post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Sylvester017]

Hi all,

Just joined this forum ! Thrilled with the amount of info here !

I've started to grow chickens this year and this is a coop I made them

This is a new one - I thought I'd seen everything until now! How do you retrieve the eggs? Does the chicken door close at night to protect from predators? The hut looks like it belongs on a tropical island or outback somewhere. Very unique.

 

[AnnHolden]

pic of our girls' coup .

 

[Sylvester017]

Coop recently finished. Coop is actually inside a shed attached to our garage. Photo shows run which has 2 people doors and an automatic pop door. Hope to plant a "chicken" garden in front so maybe they won't destroy my perennial beds.

Nice digs. I put a 2-foot high 50-foot long rabbit fencing around my vegetable garden to keep the chickens out. A couple times they jumped or flew over the fence - we didn't yell or chase them but gently guided them out of the garden area and they got the message. They respect the barrier now even though they can easily jump over it (2 Silkies, 1 Buff Leghorn, 1 Ameraucana).

 

[Sylvester017]

Just finished this up last night! Our first coop. Getting the hens next week. So excited! We'll see how it goes and hope not too many modifications are needed!

Sent from my SGH-I527M using Tapatalk

If you know my posts by now I always suggest a roof overhang or awning over the nestbox for the rainy days of egg collecting so the nestbox material stays dry when the lid is open. We had to put up a canopy after the first day we collected eggs on a rainy day when it wouldn't stop pouring. Set it up on paver stones so it doesn't sit on soggy or dewy grass or soil.

Nice coop build. Leaving it au naturale or staining it?

 

[Sylvester017]

Someone was asking a few pages ago about the wisdom of turkeys and chickens sharing close quarters? I think the disease that they could communicate is blackhead. Chickens are carriers and turkeys fall sick.

Thanks heartsized - I knew there was a reason for not mixing them as my folks never had turkeys on the farm with all the other fowl we had like chickens, ducks, & geese. I notice in all the chicken sites that the turkeys are always in a pen by themselves. And it's not recommended for turkeys to graze a pasture just grazed by chickens before.

 

[Sylvester017]

I just need to build the run out the back but I have time because the spaciousness of the coop. I am looking forward to the deep litter composting and the of course the eggs.
Not a cheap coop but well under what I would pay to have it built by someone or even ordering one much smaller online.
great project, I had a ball. Not a builder so it took me a lot of head scratching to get it right. REMEMBER. lol

MEASURE TWICE... CUT ONCE! with the 45 Angles this is very important lol




Thanks for this site and all the ideas which made my coop a reality.

Wonderful example to your kids to make this a family project! I don't believe you aren't a builder - you're joshing us right?

 

[Sylvester017]

Here is our new coop! I will post a pic of the run on the back side tomorrow!

Saw this coop on Westphalia Trading Co. but we don't have wide enough access for the size of it. I really liked all their coops.

 

[jtbass2756]

Thanks a lot for all the comments ! You are definitely an active community !

To answer your questions - I'm located in Lithuania (guess you'll have to google that) in a rural area - so most of the materials I needed to build the coop were around me. The main part is made from willows. Not much to explain here - you just take some willows and weave them I used the ones which were left from cleaning a ditch - not really the best choise, but did the job. A predator proof hardware cloth is stapled underneath as well as breathable/watertight film, something like tyvek. Base/Floor is made from a couple of plywood panels I found in a dumpster, from very large crates or something.
I have to say, I'm won't be keeping them during the winter here (it gets pretty harsh sometimes), they will go to my neighbor (I'm not living here all year round)

As for cleaning - there's a hatch in the floor - you open that and sweep everything. There's also an opening on
the other side to access the nesting boxes.

I have 3 japanese bantams, 4 dominant cz and 3 of I'm still not sure what I guess they are Cream Legbars as they lay green eggs and have head crests. I'll post a picture later

Please do .....you will find that the group on here thrive on pictures and details.. it gives us new ideas and we like to share ideas also...

 

[ashirk]

Wonderful example to your kids to make this a family project!  I don't believe you aren't a builder - you're joshing us right?

Lol no I am a retired police Lt. No building experience. But I love to watch and learn. So over the years I have learned what I could. Love to build though it was a blast.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I don't get on nearly enough to let y'all know, but I really appreciate your pics! I like all of your coops, and those picture-directions, that's just the bees-knees! Thank You!