post your chicken coop pictures here!

[DaveOmak]

Screened in car port with auto chicken door.

Paul, afternoon.... That is one dandy barn.... I really like it..... Is that a root cellar or tornado hiding place ???

The carport makes a perfect coop and run for the birds...

 

[msroser]

This is our fenced enclosure around a kit coop. The fence is only high enough if I keep everyone's wings clipped. But they seem happy. We have 4 chickens at the moment, no plans to go over that number.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

This is my coop. I have yet to paint it. We built it the end of May - Beginning of June of this year. Im thinking of painting it dark gray or some shade of blue with white trim. But we'll see.

This coop houses seven hens. The run is 8x10 ft and the coop is 3.5x8 ft

 

[Denwendairy]

I just love it! But one question: Is that window in the door the only window...I see a small ventilation cap and assume there's one on the other end, but just the one window?

Thanks for the compliment!
There's another window on the back. You can see it on my update post in this thread (#5241) where this pic was from. It's painted white inside and is quite bright. We have a light installed but have not had to use it this summer. Will start turning it on in the morning shortly now that our day length is creeping below 15 hours. We live in north central Alberta and, when its -40 CELSIUS, believe me when I say you'd rather use artificial light than have a lot of windows that might cool it down in there! It's vented in the front as well as below the eaves along both sides.
Its a bit depressing talking about winter! Frost is in the morning air here already and it'll be here before we know it!

 

[Denwendairy]

I love APA Ameraucanas and EEs.  Your EEs are absolutely gorgeous - don't you just love them?  They are extremely skittish/wary/alert/savvy and for good reason.  My jittery kooky spooky klutzy Amer is forever watching the skies and stray cats don't stand a chance in our yard with her chasing them.  She was born to be a sentinel and at dusk will not roost with the others until we close the coop door.  She'll sit on the nestbox ledge all night until we come home and once the door is shut and tarp cover dropped then she feels secure to go to roost.  I also like that she plays nice with the Silkies.  Rare to find non-combative LF that are also alert sentinels and excellent layers.

You free range your girls and they look so happy scratching around in the foliage.  Good cover for them from aerial predators.  We find our visiting hawks will not go after a hiding hen even 5 feet away.  Hawks prefer to swoop in an open yard so we've scattered plywood sheets propped on cinderblocks, a couple large recycled doghouses, a pop-up canopy, some old recycled headboards on cinderblocks, benches, old wheelbarrow, and stickery evergreen, rose, and berry bushes for the girls to duck under.  The hawks can see them but the girls aren't running because of nearby shelters so the hawks can't swoop on them.  I've seen a Cooper's Hawk sitting on our patio furniture looking at our hiding girls but our clever girls won't come out until he's gone.  He knows they're there but doesn't go after them - darnedest thing.

Thank you! The EE's and SF's are the newest to our flock and they didn't get a lot of people attention at their first home. They have started to warm up to us but are definitely wary, like you mention! They are definitely gorgeous and its fairly comical how they seem to take themselves so seriously! We keep a fairly watchful eye on them when free ranging- we may not have the snakes and rats of the Southern States but we do have a lot of coyotes! It sounds like your birds have the hawks figured out!

 

[bigmrg74]

Just got off phone with hubby. I told him the garden hose that runs from the house to the coop keeps getting run over by our truck (ds too lazy to roll it up) and is causing damage inside the basement pipes.
Him: I'm going to run a water line to the barn anyway when I get back so might as well water up the coop too.
Me: Electricity and water in coop? Really?
Him: Yep.
Happy dance!

Might as well run both of them while he's at it, that way you would have only single line area of worry if you're doing any sort of a digging project in the future. Just keep in mind that running both things might make the project take a little bit longer to get them done.

 

[iwiw60]

Thanks for the compliment!
There's another window on the back. You can see it on my update post in this thread (#5241) where this pic was from. It's painted white inside and is quite bright. We have a light installed but have not had to use it this summer. Will start turning it on in the morning shortly now that our day length is creeping below 15 hours. We live in north central Alberta and, when its -40 CELSIUS, believe me when I say you'd rather use artificial light than have a lot of windows that might cool it down in there! It's vented in the front as well as below the eaves along both sides.
Its a bit depressing talking about winter! Frost is in the morning air here already and it'll be here before we know it!

Yes, winter's coming alright...I, too, can feel it in the air. While we don't get as brutally cold as you do (normally get 2-3 weeks of -20 at night), it is hard to do no matter how cold it gets. I'm hoping the 250 watt bucket heaters I just ordered will be sufficient for my horizontal water nipple buckets...we'll see! I hate the thought of having to lug water out every day through the snow...yikes! I don't plan on heating the coop. Beginning this week I'm going to start "layering" their floor bedding. I use pine shavings. Normally I just sweep/clean the whole coop out every 1-2 weeks, but now with winter coming on I'll pick up poops/messes individually and let the bedding start compacting for winter. I'll probably end up with about 6-8 inches when all is said and done. My ventilation is good so I'm not worried about that. It's funny, you love your flock and it's hard not to remember that they don't like to be 'warm' like humans do...eek! Wishing you all the best!!

 

[Wildivy2112]

Question? Is there a thread or link that one might see a list of all of the abbreviations
that are used on BYC and their meanings? Being new to all of the different breeds, I have a hard time trying to decipher the many that are used on here.

 

[tntchix]

Might as well run both of them while he's at it, that way you would have only single line area of worry if you're doing any sort of a digging project in the future. Just keep in mind that running both things might make the project take a little bit longer to get them done.

Everything is already run to the barn, just needs to be hooked up is what he is telling me. Even better, but yes, we would definitely do them at the same time. I just thought he was going old school since we are running extensions cords right now. So I am excited for the upgrade.

I don't think he thought we were going to be able to do this as well as it's working out.

 

[vehve]

Question? Is there a thread or link that one might see a list of all of the abbreviations
that are used on BYC and their meanings? Being new to all of the different breeds, I have a hard time trying to decipher the many that are used on here.

Usually searching for them on BYC (Back Yard Chickens) will work. The shorthand is annoying at first, but you get a feel for it pretty quickly.