post your chicken coop pictures here!

[recfsh]

Thanks.. those fixtures have been Iaying around in our she'd since I can remember. Finally a good use for them. Wish my father was still around to see.

 

[caychris]

Blah, don't you just hate it when your attempt at humor is answered with a well researched, informed and fact filled reply...

Yeah, we've had some unusual weather, had almost two weeks of +25C in May, and right now it's +21C, but it's cloudy and we've had a few showers so it's not that bad. Not that I find +21C to be bad otherwise either, but I'm glad we seldom go past +30C. We did have some +2 weather in between the heat waves, so it's been interesting to dress accordingly.

Well I'm pretty sure Finland is entirely north of the contiguous US putting even the most southern part on parallel with somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness. Being from the SF Bay Area in CA. I can certainly say that rain here happens (at least once in a while in normal years)

We and our friends further North in the State ship most of our water down south or into the central valley. California is a very diverse place almost anything you could ever want is here an usually within no more than a 3 hour drive. Of course you could drive all day from one end (north to south) and probably cover the state. Im about smack dab in the middle so its 6-7 hours to either border. That is if you dont stop or have traffic which is very common going to the south. Or get stuck behind trucks in the mountain areas in the north.

My personal preference is for the lush forests to the North. Of all the places I've been CA weather is the best. There is a micro climate for everyone. And generally not a lot of humidity to make heat or cold unbearable.

 

[vehve]

Well I'm pretty sure Finland is entirely north of the contiguous US putting even the most southern part on parallel with somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness. Being from the SF Bay Area in CA. I can certainly say that rain here happens (at least once in a while in normal years)

We and our friends further North in the State ship most of our water down south or into the central valley. California is a very diverse place almost anything you could ever want is here an usually within no more than a 3 hour drive. Of course you could drive all day from one end (north to south) and probably cover the state. Im about smack dab in the middle so its 6-7 hours to either border. That is if you dont stop or have traffic which is very common going to the south. Or get stuck behind trucks in the mountain areas in the north.

My personal preference is for the lush forests to the North. Of all the places I've been CA weather is the best. There is a micro climate for everyone. And generally not a lot of humidity to make heat or cold unbearable.

Yeah, I've got a positive image of California. We're planning on taking a couple weeks of driving around there at some point, probably starting from SF. I'd like to drive around Napa, and I've heard good things about Yosemite. Probably not a good idea to plan for a lot more, since I'm guessing I could easily spend even a few months just exploring those areas.

It's funny how hard it is to imagine traffic in places as populated as California. I've always considered our 'traffic jams' annoying, and then it just means that a 20 mile trip takes about 20min longer. And that's in the most densely populated area of our country. I went to Beijing last year, and boy was that an eye-opener. Really redefined my idea of grid-lock traffic.

 

[tcstoehr]

;You've done a great job with your design, but I fear that the 2" x 4" welded wire will not be strong enough against predators like raccoons. Question: did you bury your wire down/out at the bottom?

Yes, I did wonder about the 2x4" wire. It seems to be the "wire of choice" amongst the local chicken raisers in this area. In fact I regularly see chicken-wire used on the tops. A neighbor does this with no problems for years. And no skirt of any kind, buried or otherwise. He does, however, use chain-link fence for the bottom 4 feet around the perimeter. 2x4" wire above that, then chicken-wire over the top. He has no problems with raccoons for several years, knock on wood.
The 1x2" wire at the bottom was buried 10" straight down.

 

[iwiw60]

Yes, I did wonder about the 2x4" wire. It seems to be the "wire of choice" amongst the local chicken raisers in this area. In fact I regularly see chicken-wire used on the tops. A neighbor does this with no problems for years. And no skirt of any kind, buried or otherwise. He does, however, use chain-link fence for the bottom 4 feet around the perimeter. 2x4" wire above that, then chicken-wire over the top. He has no problems with raccoons for several years, knock on wood.
The 1x2" wire at the bottom was buried 10" straight down.

Using chicken wire for your top is fine against hawks and birds of prey, and I'm glad to see that you did bury your 1x2 wire down...great! But I'd sure re-think that 2 x 4 wire on your 'walls'...you could just lay some 1/2" hardware cloth over the existing 2 x 4 to save the hassle of tearing the old out...just a thot....best of luck to you!!

 

[caychris]

Yeah, I've got a positive image of California. We're planning on taking a couple weeks of driving around there at some point, probably starting from SF. I'd like to drive around Napa, and I've heard good things about Yosemite. Probably not a good idea to plan for a lot more, since I'm guessing I could easily spend even a few months just exploring those areas.

It's funny how hard it is to imagine traffic in places as populated as California. I've always considered our 'traffic jams' annoying, and then it just means that a 20 mile trip takes about 20min longer. And that's in the most densely populated area of our country. I went to Beijing last year, and boy was that an eye-opener. Really redefined my idea of grid-lock traffic.

Well LA area is the worst but here I commute 50 miles(80km) each way and spend between 3 and 4 hours on the road each day. I take a lot of surface roads and avoid most of the major Freeway jams and I leave very early before traffic gets too heavy. There are a lot of people I know who do similar or worse. I once had to commute 76 miles each way. The primary reason for this is that we live where we could afford to buy a home but the higher paying jobs are located closer to the bay. Im fortunate to be able to work from home at least once a week so it helps with the sanity.

 

[SueBee The Hun]

Here is our coop build with the Purina plans, and the girl's 10 x 15 run.

That nest box is nothing but a place for the girls to sleep. We may end up moving it.

 

[VladikC]

I made this tiny brooder/coop out of two desk I bought for $5 and $15

 

[LindaB220]

I made this tiny brooder/coop out of two desk I bought for $5 and $15

Good going. Not a lot of outlay for a good product.

 

[caychris]

Good going. Not a lot of outlay for a good product.

you figure if a chicken is going to poop all over it then ...