artificial additives brands. My DH brings home yoghurts from his work occasionally but we don't give the chickens anything but the Plain Greek.

Having puppies and kittens are fun but there is NOTHING like the love we form for our chickens. It isn't better or worse than loving another animal but just DIFFERENT and wonderful and rewarding as they are quite able to care for themselves from dawn to dusk, reward us with their useable fertilizer, entertain us, bond with us, and give eggs in return. I'm still waiting for the dog or cat that can give useable poop or eggs to us. The only useable cat is the one that stays out of our yard and our chickens chase strays away. The only useable dogs are guard breeds that watch the flock 24/7 and chase or kill off predators and not the chickens!

Don't introduce your chicks to the adult hens until they are about 4-5 months old and then do it through a wire fence barrier of some sort separating the young from the older hens but so they can see each other and scratch around nearby. They need a couple weeks to a month of socialization before removing the barrier and then there will be pecking order squabbles that you'll want to monitor to make sure no one is getting injured. Otherwise they'll figure out their own pecking order. Unfortunately the sweetest gentlest one is always at the bottom of the order.

Enjoy your flock and babies. Like children they grow up so fast!

 

[luckyclucky]

Looking good so far.....!   How high is that!!

40 inches

 

[Sylvester017]

I have a camper made into a coop and m waiting for a second one, then we will make a 2nd yard as we have all age peeps one group is 13wks, then 7wks now we have the new ones in house just peeping as I type, also have 19 hens and 2roos in coop

The wonderful thing is the room you give them and LOVE the easy sloping ramp into the trailer!

 

[iwiw60]

Just picked this up off of craigslist. New family Chicken adventure begins. Going to give it a new paint job and a few additions. Can't wait to get he Hens!!

What a great find!! Have you picked out a color to paint it up yet??

 

[jtbass2756]

Everyone is different and you can get 5 different opinions but this is just what we do and think it a safe way to go.

Good yoghurt like Plain Greek (higher in protein than other types and contains live cultures) is ok for chickens. We used to give a little to our older chicks/juvies if they fancied it but only a taste occasionally. Chicks should be on good balanced chick starter feed for the bulk of their nutrition with one daily treat of either a cucumber slice with most of the outside hard part shaved off to peck at, or mealworms, or boiled cutup egg, and some say strawberries but ours never touched fruits - fruits too poopy for chicks anyway.

We give some Greek yoghurt to the adults as a treat for bonding times - they usually don't consume more than a Tablespoon apiece at one offering. Some days they love it and other days not so much. You'll eventually get a "feel" for what your chickens fancy.

However I would stay away from yoghurts with flavors, colorings, sugars, aspartame, omitted live culture statements, etc - generally the over-processed kid's stuff. Some chickeneers serve their flocks liquid Keifur but again I wouldn't use artificial additives brands. My DH brings home yoghurts from his work occasionally but we don't give the chickens anything but the Plain Greek.

Having puppies and kittens are fun but there is NOTHING like the love we form for our chickens. It isn't better or worse than loving another animal but just DIFFERENT and wonderful and rewarding as they are quite able to care for themselves from dawn to dusk, reward us with their useable fertilizer, entertain us, bond with us, and give eggs in return. I'm still waiting for the dog or cat that can give useable poop or eggs to us. The only useable cat is the one that stays out of our yard and our chickens chase strays away. The only useable dogs are guard breeds that watch the flock 24/7 and chase or kill off predators and not the chickens!

Don't introduce your chicks to the adult hens until they are about 4-5 months old and then do it through a wire fence barrier of some sort separating the young from the older hens but so they can see each other and scratch around nearby. They need a couple weeks to a month of socialization before removing the barrier and then there will be pecking order squabbles that you'll want to monitor to make sure no one is getting injured. Otherwise they'll figure out their own pecking order. Unfortunately the sweetest gentlest one is always at the bottom of the order.

Enjoy your flock and babies. Like children they grow up so fast!

thank you so much..........this is why this site is so good.......we newbies need such information..

 

[Sylvester017]

Judy,

Here are a few more images of the coop in progress. I will take some more in a few weeks for you (we are moving and the coop is currently in pieces).

As far as materials go, I was fortunate to have a friend who was tearing down his cedar privacy fence. All of the materials are re-purposed from his fence. I used the 2x4's and fence pickets to build this entire coop. The only items I purchased was door hardware, wire mesh and the metal roofing. Knowing I was moving, I made it modular; the four walls were built independently of one another, as is the 2nd level floor, wall, nesting box and roosting dowels. Not everything is shown in these photos, but like I said, I will post more once I get moved and have my chickens in there enjying life.
Coop dimensions are 4' x 8 and 4' high at the low end, 6' at the high end.

I will have a small enclosed run attached to the front of the coop down the road that will be 8' x 8'. As of now the coop is approximately 96 SF. I have (6) Chickens.














All the best,
Burnsey

Very gorgeous digs! But don't be surprised if the chickens don't use the steep ramp. They like something with a shorter or gentler slope to it. Depends on the birds but none of my breeds (Silkies, Leghorns, Ameraucana, Marans) liked the narrow steep ramp that came with our pre-built coop so we had to make a longer wider one to create less of a steep climb. We also made the steps on the ramp about 4" apart to give both bantams and LF a good walking grip.

Couldn't tell if you lined the bottom of the inside roosting coop with any kind of easy-to-clean flooring because wood is brutal for stains and retaining uric acid odors. Just some suggestions but know that your coop appearance is very attractive!

 

[Sylvester017]

Just picked this up off of craigslist. New family Chicken adventure begins. Going to give it a new paint job and a few additions. Can't wait to get he Hens!!

You don't know the condition/illness/health of the previous occupants so give it a good sterilization before painting. Look up and research the proper sterilization of a coop before putting a new flock into it. I'm just a worrier and I sterilize everything from histories known or unknown when I use recycled woods. Even when I get donated items from my chicken friend I still sterilize before using. Not everyone will be as solicitous as you when it comes to the health of your flock. I read that Oxine is a good sterilizer for Mareck's that bleach won't be effective enough. Looks like you've been chickeneering before and probably know all this but I'm suggesting just in case.

Good tractor find! Wishing you the best!