post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Sylvester017]

Look everybody... I had a visitor this morning myself... Went to open the gate and didn't even see it until I PUT MY HAND ON IT!!!!

I let out a little squeak and then snapped this picture. I wanted to keep him but my husband said no lol... So I picked him up off the gate and took him away... No I did not kill him... Just a rat snake... But I still don't want him near my birds...

If you use 1/2 inch hardwire over all the openings into your coop/pen then this size snake will not be able to get at your hens!

 

[TJordan]

If you use 1/2 inch hardwire over all the openings into your coop/pen then this size snake will not be able to get at your hens!

Yep.., come pay day that will be the FIRST thing I will be getting lol...

 

[Flutterbee]

You are keeping chickens the way most people do - getting the chickens first and worrying about secure housing afterwards. Read my post #4939 about Raccoons. Just because you haven't seen wild critters around the property doesn't mean you don't have any and Raccoons are probably the most troublesome because of their easy manipulation of digging and tearing. For protection from digging critters like coyotes, dogs, wild pigs, foxes, weasels, raccoons, oppossums, wild rabbits, etc, is your hardwire buried in the ground? If not, make a paver stone walkway or use property boulders to line the outside perimeter of your gate and pen frame. Cover the bottom half or all of the coop pen with 1/2 inch hardwire - you don't want sagging roof wire. Where's the perch for the chicken's to use? Yes, I agree you have tons more to do with upcoming hatchlings to add on top of everything else that's not done. I love that you want chickens but rodents will love entering that broody's ground nest to eat her eggs. Broody hens are so unaware that if a rodent is under her she'll just think it's a hatching chick. If you can swing recycling some old wood make a raised coop house and attach the pen in your photos as a run next to the new coop but modify the pen with 1/2 inch hardwire - 1/2 inch hardwire will be the MOST expensive part of the build but necessary for the hens' protection.

May I say that your coop is not "ugly" as you state - just unsafe for housing chickens. Hope you can swing more modifications to make the chikens secure.

We have the red house sitting on top of some wooden pallets (it's probably hard to see in the picture) but I'd like to re-enforce wire around the cage. We've had a ton of chicks hatch in the past and the most issues we've had were with foxes, hawks, and my two dogs (who are very old at this point). Thanks so much for the advice! I will definitely look into everything when we renovate the coop! ^_^

 

[iwiw60]

You are keeping chickens the way most people do - getting the chickens first and worrying about secure housing afterwards. Read my post #4939 about Raccoons. Just because you haven't seen wild critters around the property doesn't mean you don't have any and Raccoons are probably the most troublesome because of their easy manipulation of digging and tearing. For protection from digging critters like coyotes, dogs, wild pigs, foxes, weasels, raccoons, oppossums, wild rabbits, etc, is your hardwire buried in the ground? If not, make a paver stone walkway or use property boulders to line the outside perimeter of your gate and pen frame. Cover the bottom half or all of the coop pen with 1/2 inch hardwire - you don't want sagging roof wire. Where's the perch for the chicken's to use? Yes, I agree you have tons more to do with upcoming hatchlings to add on top of everything else that's not done. I love that you want chickens but rodents will love entering that broody's ground nest to eat her eggs. Broody hens are so unaware that if a rodent is under her she'll just think it's a hatching chick. If you can swing recycling some old wood make a raised coop house and attach the pen in your photos as a run next to the new coop but modify the pen with 1/2 inch hardwire - 1/2 inch hardwire will be the MOST expensive part of the build but necessary for the hens' protection.

May I say that your coop is not "ugly" as you state - just unsafe for housing chickens. Hope you can swing more modifications to make the chikens secure.

Excellent advice from @Sylvester017 .. and I agree, your coop is not "ugly"...but modifications are definitely in order as you live in Virginia...predator heaven! See if you can get ahold of a bunch of pallets...they make good lumber for building coops/runs with. Save your money for the major expense which will be your 1/2" hardware cloth. I buy mine online at Walmart...you can get 100' rolls 3' wide for around $85.00, free shipping! You can't beat that price...anywhere.

 

[TherryChicken]

...

I am a firm believer in an animal is an animal is an animal and primal instincts unexpectedly emerge in domesticated pets.  Heard one owner who trusted their dog and cat around chickens for 7 years and then one day they returned home to find both the dog and the cat had broken into the chicken pen and killed the whole flock - didn't eat them - just killed them all.  This is one reason we did not invest in a pet dog or cat.  I think I have my hands full enough protecting the chickens from the city raccoons, oppossums, and rodents with security lights and 1/2 inch hardwire over the cheap 1-inch poultry wire that originally came with our coop. 2 stray dogs (one was a German Shepherd) broke our yard gate and attacked our new 4x6 coop and mangled the cheap chicken wire but a neighbor chased off the mutts and saved my little flock.  It was good we had a paver stone walkway around the coop or they might've dug under it too.  It's sad to lose any pet but losing chickens from brutal vicious pet attacks is the worse!  There are a few good guard/herd dogs that are good with flocks of poultry and most of them are mountain herding breeds like Ovcharka, Malinois, Sarplininac, Italian Mountain Dogs, etc that are specifically raised/trained as flock guardians - other dogs like German Shepherds, Dobermans, Rotts, Labs, etc are best at police type guard duty that's not around livestock!
[/quote
yeaah we had our dogs before the chickens

 

[TherryChicken]

...

I am a firm believer in an animal is an animal is an animal and primal instincts unexpectedly emerge in domesticated pets.  Heard one owner who trusted their dog and cat around chickens for 7 years and then one day they returned home to find both the dog and the cat had broken into the chicken pen and killed the whole flock - didn't eat them - just killed them all.  This is one reason we did not invest in a pet dog or cat.  I think I have my hands full enough protecting the chickens from the city raccoons, oppossums, and rodents with security lights and 1/2 inch hardwire over the cheap 1-inch poultry wire that originally came with our coop. 2 stray dogs (one was a German Shepherd) broke our yard gate and attacked our new 4x6 coop and mangled the cheap chicken wire but a neighbor chased off the mutts and saved my little flock.  It was good we had a paver stone walkway around the coop or they might've dug under it too.  It's sad to lose any pet but losing chickens from brutal vicious pet attacks is the worse!  There are a few good guard/herd dogs that are good with flocks of poultry and most of them are mountain herding breeds like Ovcharka, Malinois, Sarplininac, Italian Mountain Dogs, etc that are specifically raised/trained as flock guardians - other dogs like German Shepherds, Dobermans, Rotts, Labs, etc are best at police type guard duty that's not around livestock!
[/quote
yeaah we had our dogs before the chickens

but not the shephared has seizures. Idk if she is stil capable of braking in but then again her cord snapped last night so who knows

 

[Sylvester017]

Thought I would share photos of my new coop! I looked on Craigslists for about 6 months (probably longer) trying to find a new coop or even a new one that I liked that would fit in the space we had and finally (on Craigslist) I came across a gentleman who built it for me (at a very reasonable price) in hind site I still wish it were a little wider but I am very happy with my little coop! It houses my 3 hens, 1 silkie, 1 rooster and 4 young Orpingtons. We recently added a window box and an automatic chicken door opener! Saw the idea for the indoor feeder here on Backyard Chickens!

Usually the reason people build chicken houses so narrow is so that they can be put on a pickup bed to move to another yard should you move away.

I'd say you have minimum space for your current number of birds and I certainly wouldn't add any more birds. You may find the rain inconvenient when opening the nestbox lid - build a little awning over it for those rainy days that you collect eggs.

Silkies tend to get picked on by older LF hens so watch that your Silkie isn't getting beard or crest feathers pulled out after all your pullets mature - my Leghorns and one Marans got vicious with my gentle Silkies and Ameraucana so had to rehome the aggressive birds who chased and pulled out the beards/crests/muffs of all the gentler breeds. I now get only known gentle breeds to mix with my Silkies and they must be under 5 lbs. A 2-lb Silkie doesn't have an even fighting chance against 7-lb layer or dual-purpose hens that can't resist lording it over non-combative gentle breeds. Bantams and LF chicks and pullets are ok growing up together but after their first broody or first moult the LF can become aggressive combative hens beyond normal pecking order status.

 

[Sylvester017]

I've put a piece of string attached to a skrew to keep it from slamming... Thanks for pointing that out... It's fixed now

We had tried a bungie cord to hold the door open but the wind kept swinging the door and the cord came off so we resorted to using a heavy brick to hold the door open. The chickens love standing on the brick and when we move the brick they chase the crickets under it - fun!

 

[Sylvester017]

Yep.., come pay day that will be the FIRST thing I will be getting lol...

That 1/2 inch hardwire is so d#*n expensive but so worth it!

 

[Sylvester017]

We have the red house sitting on top of some wooden pallets (it's probably hard to see in the picture) but I'd like to re-enforce wire around the cage. We've had a ton of chicks hatch in the past and the most issues we've had were with foxes, hawks, and my two dogs (who are very old at this point). Thanks so much for the advice! I will definitely look into everything when we renovate the coop! ^_^

It's not just the height of the red house that's the problem - it's that the pen is so open to invitation of rodents through the large wire and the low exposed red house has a wide open door. Sturdy 1/2-inch hardwire completely surrounding the pen will keep out anything from small snakes and rats up to heavier critters like dogs, foxes, raccoons, bobcats, etc. Don't laugh about bobcats. I house-sat my daughter's place and in 2 weeks I saw coyotes, rabbits, skunks, oppossums (her dog killed it in the yard) deer, bobcats, and a raccoon that toppled the trash all over the yard! 3 years ago she had a mountain lion (cougar) and a bear in the area behind her iron bar fence. And she lives in the city!