post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Bowleggedcowboy]

Mine hated the ramp until I started putting scratch on it every morning and night to tempt them up it.

 

[Bowleggedcowboy]

that a good idea thanks

 

[Sylvester017]

I have 14 hens about 4 weeks old. We just finished fixing up a used coop. Do you think it is roomy enough for 14? I plan on free ranging them during the day in a very large yard.

Latestarter has addressed most of my concerns. The predators of most concern to us in the suburbs is city Raccons that have adapted well to suburb life, and 'Possums, and stray dogs or cats. Having sturdy wire is crucial. We opted to get hard powder-coated wire dog kennel walls with our coop to meet our predator attacks. You have to assess what predators are in your area and secure accordingly.

P.S. Raccoons are the cleverest of predators being able to manipulate opening doors, latches, loose boards, flimsy poultry wire, etc, with their deft claws! They don't necessarily kill chickens for food but for the thrill of the chase alone! For some people snakes are a problem. For others it can be foxes or wild pigs.

Free-ranging chickens will only use the coop to lay eggs or roost for the night. Mine will use the coop sometimes to hide from a visiting hawk or to get out of the rain.

Seal/paint the OSB particle board. The board will crumble from moisture without being sealed/painted.

 

[Sylvester017]

You have great neighbors! You must be a good neighbor yourself to have neighbors that helped you build the house!

Are your open-range chickens surrounded by fencing from foxes, coyotes, etc?

 

[Sylvester017]

Hi everyone, I made a ladder for the chickens but they don't use it they seem to rather fly up and down to the roosts.. Any suggestions?

Chickens are always wary of new things in their housing. Mine didn't use the new ramp right away either. All it took was one chicken to walk up it and then eventually over a few days the others started to use it. I like one BYC suggestion that used bird seed on the ramp to entice them!

 

[Bowleggedcowboy]

@ sly, it looks like your coop is plenty big enough for your 14 chicks..I have 12 hens and 1 rooster in a 8x8x10 with 8x20 run..

 

[Bowleggedcowboy]

I would share a pic of my coop in post but either I'm not doing something right or they going somewhere else..

 

[Bowleggedcowboy]

@ sly my chickens use the ramp but not the ladder. Can't figure that out..

 

[Sylvester017]

Greetings Charlottew,

and the thread!


4. That OSB board really needs to be sealed/painted thoroughly or moisture will cause it to swell and degrade very fast! It will become like wet cardboard in no time at all, especially where it contacts the ground. It will act like a wick and suck up moisture. If the nest boxes will have outside access for egg collection, I'm sure @Sylvester017 will be on you about trying to collect eggs in a driving rain storm, and how miserable it will be for you and how water will get inside the nest boxes and make a mess.

So maybe extend the roof out further, collect from inside, or just don't collect eggs when it's raining

HaHa! Latestarter! Sometimes you can't wait for the rain to stop before collecting the eggs! Many is the time on the way out to the car in the rain we had to stop at the coop to collect a squawking hen's newly layed egg! We collect as quick as they're layed to discourage broody Silkies or possible egg eathers!

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

Greetings Charlottew,

and the thread!

Nearest I can tell it looks like the floor area would be 8' X 8' or 64 square feet? Maybe 8 X 10? Basically inside a coop a standard or large fowl needs 4-6 square feet of space. More if they'll be "cooped up" inside for long periods of time, less if they will only be in there to roost. Obviously, as with most anything, more is better

So, it appears you have enough space in there for the 14 birds; 64 sq ft divided by 14 = 4.57 sq ft per bird. If the floor area is more, that's even better. I'm not sure where you are located, so don't know what your weather is like. Couple of concerns I notice...

1. The nest boxes are extremely high, you may want to place something like a hitching post type rail/roost rail (but not a roost) about a foot in front of the entrance and about half the base height to act as a "step up" to make accessing the nest boxes easier for the birds. It doesn't appear there is enough room for them to fly up to them as they'd have to almost fly straight up.

2. The roost I see (is it a roost?) across from the nest boxes appears to be a 2 x 4 on edge. For bird foot comfort, you should really turn it 90 degrees so the wide side is up. Chicken feet aren't really designed for gripping like wild birds. I'm not saying they "can't" grip... just that that's not what their feet are primarily designed for. They're really designed for standing on & scratching in the dirt for goodies. That will allow them to settle down at night and cover their feet with their feathers. That seems pretty high also so you may want an intermediate level roost to make it easier for them to be able to get up there. With 14 birds all trying to get up there the way it is now, the later ones flying up might knock off some of the birds already up there.

It's good that you have the roost higher than the nest boxes. Typically the birds will want to roost on the highest spot they can reach and get a foot hold on. And, you don't really want them sleeping in the nest boxes as that makes a mess.

3. Looks like the coop is backed up against a rock ledge. Also looks like you have a lot of trees nearby and that leads me to believe you probably have predators that would really like a chicken dinner.

Coons in particular climb and are very smart, and are strong! If they get on the roof, they could possibly gain access to the inside and they kill chickens for the pleasure of it.

The chicken wire you're using is great for keeping chickens (and rabbits) where you want them (or out of where you don't want them), but is useless against the most common predators. A dog or coyote will be through that like a hot knife through butter. A large coon could get though it rather easily as well.

If it's not "apron-ed out" at the base, a fox or dog could dig under it and be inside within minutes. Most folks here would suggest you get and use 1/2" hardware cloth that aprons out at least a foot (then covered with pavers or large heavy rocks) or two feet being better, and going up the coop at least 3 feet. You will also have to worry about diggers under the wood walls on the other 3 walls if those walls do not extend at least a foot down into the ground. You might consider adding an apron of hardware cloth there as well.

4. That OSB board really needs to be sealed/painted thoroughly or moisture will cause it to swell and degrade very fast! It will become like wet cardboard in no time at all, especially where it contacts the ground. It will act like a wick and suck up moisture. If the nest boxes will have outside access for egg collection, I'm sure @Sylvester017 will be on you about trying to collect eggs in a driving rain storm, and how miserable it will be for you and how water will get inside the nest boxes and make a mess.

So maybe extend the roof out further, collect from inside, or just don't collect eggs when it's raining

Looking good and I'm sure the birds will be very happy with the accommodations you've provided them! Good luck!

I thought about using OSB board, then I learned my lesson and used T-11 Barn siding which I did paint on both sides. OSB is glorified cardboard, especially when wet.