post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Windy Bay Farm]

Here is ours. Just finishing it up. We are about 95% complete. I built this from plans I downloaded from downeast thunder farms website.

As I previously asked on another post, how do you keep the nest box lid from leaking between where the hinges connect to the lid and the coop ?

 

[MontgomeryTX]

Chicken tractor. I built 2 of these I move around the pasture with my tractor. This one is for my blue cochin project.

 

[Sylvester017]

What's the secret to keeping the nest box lid from leaking ?

One obvious fix is to extend the roof-line over the nestboxes or attach an awning to the coop above the boxes so both you and the box straw stay dry at egg collection time. Our coop was small enough that we put a popup canopy over it so we didn't get drenched in the rain. We also attach a tarp over the coop if there is going to be a doozy of a rainfall with heavy winds

Another fix is to have the nestbox door drop down from the front side instead of lifting up from the top. It's a bit more effort to stoop to collect the eggs from the front of the box instead of the top but I like knowing the boxes will stay leak-free.

 

[Sylvester017]

As I previously asked on another post, how do you keep the nest box lid from leaking between where the hinges connect to the lid and the coop ?

Since this particular red chicken coop doesn't have an extended roof-line over their boxes I suggested attaching an awning over the window so that they can still open the nestbox lid all the way yet will be protected from rain at egg collection time.

 

[Sylvester017]

Chicken tractor. I built 2 of these I move around the pasture with my tractor. This one is for my blue cochin project.

Wonderful to have all that spacious property to give the chickens a lot of new area to forage. Very big and roomy tractor digs.

 

[MontgomeryTX]

We also have 7 acres of woods but the chickens don't venture there. Now the turkeys love to go in the woods.

 

[Sylvester017]

We also have 7 acres of woods but the chickens don't venture there. Now the turkeys love to go in the woods.

Funny you mentioned that. Our ducks always stayed by the pond and seldom ventured out of that area. The chickens stayed within the yard parameter even though we had 25 acres. I don't think they liked the open fields with no cover or trees to hide from aerial predators. The geese covered about a 2 acre area but also never ventured beyond the barnyard. We never had turkeys so can't say much about them.

I like the tractor idea to protect your project birds. Chickens like to snooze/hide under things. I always thought they liked open spaces to forage but found they prefer hiding under plants, shrubs, rosebushes, lean-to's, doghouses, and even a popup canopy. They are always hiding in tall grass or against a shrubbed fenced, or under the canopy or in the doghouse. They still use the nestboxes to lay eggs and go to roost but find all kinds of ways to free-range during the day. We set up a bunch more lean-to's for them to snooze/hide under. I'd love to find more recycled doghouses but our local thrift store has slim pickin's.

 

[Pineridge]

As I previously asked on another post, how do you keep the nest box lid from leaking between where the hinges connect to the lid and the coop ?

Sylvester probably has the best solution with an extended roof or awning. We actually have a piece of flashing installed under the hinge line and plan on installing another piece of flashing on top covering the hinge line from end to end. How well that will work for us is yet to be seen

 

[Duke6017]

Cute and roomy coop. Hope you have enough roof overhanging the nestboxes. We quickly realized we needed shelter over the egg collection door the first time we stood in the rain!

Thank you! I think there is about 6-7 inches of over hang on the sides. Not enough to fully cover the nest box. However, the open field on the opposite side of the coop tends to allow for the winds to come from that direction making most of the rain fall from that direction as well. We have had some real gully washers over the last couple of week and I have not noticed any moisture in the next boxes yet. I plan on putting a piece of rubber stripping to around the hinge area to also help with any water issues. Thanks for the advice!

 

[bruceha2000]

Here is my coop with out the run attached. I used the Purina layout, but changed a few things to meet my needs. I changed the nesting box from the front to the side and only added 2 boxes instead of 3. I added a 12' run off of the front plus the 4' underneath giving them 16'x4' run. They also get to free range for a few hours a day.


Here is my coondog in the coop before the girls arrived. He was just checking things out!

Has to make sure no coons are hiding in there before the chickens go in

And here are some of the girls on their first day. I have had them a month now and they seem to like their new home.

Nicely done. I know that Sylvester is concerned about collecting in the rain but you do have some overhang to keep the rain from going in at the hinge area. You can always use an umbrella (though that could get old), just make sure there isn't water on top of the door when you open it so it doesn't drop into the nests. (can't tell if it is sloped). Last thing, the roost pole is probably too small in diameter for full grown chickens.

We just finished the coop and none of y'all better laugh either.

Oh, wait, EVERYONE in Texas has a gun, right? Don't mess with Texas!

Um, well, *I* did not put in those laughing emoticons, someone else did. It was, er, the CAT! Yeah, that's it, the cat. You know how those pesky things walk on your keyboard, right ... right?

Hey, NEVER give me an in like that!

Are you SURE no predators can dig through the concrete slab??

But for real, it looks to be extremely well built. Nice job.

This is the inside before I added the run and the chickens. I put this curtain up to cover the nest boxes until they are 5 mths old. Then I will cut it and pull it back so they can use them. I put plexi-glass on two sides of the coop. I also put trays with Sweet PDZ and shavings on the floor of the coop. The run is grass and they free-range during the day. It stays very clean and airy and the plexi-glass keeps the rain out.

Looks great but this is a show AND get critiques thread right?

- I think you'll need to do something about access to the nest boxes. The girls can get in the one at the top of the ramp (I think it might be too steep and the cleats might be too far apart though) but won't be able to get to the others without a direct shot fly. Maybe instead of a ramp, a 'perch' board 6" down and out on the vertical wall framing piece seen in the picture? I have something similar and the girls use it access the three boxes. It isn't wide enough to be used as a roost. If you don't want to do that, extend the shelf that is the bottom of the nest boxes so they can walk to the far nests and run the ramp across the front of the nests to the vertical framing at the right in the picture. That would make it much less steep and not in the way for YOU.
- I would probably make the lip on the front of the nest boxes a few inches higher. They scratch around in the nest and will be down to wood with little nest material left in the box.
- The nest boxes are the same height as the roosts. They should be lower than the roosts. It looks like all three are about 3' off the ground?? Since I *think* you have an out side access door to the nests, raise the roosts, you have head room for them on that wall. If you DON'T have an outside access, lower the nests. 16" to 18" off the ground leaves them head room to use the space under the boxes and they won't need any sort of access ramp or perch. If you CAN do that, you can also get rid of the ramp to the perches (*). You could put a cross piece from the bottom of the nest box to the support leg for the 3' long perch. From there they can hop to the 4' perch. I will bet that most that choose the 4' perch will fly straight to it. (Afterthought, might want to 'pin' the cross piece to the vertical leg with a 'receiver' notched board on the nest side so you can swing it out of the way to collect eggs from the far box)
- How far apart are the 3' and 4' roosts? Looks like a couple of feet. Are the birds getting between them OK? I have 2 parallel roosts 18" apart and the girls hop back and forth while jockeying for position every night. You would THINK they would have that figured out by now - 2 years!
- I don't know where the plexi is but you will need to cover the screening at the long roost in the cold weather. The birds need ventilation but a draft blowing over them will likely result in sick if not dead birds. Their fluffed feathers hold heat really well (I don't heat my coop and it gets to -20F) but if the wind blows those feathers, no more blanket!

(*) I'm not big on ramps in the coop as long as the birds can get to the roosts directly or via intermediate level roosts/perches AND have enough horizontal flight room to get down (min twice the height of the roost) if they don't have an intermediate roost/perch. They are a pain for the chicken 'farmer' to work around, the higher the roosts, the longer the ramp has to be, sometimes impossible in a smaller coop, and they are a poop magnet.

Here is ours. Just finishing it up. We are about 95% complete. I built this from plans I downloaded from downeast thunder farms website.

Looks nice, love the big operable windows. Good roof level ventilation for the winter.
You do know that chicken wire is NOT predator proof, right? I agree with the comment to screen off the space under the coop, chicken wire is fine there, you just don't want the girls (and a broody under there? Ack!) going under.
How many birds will you have?

This was at 90% completion. Made mostly from reclaimed materials and old barn wood. The coop is 4x4 and the run is 16x4. We have 6 pullets. We did not buy plans, just stuck with a basic idea.
It's not as fancy as some of the others, but the girls are not too high maintenance.

Looks great and well made. Love the 'half shutter' chicken door. I presume you bring a step ladder for when YOU want to go in?

The girls don't care about fancy. If they did, mine would be looking for a new home!

Chicken tractor. I built 2 of these I move around the pasture with my tractor. This one is for my blue cochin project.

Nice, great cattle panel run cover. I don't see wheels, do you just drag it through the grass? I would think that would make quite the mess even if it is 'just' a pasture.

Now the turkeys love to go in the woods.

Make sure they don't go in just before Thanksgiving

Bruce