post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Pinkaboo]

built this one for my fiancé . She want a barn painted john deere green and yellow.

That's really cool love the idea of it being tractor colours

 

[vehve]

You may be right. What I have is heresay that painting it non recflective paint would help. They suggest black. Maybe white?

Yes and no actually. During the day, the sun is shining, and the black draws heat to the roof while white reflects it. During the night, the air cools down and the sun no longer shines, making the roof the heat source. So the black would cool faster, while white reflects heat back to the roof. But since the problem usually is worse in the day, you want a light/reflective surface to keep it as cool as possible.

 

[iwiw60]

Don't worry,, I would not use this wire if it were given to me......it was my son's.. can't tell them anything sometimes!

I use 1/4" hardware wire on everything! Chicken wire is useless as far as I'm concerned!!!

Well, you know the old saying: a picture's worth a thousand words...maybe the sight of all his dead chickens will change his mind.

 

[gilcamp4]

When the heads are missing it's usually (but not always) a sign of a weasel. With that said I'd definitely re-think the type wire you're using...I've lost track of the original post...did you say what type wire you were using?

I also had a brake in but they dug under wire, 2x4 wood and the wire was in the ground, foxes got ours we have picture of it coming up to gate, foxes take the chicken and save some they took for when the babys need more to eat, a raccoon just kills for the kill, they always leave them dead, we did have 2 that got away from foxes have no wing and feathers on back and neck gone, but it in the rabbit cage and took care of it for 3 weeks then put it back in yard.

 

[Sylvester017]

Quote: Originally Posted by BarnMom719

Here is our coop. I'm soo proud of my DH ....I think he did a great job. It's still a work in progress but the girls are happy!


He DID do a great job but I am going to beat Sylvester to this one

You NEED 1/2" hardware cloth around the bottom 3 feet of the run. Just about any canine (domestic or wild) will be through that chicken wire in a VERY short time. Raccoons as well. Then all your birds will be trapped and dead.

Bruceha2000 - you caught me (Sylvester) slacking - worked in the garden all day and didn't see this one before ya! If there are trees over BarnMom's pen those 'coons will climb and find an easy roof access to tear away and mangle that poultry wire. And the pen needs either hardwire going down into the ground or a paver stone walkway at least 3 feet wide all around the coop and pen or cinderblocks or even boulders found on the property - this to keep out any digging canine species wild or domesticated!

BarnMom - I LOVE all the room you have allowed your chickens in that pen! The coop looks spacious too! Your chickens' behaviors will soon alert you to any modifications you may need to make as time goes on. But from us who have lost or almost lost our flock to attacks we sincerely suggest hardwire. It can be tacked right over the existing poultry wire - yes, it's expensive but better than finding blood and feathers in the coop. More people lose their chickens to their family dogs/cats than they care to admit -- and from pets that were accustomed to being around the chickens for several years! And if you don't see raccoons that doesn't mean they aren't around. We saw one as big as a goat coming out of our city neighborhood sewer drain at 2 a.m.! Enjoy your chickens as we do ours and always think secure, secure, secure.

 

[Sylvester017]

Here is the beautiful coop dh built for our 9 girls.

[/URL]

Gorgeous roomy Dutch coop. Love these Amish designs.

The only thing I dislike about the Amish coops is the outside nestbox. We found our first time collecting eggs in the rain was not a good experience. You may want to buy or construct an awning over the nestbox so either you or the nestbox straw doesn't get soaked or have leakage into the box during a downpour. We had to put a canopy over our coop and tarp over the coop itself during expected downpours. Dampness in a coop is unhealthy for the birds.

 

[Sylvester017]

Trying to put a connect to a Pict from my phone!! Shows why chicken wire is useless and actually dangerous to use... Can result in death to our chickens! Son lost 6 pullets!

Thank you for posting the uselessness of poultry wire!!! A picture saves 1000 words!!!! A stray German Shepherd and his mutt friend broke down our property gate and attacked our coop 3 years ago. It was a pre-buiilt custom coop that we had no say in the design and it was covered in this cheap stuff. The dogs mangled the poultry wire so badly with their teeth and claws it was useless to repair. Thank goodness a neighbor chased off the dumb mutts before they got to our girls. Lesson learned the hard way!!! Yes, hardwire is the expensive alternative but well WORTH it to not find blood and feathers all over the yard!!!

 

[Sylvester017]

Been out of town..DH has "done good" taking care of the chickens!! BUT..the big news is the guys started on my coop yesterday!!! When he got home last night (after dark) he took this Pict of what got done yesterday... All reclaimed wood so far. Will go Mon/Tues to get flooring and piece of linoleum to put down. How do you like? I figured it would be small ....dang!!!

I can't tell from the night shot but it sure looks like a fancy coop!

 

[caychris]

Almost done but here is mine Dual coop/run setup after having to expand from the small store bought coop to building one of my own



Some coop construction pics





Here you can see the little coop I had to start with. Wont really fit 4 Large foul (4 Delawares) and I also got 2 Buff Orps that are about a month younger than the ones already outside So I needed something where I could add new birds


Here is a pic of the coops and runs together and the birds getting to explore them

 

[Sylvester017]

I figured a raccoon or did. Some pullets were found with no heads/feet and were torn apart. I found 2 inside pen that were just dead with no punture signs or anything..maybe from fright!

Raccoons are the only wild animal I'm aware of that kills for pleasure more than food. One Raccoon will decimate an entire flock in a pen whereas most other predators will chase one or two prey till they catch one and then flee with it. Not a Raccoon - he wants to chase all the chickens and tear them apart limb from limb in a frenzy for the sheer fun of it - nasty vicious critters for having such innocent looking faces.