post your chicken coop pictures here!

[DoubleMM]

Started the breeder coop last week




Thought I get more finished this weekend.



The nail gun was double tapping, spitting nails and splitting wood, so I switched to the old hammer and nails.





Haven't hit my finger like that in years.



Broke the tip and had to drain the fingernail.



There's always next weekend....

 

[Latestarter]

Way to go DoubleMM! I can identify and feel your pain! I don't own a nail gun so all I use is the old hammer and (finger) nails. Hope that finger heals up real fast for you.

 

[chickeelina]

Started the breeder coop last week Thought I get more finished this weekend. The nail gun was double tapping, spitting nails and splitting wood, so I switched to the old hammer and nails. Haven't hit my finger like that in years. Broke the tip and had to drain the fingernail. There's always next weekend....

Looking good except for the finger! Sounds exactly us when building our coop. We had to return two nail guns to Home Depot before reverting back to the old finger smashing method!!!! You are certainly not alone on that one! Get that finger back in action!

 

[bruceha2000]

My coop has 2 different rooms, one for me and one for the chickens. The one for me is where I have my brooder box, collect the eggs, store food, keep a mini fridge for extra eggs, and keep extra supplies for the chickens.

This is my sink with a frost free faucet, with my mini fridge and totes of chicken food underneath.


Excuse the dust we just had a dust storm, but here is my nesting boxes and the inside chicken nipples underneath that.

My outside run we made from leftover fencing material, we welded the whole frame together and put on no climb horse fence on all the sides and top, then put chicken wire from about 3' high to a couple feet buried underground to keep out small critters and keep in my chicks. The red things are my 2 outside feeders and its hard to see but I have more chicken nipples along the building.

Hopefully this gives someone some ideas. My 24 chickens are only 7 weeks old right now so hopefully this will be a good home for them as they grow.

AMAZING setup! Don't tell my chickens OR me

Only suggestion, and that is assuming you haven't already done so, unplug the heater. They don't need heat after they are fully feathered. Just wasting your money. Do you let the chickens keep their beer in the refrigerator or do they drink it warm, like the Europeans?

x2 on sealing the OSB - we got a custom-built coop made by a customer at the local feed store. Wonderful little design but all made out of cheap OSB and cheap 1-inch poultry/chicken wire. We didn't paint it because of the interfering wire and staples so we keep it covered with tarp and canopied in winter from rain, fog, and dew. Some of the particle board nailed over the wire is flaking off. Cheap cheap cheap but it HAS lasted us over 3 years with extra special care. OSB also feels heavier than regular wood so isn't the best to use for mobile tractors - don't need to add dead weight to something that's supposed to be mobile.

MHO, OSB is cr@p. Won't buy it. Heavy glue and wood bits, doesn't hold a screw in the edge worth a darn. Real wood is cheaper and lighter.

There is nothing more gorgeous than chickeneers who research before plunging into the world of poultry keeping. Also there's nothing more satisfying than seeing a field of free-ranging hens.

We have free-ranged our backyard girls and learned from "Free-Range Chicken Gardens" by Jessi Bloom the advantage of having plants and shelters scattered around for the chickens to snooze/hide under from aerial predators. We have several low lean-to shelter planks set on cinder blocks sort of like bences scattered around the yard, a couple XL plastic doghouses, a shady popup canopy buried a foot in the ground to keep from para-sailing away, some perch planks set through cinderblock holes under the canopy, and rose bushes for them to use as shelters. Chickens like open range but we should responsibly provide shelters for them for hiding/snoozing as I'm sure Kansas is not aerial predator-proofed yet. In the city we have a regular visiting Cooper's Hawk for 3 years now that watches our girls in the yard from the patio furniture but doesn't go after our hiding hens. The hawks prefer nice open space like your field to swoop down on a slow-running hen that won't quite make it in time to get under your shed basement. Having several hiding areas will save the roo from having to engage in a battle with a predator hawk since 99% of the time the roo loses.

A swinging roost, a couple old wooden thrift store chairs, a bench or planks on cinderblocks, or old branch or tree stump on the floor of the pen will all get utilized also by the penned chickens. You can make it as plain or fancy as you'd like but provide some snooze shelters and perches.

Gorgeous scenic property!

I made a "sifting screen" (no idea what it is really called) that is about 2'x3' on 2' legs with doubled 1x3 wire mesh to sift weeds and rocks out of the garden dirt. Cleared an area about 4' x 6', then no time so there it sits over a nice clean section of dirt. Noticed 2 of the chickens under it the other day and thought of you Sylvester

. I don't know if they were using it as a place to hide from predators or just a dust bath (though the depressions are not really deep enough for that to be the case) or just SOME shade.

 

[iwiw60]

Quote: Yep, the stuff sure is! I should know...when I first moved here money was tight (back about 30 years ago) and I needed a porch of sorts off my RV (it's 38' w/sliders). I used old pallets laid on the ground as a sort of form and my ex-DH slapped OSB on the top for a floor....THE WRONG SIDE UP! I never noticed it til it was too late and was totally falling apart....it's junk alright!

 

[vehve]

AMAZING setup! Don't tell my chickens OR me

Only suggestion, and that is assuming you haven't already done so, unplug the heater. They don't need heat after they are fully feathered. Just wasting your money. Do you let the chickens keep their beer in the refrigerator or do they drink it warm, like the Europeans?

Don't know where you got that idea from - we like it cold as well.

Did you hear the joke about the similarity between American beer and a newlywed couple in a boat?

 

[bruceha2000]

Don't know where you got that idea from - we like it cold as well.

Did you hear the joke about the similarity between American beer and a newlywed couple in a boat?

Well I thought at least the Germans and Brits drank it room or maybe cellar temp which is what I meant by warm. Could be wrong. And of course, one can not generalize the whole of the E.U. into a single beer drinking group.

Um, no. Perhaps you can tell us!

 

[vehve]

Quote: They're both f***ing close to water.

 

[bruceha2000]

Yep! I refer to the "lite" beers the same way I refer to non fat milk:
water with a little bit of color.

I don't drink often so if I'm going to have a beer, it better have some flavor and "body".

 

[jtbass2756]

hopefully my granddaughter will not rat me out....(don't think she will)....I slipped out to my coop after I spoke to my dh

and replace the pop door. put in a thicker door, 2 hinges for more stability and a latch. Despite how it looks...there are no openings around the door that are not covered good. My question.....do I need to double latch it? Here's a before and after.

Tomorrow, I hope to attack the people door. Won't get it done in one day but I will get it started...if my hubby goes on to work...

LOL...Not doing too well with the RMSF. Nurse was upset with me.....opps !!!