post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Sylvester017]

I use the ladder style roosts. They all use the highest one, which is right above the top of the window, and the rooster is closest to it.

Thanks for the info. We're looking at all kinds of coops and getting ideas from this thread about what chickens like instead of just getting a "pretty" coop. We're too old to build ourselves. In calling around different coop companies many of the representatives were not aware about perch placement - that it should be slightly higher than the nestboxes and that the flat side should be facing up and not the narrow side. I haven't found one company yet that builds the perch with the flat side up.

 

[chickeelina]

Wanted to join in the photo fun

Wowwwww! Nice finishing work!! Very fancy and pretty to look at I really appreciate this Should be in a magazine!

 

[Pinkaboo]

Wowwwww! Nice finishing work!!

Very fancy and pretty to look at

I really appreciate this

Should be in a magazine!

Looks amazing

 

[Foghorn4]

Our isn't very fancy! My husband brought me home four baby chicks a while ago and I'm addicted to them. We just used old wood we found from his workshop and bright paint. We use wheels to move it from one spot to the next if the ground starts getting bad and put in in a new patch of fresh grass,and I'll add some hay. First time chicken farmers and not as great as most on here but it was a sweet project he came up with for both of us to do together. Learning as we go!

 

[bigmrg74]

Our babies are so cool. I included the guard dog. He doesn't try and eat them he really does guard them. Good ole family!

Big old sweetie! I'm kinda hoping my mini Aussie shepherd puppy will be a good guard dog for my girls, and would learn to herd them as well later on. Then I could let the girls free range a little while she watches them and she can herd them all back into their tractor when we're ready to go in. she loves to go out and watch the girls in their tractor.

 

[iwiw60]

My husband and I designed and built

WOW!! It's lovely!

 

[iwiw60]

Our isn't very fancy! My husband brought me home four baby chicks a while ago and I'm addicted to them. We just used old wood we found from his workshop and bright paint. We use wheels to move it from one spot to the next if the ground starts getting bad and put in in a new patch of fresh grass,and I'll add some hay. First time chicken farmers and not as great as most on here but it was a sweet project he came up with for both of us to do together. Learning as we go!

Well I think you two did a bang-up job...NICE!

 

[bruceha2000]

Does anyone find that if the roost is too high that Large fowl wont roost there. My Delawares have always just piled into the nestbox from the very beginning. Of course their brooder and the first coop never had proper roosts.

Questions that need to be asked before you can get an answer:
1) How old are the birds?
2) How high is the roost?
3) Are there intermediate height roosts to get to the top or a ramp?


It is pretty unusual for a chicken to NOT want to be well up off the ground if they can when they roost.
All of my girls (see signature) roost at 4'. They use the 2' high roost as an intermediate step going up but not down (it is only 9 inches forward so too close for that).
One of my Black Australorps laid a 114 gram egg yesterday. That is nearly the weight of 2 USDA large eggs so you know she is not a small bird.

If the birds are young, it usually takes only one or two nights of putting them on the roost before they will go their themselves if they can. Also, if they are not old enough to lay, you should not have open nest boxes for just the reason you posted. You don't want them thinking the nest boxes are a place to sleep. Chickens poop when they sleep and you do NOT want that in the nest boxes.

yes, my BO's wont use the roost bar even though its only 40cm off the floor, im fitting a cross bar 15cm up to try encourage them, but failing that I will have to tryfit a ramp into an already cramped hut.

Same question, how old are they? Any grown chicken including bantams can get to 40 cm. The access "perch" in front of my nest boxes is higher than that. The only reason I can think of for a grown bird to not use a high roost is if they can not get down. They need to "hop" to lower supports (do NOT have to be 2x4 on the flat for that) or fly down and for flying they need horizontal distance ~ 2x the height of the roost minimum, they are not helicopters.

Here are a couple pictures of my coop and run. I bought the coop off Craig's List. Big mistake. Learned my lesson the hard way. Took the leaky roof off, added about 12-18 inches, and made it a slanted roof instead of a pitched one. The short run came with the little coop. Me yard man helped me build the taller run. I would like to build a bigger coop in the near future. I have 7 hens and 2 roosters who are going to be rehomed very soon. I can't have roosters in my subdivision. All my chickens are around three months old. This is my first experience raising chickens. My neighbors had their doubts about the chicken thing, but now they come over to drink a glass of wine and watch chicken TV with me. My Chihuahua thinks the chickens are her new playmates. So, everyone is happy!

I am a wee bit concerned about 7 grown chickens in that coop unless they are bantams so please start on the larger coop soon.

I recently met a builder who knows nothing about coops, but said he could easily build a run that matches my coop. It is 4 x 8' and is built just like the coop. It cost $160 in materials and is perfect for 5 hens that also free range. So I think it's not necessary to find someone who knows about coops, just someone who has the right tools and can build.

Pretty much any one who builds can build a coop if they have a design. Some need blueprint detail and some can think. All the latter need are dimensions and specifics with regard to things that are chicken specific like the height of the roosts and that they should be 2x4 on the flat or 3" round fence rail for large fowl, ventilation. If one KNOWS what they want and can articulate that, getting it built should not be hard. There are tons of self designed coops here on BYC that are SO much better than the "fits 4 to 6 chickens" commercial things that MIGHT be big enough for 3 and cost a lot more because the "middlemen" all have to make a profit.

Thanks for the info. We're looking at all kinds of coops and getting ideas from this thread about what chickens like instead of just getting a "pretty" coop. We're too old to build ourselves. In calling around different coop companies many of the representatives were not aware about perch placement - that it should be slightly higher than the nestboxes and that the flat side should be facing up and not the narrow side. I haven't found one company yet that builds the perch with the flat side up.

"slightly higher than the nestboxes"
is the MINIMUM. Just want to make sure people reading through don't mistakenly read that to mean if the nest boxes are at 15", the roosts should be no higher than 18" (random numbers)


Bruce

 

[cc-robinson]

working on on some of the finishing touches of our hen house. Trying to make it look like a cottage in a an enchanted forest

 

[cc-robinson]

we still have the interior and the last of the outside landscape fun stuff. Girls spent here first last night.