post your chicken coop pictures here!

[PrimroseMom1]

So I've been working on how to winterize my coop with something that can be taken off and on with the seasons. I decided I would build wood panels the size of each opening that I could hang in each opening. I measured each one to leave about 3" at the top for ventilation.
First I measured an cut for each opening.

Then I framed the ones for the front of the coop with the same trim I used when I built the coop.

Them I stained the panels the same color I used on the coop.

I added closed round hooks to the top of the panels.

Using "S" hooks I attached the panel to the opening of the coop.

If it gets too cold, I will put a large tarp over the shelter that the coop is in.
I'll put a couple more coats of stain to the panel to match the coop better.

 

[MikeTheGardener]

Here's mine

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Here's mine That is precious!!

 

[PrimroseMom1]

I'm in Louisiana so my coop has to be under a tree, in a breezeway, lots of completely open sides AND a fan. Lol. It's been cooling down a bit here, highs about 88-89 and lows 72-69, still some humidity and with all the openness and fan, my Amercaunas were panting last night. Go figure.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

I'm in Louisiana so my coop has to be under a tree, in a breezeway, lots of completely open sides AND a fan. Lol. It's been cooling down a bit here, highs about 88-89 and lows 72-69, still some humidity and with all the openness and fan, my Amercaunas were panting last night. Go figure.

I bet! I was in New Orleans in May and I was melting, LOL!

 

[LindaB220]

So I've been working on how to winterize my coop with something that can be taken off and on with the seasons. I decided I would build wood panels the size of each opening that I could hang in each opening. I measured each one to leave about 3" at the top for ventilation.
First I measured an cut for each opening.

Then I framed the ones for the front of the coop with the same trim I used when I built the coop.


Them I stained the panels the same color I used on the coop.


I added closed round hooks to the top of the panels.


Using "S" hooks I attached the panel to the opening of the coop.




If it gets too cold, I will put a large tarp over the shelter that the coop is in.
I'll put a couple more coats of stain to the panel to match the coop better.

Prim, great idea. Can't leave them on year round because down here the birds would be toast. I like the idea of removing them.

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks!

It gets pretty darn cold where we are, but we tried to plan for draft free winter ventilation.

Really, we thought long and hard about quite a few aspects of the design, especially food and water. If we HAD to we could leave the birds for two weeks with no one checking in on them and they would be just fine. (In reality, they spend much of every day following me around the yard begging for treats.)

I know what you mean about an emergency for up to two weeks provisions in your coop. I'm not a vacationer and never have been. Usually 3 days max is how long we stay away. I couldn't stay away for two weeks only because I monitor our girls every day in case one is acting a bit not herself or "off" a bit. If they don't change that behavior in 24 hours I take them to a vet. I've taken a Silkie to the vet 4 times in one year for various injuries/illness and I know she couldn't have lasted two weeks if I wasn't around to immediately get her treatment. I can rely on others for feeding/watering but not for monitoring health issues because caretakers wouldn't know what to look for. This is one of the reasons I waited 25 years and after retirement so I could be around every day to enjoy the chickens and importantly to monitor their health. During broody times in the summer we have to leave the back of the nestbox door open to give a broody more ventilation during our extreme heatwaves. While we in SoCal have to think of having 3 open-sided coop walls for ventilation, people on the East Coast and upper Midwest have to think not only of ventilation but also protection from extreme cold spells. Last year was a doozy of a winter season in the East while we in SoCal were suffering drought - go figure?

I garden a lot and my girls follow me around the minute they see a shovel or hoe in my hand because that means cultivated soil and new bugs and grubs!

 

[perchie.girl]

Here's mine

I LOVE it I would expect to see Foghorn Leghorn come out and say....

“Now what, I say what’s the big idea....."

lol....

deb

 

[Sylvester017]

L
This is the run (7 ft x 15 ft) from the door end. Pavers now surround the run and overlay all the apron. Digging a trench isn't possible at this time of year, nor ever in certain areas of my small yard, so an apron was the only safe option. The bottom foot, apron and roof are all 1/2" hardware cloth, and the lengths of hardware cloth up top are held together with J clips I got from a rabbit cage site. The middle is 2x4 mesh fencing I got by mistake, thinking it was a lot finer mesh than it is. I will eventually overlay more 1/2" hardware cloth, but that's going to have to wait a few paychecks! The run is good and solid, as it held a man sitting on boards while he put in the J clips. It has also held, we think, raccoons, as it was flat until yesterday, and now it's got dips between every rafter.
Lovely protection around the coop. You can put a couple paver stones at your entrance door too - less squishy mud to wade through on wet days. Unfortunately the hardwire is always the most expensive part of any coop build but you are really thinking this through well! Unfortunately our USA Raccoons are getting more clever and surprisingly destructive for a small critter. They are clever enough to search for the weakest point to tear away. Can you tell I HATE Raccoons. They are clever enough to figure how to push over a heavy waste can - our trash company doesn't have locking lids and using bungie cords is a joke where Raccoons are concerned!



This is the short side of the coop (6 x 6 footprint, with this wall 4 ft tall, and the other side of it close to 7 ft tall) Tin roof. There are 2 wedge shaped 'windows' on the side with fireplace screen covering them at the moment. I may have to cover them with some plastic to weather proof them better, but rain hits the coop on the short side, which is why it faces out. The 2 storms we've had so far don't appear to have caused any leaks, but they also weren't driving rain, so I'll have to see how it holds up to a real storm if we happen to get any.
Look at some online Amish-built coops and see how they incorporate drop-down ventilation lids close to the roofline of their coops. This will be a welcome modification to give the inside of your coop more air. Ammonia from poop hangs inside the coop atmosphere when there's no cross-ventilation near the top.
Edit: Sorry, just noticed your later post of 3-sided ventilation at the roofline - you definitely are doing a great job. One thing we found helpful is an awning over the egg collection box during rainy days so the nest material doesn't get moisture when the lid is opened. In our case our coop was so small we just put a complete popup canopy over the whole thing so we weren't standing in the rain (rarely rains) and to keep the coop shaded in the summertime.



This is the run, with the girls out taking some air. They seem to spend most of their outside time under the coop, however, so I am strongly considering blocking that off with a board and some leftover hardware cloth. I can't poop scoop under there, and I don't want to have to belly down and fish eggs out of there once they start laying any for me.
You are so correct about barricading the bottom of the coop - cleaning or fishing out eggs will be difficult enough but trying to coax out a broody hen from under there would be the most difficult. Set a bench or a even a board on a couple cinderblocks inside the open pen area to give your girls a snooze/hiding area during the day. We salvaged an old square headboard and the accompanying footboard propped on cinderblocks to provide two extra shelters for our girls.

So far, I'm really pleased with my coop and run. It wouldn't be as functional as it is without the many ideas I have found on this web site. Most of the poop lands in the poop sling. I've not found ANY poop in the water or the feeder, nor have I found any feed on the floor.

You definitely are working at doing everything right. No one thing works for everyone and each of us has to do what works for us! So glad to see new chickeneers doing their homework!

 

[Sylvester017]

Here's mine

Very attractive build. How many and what breed of chickens do you have?