post your chicken coop pictures here!

[HighStreetCoop]

Second - Sylvester is gonna get on you for not having an overhang over the nest box

And Sylvester is right! I'm retrofitting an external nesting box onto my coop and since there's no overhang, I'm going to have to install gutters.

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

I am about to put up a T-1 Siding wall, if the weather will let up and then set it up for an external nesting box. I haven't built one before, it should be interesting.

 

[bigmrg74]

I am planning on having a plexiglass cover for the front to add in for the very cold days, think for most of the year it will be open.
I think I don't need covers for the triangular windows, even if it is 9F outside? so it can be vented? The roosts are on the closed part by the nest box.

I wouldn't worry about getting plexiglass, that's just going to add a lot of weight to the tractor for when you want to move it. I'm up here freezing my butt off up here in Michigan and my girls are still in their tractor, just parked by the garage to block the west wind and I've covered the tractor with some cheap dollar store shower curtains around the top of the coop and straw bales around the bottom of it to block the wind.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hi, I having been reading and lurking on byc trying to come up with a plan for a chicken tractor. I will be a first time chicken owner this spring! Yay!
I am in Roswell GA - hot summers, lots of rain and winds at times. Must have a moveable coop (Roswell regs), also looking for a moveable tractor so the ladies can help with the gardening, weeding, bugs. Planning on starting with 3 hens but having space to go up to 5 or 6 over time. So I can bring in new chickens every couple of years as I am not planning on culling for egg production. They will be pets
Have decided on a 2 part tractor, one with wheels and fully enclosed in 1/4" hardware cloth / wood for predator control, hoops for runs that are easily moved onto raised beds and attached to the main coop and are used only during the day. I am thinking of adding an electric fence / hot wire around the hoops and main coop, thoughts?

So, here are my sketches, I hope it makes sense and I would love some feedback please. The main coop will be 3'x5', a size that I can maneuver in the raised bed veggie garden and pass through gates.

I am planning on having a plexiglass cover for the front to add in for the very cold days, think for most of the year it will be open.
I think I don't need covers for the triangular windows, even if it is 9F outside? so it can be vented? The roosts are on the closed part by the nest box.


I have a dropping pan for under the roosts that I can remove to clean easily, so thinking the floor will be open other than the supports for the dropping pan on one side, and a removable board for the trap door side.

I am planning on having the lower level all in 1/4 hardware cloth, even the floor, to keep the mice and predators out. I have a dropping pan to add on the right side and can add bedding so they don't have to walk on the hardware cloth. I would like to have a main door with automatic door closing, but haven't figured exactly how I am doing that. Also think I need flexibility on the location of the door, so I can turn the house to face shade or sun depending on the season? maybe it would be ok to have only one door on one of the larger sides?




Hoping that having food, water and dust box in the bottom will help keep it from toppling over in the wind. I just scored 2x2 cypress boards on craigslist, so thinking of using it for the frames. Not sure if I should go ahead and get cedar for the sides or plywood. Think the cedar will be lighter and help with bugs? Got decking screws and lath screws for construction.
Thank you in advance for any suggestions and comments, I am hoping to start building this weekend!

I'm not a great follower of drawing plans but your descriptions sound well planned. I started over 3 years ago with 2 pullets and added a 3rd pullet in a couple months. I added a 4th pullet the next month. The 4th hen was trouble and got rehomed. Two years after getting the first 3 pullets and after rehoming the 4th troublemaker, I added 2 more layers. I was up to 5 hens but had to rehome 2 more troublemakers. Down to 3 hens currently again but waiting until Spring to add 2 more pullets. I was advised that in a small backyard flock it's good to stagger getting a couple layers every 2-3 years. That way we don't wind up with too many chickens beyond the local ordinance requirements and get staggered ages of hens laying in different cycles - enough to keep a family in eggs even through the lean winter months depending on the breeds chosen. I have a 4 y/o and 3 y/o that are still fair layers and a 1 y/o cranking out blue eggs in the middle of winter here! I had always planned on keeping the girls in their 4x6 coop but after a month of watching them anxiously wanting out everytime the door was opened we tried free-ranging them in the backyard - a little bit more time every day until we realized how alert and savvy they are - enough alertness to leave them out all day. Of course we set up several shelters, canopies, and doghouses for them to dive into for hiding/snoozing around the yard.

The reason I rehomed some hens was because I didn't heed advice from other owners not to mix gentle non-combative breeds with assertive heritage or dual-purpose breeds. Once I rehomed the aggressive breeds my remaining gentles got along swell. It's not worth keeping a bully no matter how good a layer she is - pecking order is normal but shouldn't be brutal! My two new arriving pullets are gentle breeds that will come as juveniles together, and after quarantine will be introduced gradually to the outdoor flock. I've already gone through 9 hens to get down to the 3 we have left - one "pullet" turned out to be a cockerel that had to be rehomed, 3 classic heritage breeds were rehomed because of bullying, and 2 died as chicks/juvies during quarantine. To have a peaceful flock and tame pets we are foregoing classic egg-layers in lieu of a list of gentle non-combative lightweight breeds like Ameraucana, Araucana, Breda, Cochin bantam, Crevecoeur, Dominique, Easter Egger, Faverolles (very docile), Houdan, Polish, Silkie, and perhaps some gentle bantams like Nankin or Pyncheon. However, one thing to remember about the adorable bantam breeds and Silkies is that they are frequently and annoyingly broody and that cuts into their yearly egg numbers. There are sweet gentle giants like Brahma, large fowl Cochin, Jersey Giant, and Sussex but these breeds get very heavy so I hesitate mixing them with lightweight/under 5-lb gentle breeds. So far our decision to go with lightweight gentle breeds has worked out for the peace of the backyard flock and our sanity!

Take lots of pictures of your coop building progression. We love following coop builds!

 

[Sylvester017]

i have 9 chickens .

9 chickens? I have gone through 9 chickens in 3 years and only have 3 hens left now - lost one to growing out as a roo, 3 rehomed because of brutal bullying, and 2 chicks/juvies died during quarantine. We're zoned for 5 hens but it has been quite a journey getting up to that number! We're adding two new juvies in Spring so hope we can keep it at 5 this year

 

[Sylvester017]

They're BBS Oringtons from @Papa Brooder .

The ramp was a ladder when it arrived, and I was advised by a few people that the large, heavy breeds do better with a ladder, so I put a fence board on the bottom side and propped the bottom up on a paver so the incline isn't as steep. They took to it right away.

I have a great branch all ready to go, and then my gardener threw it out. I guess it did look like yard debris if you didn't KNOW it had a purpose. Hauled it all the way down from my friend's cabin up by Yosemite. *sigh* My Parents' neighbors just removed several trees from their backyard. I'm going to grab some stumps for the run and the yard when I go down in a week.

Once I get the Chicken Fountain installed (the weekend), I can start playing with ideas for outside roosts. Right now they all line up on the ramp and sun themselves.

Using an incline is always a good fix. We had to do that ourselves for our girls and they started using the 4-inch step ramp finally - it took them a week to get used to the "new" thing in their coop.

The BBS Orps are gorgeous. Smart to get all the same breed in the flock as it equalizes pecking order politics.

OMG! Gardeners! I had to fire one who ran his lawnmower over my brand new hose and rendered it useless! It happened BC (before chickens) and our new gardener knows to wait for the hens to herd themselves into the coop before he comes into the backyard. As soon as they hear him starting up the mower in the front yard they automatically meander into their coop. Of course our hens keep the grass trimmed to barely visible and he hasn't needed to be in the back for months! Your reclaimed stumps will be used by your chickens. The taller the better - they love sitting high up or hiding in low shelters like doghouses. Anything wooden is a chicken's natural habitat!

 

[Sylvester017]

Hi, I having been reading and lurking on byc trying to come up with a plan for a chicken tractor. I will be a first time chicken owner this spring! Yay!
I am in Roswell GA - hot summers, lots of rain and winds at times. Must have a moveable coop (Roswell regs), also looking for a moveable tractor so the ladies can help with the gardening, weeding, bugs. Planning on starting with 3 hens but having space to go up to 5 or 6 over time. So I can bring in new chickens every couple of years as I am not planning on culling for egg production. They will be pets
Have decided on a 2 part tractor, one with wheels and fully enclosed in 1/4" hardware cloth / wood for predator control, hoops for runs that are easily moved onto raised beds and attached to the main coop and are used only during the day. I am thinking of adding an electric fence / hot wire around the hoops and main coop, thoughts?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bruceha2000


First - 1/4" hardware cloth is a LOT smaller gauge wire than 1/2" - go with the 1/2" - no rodent can get in. I don't think you need hot wire unless you have a neighborhood dog problem. You don't really want to have to rely on a hot wire and moving it every time you move the coop/run will be a pain; make the coop and run safe.

Second - Sylvester is gonna get on you for not having an overhang over the nest box

To bruceha2000 - you beat me to it re the nestbox!
I also agree about the 1/2" over the 1/4" since 1/4" is less sturdy.
The rest of your suggestions are great for RosswellOrganic since I'm not a tractor expert (except for the nestboxes!)

 

[Sylvester017]

And Sylvester is right! I'm retrofitting an external nesting box onto my coop and since there's no overhang, I'm going to have to install gutters.

Gutters is a nice touch - however - have you ever opened a nestbox lid in the rain? It will get all the nesting material damp. Maybe a drop-down front side rather than a lifting lid would be helpful if you don't have a portable carport, canopy, or covered structure to put the coop out of the rain. We have a canopy over our little coop and another canopy in the free-range yard as shelter from sun/rain. I don't have to stand in the rain again to open the egg door!

 

[Sylvester017]

I am about to put up a T-1 Siding wall, if the weather will let up and then set it up for an external nesting box. I haven't built one before, it should be interesting.

You gotta show some pix of the project!

 

[alischickens]

I know this is an old post but I have to say that is the prettiest coop I've ever seen, I am soooo jealous.