post your chicken coop pictures here!

[farmal86]

. Finally got my chicken tractor and run hooked up together. Coop is 12x6 run is 16x14. Only thing left is white paint to match the rest of the barns

 

[caychris]

. Finally got my chicken tractor and run hooked up together. Coop is 12x6 run is 16x14. Only thing left is white paint to match the rest of the barns

oh to have that kind of space.

 

[LindaB220]

We just finished ours (minus the door handles)

Hey Ruca It looks really good. How many chickens?

 

[Sylvester017]

see where the back two cross braces are lower there will be tin there on both sides wherethe chicks can get out of bad weather and yes it will be there permanent home and ill move it around my yard so they can forage .

Yes, I'm familiar with the housing section. I just wondered about the design as a permanent coop. The floor seems to get pretty muddy and stay muddy in rain. Our chickens love to forage in rain for the earthworms that come out of the wet soil but they have a dry coop floor to return to after their foraging. Don't get me wrong, I love the A-frame housing for tractoring but never felt it appropriate as a permanent structure because of the soggy condition the floor would be in. Maybe move it under a canopy on a slab or paver stone floor during the heavy rains? Alas, we're too old to move a tractor around our yard anyway.

Your A-frame build seems to have a lot of room to it. I've seen some really small ones that even one chicken would find confining but you've given yours some room.

 

[Sylvester017]

Thank you so much for that information. I love the wood look, fiance doesn't really care for it though. But I am more concerned about the high heat through the summer days here and destroying the paint.

I'm with you about the sun destroying the outside paint. We covered our coop with a tarp and a popup canopy and these two take the severe sun damage and we just replace them once a year instead of watching the wood corrode on the coop. Also protects from wet rot too.

 

[ruca3144]

Linda - Thank you! We have 5 - 2 Buff Orpingtons, 1 Barred Rock, 1 Silver Lace Wyandotte, and 1 Ameraucana/Araucana/Easter Egger (we're not sure!). They are 6 weeks old

 

[Sylvester017]

Its actually not attached to the bottom boards and will be lifted up and set on pressure treated posts. They are trying to let my DH have a say in the location before they set it permanently. Not planning to use the deep-litter method but will have a poop board that can be pulled out like drawer and a window will be inset on the front. Talked to them today. The roosts boards will run from the front to back on the left side of this pict. with the poop drawer pulling out from behind the back wall..under where the nest boards are temporarily located right now. The run will run from the front to the tree line on the left up about 10' to the front, then across and back to the front corner of the existing wing. There will be posts tall enough to add 2/4's across the top where wire will be placed to protect them from the top. Food/water will be hung from under the nesting boxes. Might even close off a couple until all the ladies start laying. There will be a door that will let down from the rear to be able to reach in to reach the eggs. Can you suggest anything else? Oh, there will be a motion light on the front that covers the run...solar ..

We had a motion sensor light that annoyed the heck out of us and the neighbors so we just have one light left on dusk to dawn - a 60-w equivalent bulb. It's amazing how light cuts down on night critter problems.

Love your roomy design so far.

 

[Sylvester017]

He gets mistaken for a Border plenty, especially since he is a black and white. He is actually an English Shepherd. Best **** farm dog in IMHO. Lovely lovely herding, guardian, and general all around do it all type attitude. It's been said they are like Borders ,, but they have a turn off switch. Very protective over what is masters, and luckily for me, that means chickens...lol. He has in incredible sense of what belongs and what doesn't . All he wants to do is please master. Wish my house was big enough for 5 more!

www.englishshepherd.org

MB

AHA! They managed to get the Border Collie genes into an American variety to call them a shepherd - very clever and much needed.

They are great dogs and our particular Border Collie (an actual Border Collie) decided I was his #1 priority to monitor over any other farm inhabitant. As a 3-year-old I was missing on the farm and was ultimately found sleeping on the floor of a neighbor's coop on top of the Collie after I smashed all the neighbors eggs in the coop! No matter where I could've wandered over 25 acres he was always at my side! He had his priorities straight!

These herding breeds are tremendously eager to please and must have duties they innately understand (or trained) to channel the need to utilize their intelligence and energy. They are easily bored and become mischievous without purpose in their life moreso than any other breed.

You are fortunate indeed!

 

[Sylvester017]

Thank you! I think if I had to do it over again, I would put the coop outside the run, my neighbors had me convinced that something would be able to get into it. I just think it would be nice to have full use of the entire run. They do go under the coop to dust, I put my fireplace ashes and some PDZ under there every now and then.

MB

No - don't do outside-the-run coop. This is perfect! It's a chickeneer's dream setup. If you have foxes and the like in your countryside the more security the better. Even a dog can sleep through hearing or sensing a predator as our Rottweilers have proven to us and the breed is pretty aggressive and alert - but not if they're in a deep sleep. As dogs age they get less hyper/alert too. Dogs are great but not 100% foolproof security so the more security measures you have the better.

 

[Sylvester017]

We just finished ours (minus the door handles)

Are those solar lanterns on the coop? I've seen some cool ones and have it on my Xmas wishlist!

You and the nestbox will get soaked in the rain and chickens will lay rain or shine! Extend the roofline with an added awning for more protection. Such a cute coop that an awning or extension will be crafted cute with your obvious talents.

Other than pebble rocks is there other security around the base of the coop to keep out digging predators? Even in the city there are night digging critters that love to get in a coop. We had 2 stray neighborhood mutts break our fence gate to get at our coop. A 3-foot paver stone walkway around the coop kept them from digging under.