post your chicken coop pictures here!

[lynnehd]

Is it just me or do the Australian and U.K. coops look better-built than the crap sold in the USA? Those Lenham coops by Forsham are particularly solid looking!

No, it isn't just you. They are better built!!!

 

[Teila]

Hey there Sylvester017

I have had the original smaller coop 'Chateau' for two years now and it has sat out in our sun and rain for all that time and does not leak, the nest box stays dry throughout our whole wet season.

The slightly larger coop 'Ranch' I have had for probably 1.5 years and it has has sat in the weather for that time.

Both have faded a little and needed minor repairs, a hinge here and there, but they are going strong!

Obviously, I would not recommend them for predator-prone areas but for our suburban back yard they are ideal!

 

[perchie.girl]

@Sylvester017

I apologize for getting my feathers ruffled up....

I feel a duty to express good information even if I cannot follow through with it myself. There are quite a few people here just starting out. Asking good info on this and that. I wasnt pointing out that you were doing things wrong... I should have used the expression... One should strive for xxx... and here is the reason why.

My point of view is I want eggs that are hatch-able or able to be hatched by a broody hen. The cleaner the better. Washing them is not an option because when the egg is layed there is a protective coating on it called the bloom. to protect the embryo from contamination from fecal matter... Washing the poo off washes the bloom off. Which is fine if you are selling them as eating eggs or using them in your own kitchen. but if you want the best optimal chance for those eggs to hatch best give them the cleanest environment to be laid and leave em be till incubation time.

There is no single one way to keep chickens. there are hundreds just as there are hundreds of different climates and cultures and preferences for diet and so on. Even Rules of thumb are variable given different circumstances.

We can only speak from our own experience and from the information learned from good mentors. There are people here on BYC that have forty or fifty years of continual experience raising chickens... Some keep quiet because they hear the same questions over and over again.

I am good with plain old common sense husbandry but I defer to others for medications for this and that. That said I have never had a sick chicken. Nor have I medicated for anything...

My back ground is engineering... Projects.... and I love modularizing and prefabbing construction. While I can screw or nail boards together ... Wood completely mystifies me. I would rather use steel and plastic because this is what I know. But I dont go and tell people they MUST build of steel... because I know its best to work with materials you know.

I dont mess with my chickens unless there is a reason... remove a string from a foot or to inspect an injury... I do talk to them like they are people... just like I do my dogs... and horse. I am a lonly lonly woman.....

deb

 

[bruceha2000]

This is your broody hen's way of keeping the other girls from laying their eggs in her special nest. She's not dumb. She knows she can only handle a certain amount of hatching and that the eggs won't all hatch at the same time if other hens lay their eggs in her nest. If you know she's setting on fertile eggs, chicken wire her off from the other hens to keep them from laying in her spot; and remove her to make sure she eats/drinks and gets a little exercise a couple times a day and when she rushes back toward her nest, open the fencing so she can get back to her nest and close off the fencing again. She won't want to be more than a few minutes away from the nest before rushing back to it. Sometimes a good roo will set the eggs while his broody hens go get water and food but it looks like this broody is on her own so she won't take a long time to eat/drink before she returns to set her eggs. You're lucky if your hen has fertile eggs she's setting. I have a broody that's setting an imaginary nest - we have no roo so we have to remove the eggs before she collects them to set. Meanwhile we have to wait the 3+ weeks for her to get the broody out of her system before she returns normal to the flock again. Another went broody for a week and then decided it was no fun setting an empty nest and she returned to the flock.

You should NOT need to take a brooding (as opposed to BROODY) hen off the nest to eat and drink. They will do it on their own. Chickens existed long before people "helped" them do so. TJordan's problem is the knucklehead (oops I mean hubby) is against having any chicks hatch. Otherwise she could just enclose the area under the nest box with chicken wire (with an opening) so the other hens don't mess with her or the nest. No need to clean the BROODING hen's nest.

toodling along. My work crew there wasn't much help. They were far more interested in the earthworms from the post holes.

Lucky you. I've found things take 5x the time when my chickens help!

Still need to make a runner for them and want to build identical house next to this one. I'm new at the byc life so input is appreciated. I know big house for just a few birds. I have some chicks that I don't think are big enough yet for the older birds.



In the fall I will be adding heat lamps and artificial light then when winter comes gonna add thick tarp and possibly vent fans.

OK, you asked for comments:
- Your chickens DO NOT NEED HEAT, especially not in Texas. My chickens get no heat, I live in Vermont, it gets down to -20F. Their coop is in a barn so there isn't direct wind to worry about. Is that glass or plexi in the door? For the winter I would cover the entire cattle panel area with clear plastic, replacing the glass/plexi in the door with 1/2" hardware cloth. Sort of like an inexpensive Wood's style coop, no wind blowing through the coop but plenty of fresh air available. The birds will be warm if there is no wind blowing their feathers open.
- Your chickens DO need protection from the sun, wind and rain. I wouldn't wait until fall to get a clear tarp to cover more of the top and I would cover it all the way to the ground for at least half the length of the coop starting at the nest end. Given the summer heat in Texas, you might instead want shade cloth over the entire thing staked out like a rain fly on a tent. The sun is overhead only a small part of the day. The birds WILL need shade. Mine have the option to go outside all day every day (though they choose not to in the winter) and spend their time in the barn, under the deck or lilac bushes during the warmer parts of the day in the summer. They are more likely to be out foraging before 10 and after 4 in the summer (I guess they listen to the people who say to stay out of the sun mid day

) unless it is cloudy.
- I don't know where you intend to put the roosts but I'm glad to read you have a plan. 2x4's on the flat or 3" round fence rails fit chicken feet well. 2x2s or 2x4s narrow side up DO NOT! Make sure they are at least 12" from the parallel wall.
- You don't need anywhere near 12 nest boxes. You could take out the top 4 (you don't need 8 either) and put the roosts above them. You should probably put access perches in front of the higher nest boxes, the birds could use those as intermediate "steps" to get to the roosts up top.
- That water pipe is WAY WAY more than needed. You could easily do with 4 or 5 nipples and that would still be overkill. I'd cut it off about 4' into the coop, add a drain so you can clean the pipe out if necessary and support the end against the side of the coop somehow.

I wish the idiots that make poultry hex wire were all "shot" or put inside a poultry wire coop with a mountain lion outside trying to get in - then maybe they'll get the idea that the poultry hex is totally useless!

It isn't the people who make poultry wire that are idiots, it is the people who use it for an unintended purpose. And they are not necessarily idiots, just ignorant that something called "poultry wire" isn't predator proof and shouldn't be used to keep poultry safe from predators. Poultry wire is a relatively cheap and convenient way to keep poultry where you want them, or out of places you don't want them. You can make the sides and top of a broody box out of poultry wire. You can make partitions in a barn out of poultry wire. You can fence off your garden with poultry wire. You just can't make a predator proof enclosure out of it.

And the girls have one too!


We are not quite ready for the 4 older ones. Still need to make a ladder for them and attach to the run. But we are getting there.

Back on my soap box

You do not need a ramp. That door isn't far off the ground, put a stump half the height to the door sill in front of it if you like. The chickens will hop right in with or without the stump. You don't need a ramp for little ones either. We brooded ours in a bathtub in the house (no we didn't ever use that bathtub). By the time they were fully feathered to go outside (~ 3 weeks, it was July 7th so not a cold time of year anyway) they were on the edge of the bathtub, they were on the floor of the bathroom. They couldn't get back into the tub from the floor but the height from the bottom inside the tub to the top was less than the distance you have from your door to the ground. You could put a stump in temporarily for them, if it makes you feel better.

BTW, cute coop, beautifully done and nice that you have an overhang in front of the chickens' door!

Hi, thanks for sharing. That was our conclusion about why our hens chose the old nestboxes since the roost bar was too short and too narrow IMO. Even in our new coop (still waiting on replacement parts to finish assembling) there is no way 15-16 hens would be comfortable in it as advertised. It is roomier than the old little coop but I would wager no more than 8 LF hens would fit comfortably taking in the roost bar configurations, 4 nestboxes and only 4x4 coop floor space. We're hoping the 5 hens will like to roost on bars but we won't deter them from using nestboxes if that winds up their preference. They know better than me where it's best and most comfortable for them to roost. I wouldn't want to be forced to sleep on a couch if a downy mattress is my preference - LOL!

You are going to put proper width roosts in your new coop instead of those sent by the company, right?

Given you have only the 5 birds, you can leave out 3 of the 5 designed in by the company. 8' of roost is plenty for 5 birds.

 

[vehve]

Bruce, I'm going to disagree on the brooding bird eating bit. We ended up caving to a bird this winter, she had been broody for about a month when we finally gave her eggs to sit. I know, bad idea. She did well enough hatching out the chicks, but sitting in the nest for so long combined with the cold made her pretty much waste away. After we finally realized she had gotten so skinny, we were beyond the point where our assistance could do any good anymore. Of course, just letting them go broody naturally they wouldn't sit for as long, they would start brooding right away.

But other than that, I agree with everything you said.

 

[SHemphill]

BruceHa2000 great feedback I guess...

Not sure if self proclaimed expert agervated at idiots building things they know little about and going on a rant. Or just misunderstood constructive criticism.

Either way thank you for the helpful suggestions I will be making a few changes to the coop.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hey there Sylvester017

I have had the original smaller coop 'Chateau' for two years now and it has sat out in our sun and rain for all that time and does not leak, the nest box stays dry throughout our whole wet season.

The slightly larger coop 'Ranch' I have had for probably 1.5 years and it has has sat in the weather for that time.

Both have faded a little and needed minor repairs, a hinge here and there, but they are going strong!

Obviously, I would not recommend them for predator-prone areas but for our suburban back yard they are ideal!

I decided to go with a USA-built-in-the-States coop. After looking at dozens of Made in China DIY that are made of some sort of thin soft pine wood that splits very easily and the plastic Eglu Cube just had too many flimsy or non-workable parts for my flock, I ordered a USA-made coop and am not the least bit sorry - easier to get parts too if necessary. It's not 100% but there was not one DIY well-built Amish, Dutch, Eggstreme Fiberglass, or Omelet coop that was what I was needing. All not bad coops if they worked for us but they didn't. Don't know how Australian neighborhoods handle their predators but for us at night we have to have wire solid pens and coops because we have incredibly aggressive and intelligent city Raccoons that can manipulate some easy locks, squeeze through small gaps of barn or garage doors, climb stucco, chainlink, brick, block walls, or rain gutters, rip open screens on doors and windows, basically are a damage nuisance not to mention their killing instinct - not always for food but just for the sheer rush of adrenalin they get out of the kill! There was a lovely Australian coop - large, able for a human to walk inside, great features but I didn't like the green asphalt roof. I had it on my little coop and it leaked eventually so I stayed away from anything with that roof material. It was a chore to finally settle on the coop we ordered - well secured but still had a couple things I would love to change. Still it met 99% of our needs and made in our good ol' USA - Smiles. We all just gotta do what works best for us - sigh.

Are your coop solar panels for heating or lighting?

 

[bruceha2000]

BruceHa2000 great feedback I guess...

Not sure if self proclaimed expert agervated at idiots building things they know little about and going on a rant. Or just misunderstood constructive criticism.

Either way thank you for the helpful suggestions I will be making a few changes to the coop.

Absolutely NOT aggravated! I think it is great that people try things they haven't done before, I am no different, I just started 3 years ago. Sorry if I came off that way. I love the Taj Mahal coops and I love the "made it from scraps" coops as long as they have the basics the chickens need:
- safety from predators
- enough space. The "it can hold 16 chickens" 4x4 coops being sold is a serious disservice to new chicken owners. 1 "large fowl" chicken will occupy a square foot when not moving. You can have more birds in a smaller coop IF the birds are never confined there other than when they are sleeping on the roosts.
- ventilation
- no drafts over the birds at night
- food
- water
(some people keep food and water outside the coop, OK if the birds can get to it when they are awake)
- comfortable roosts. A minimum of 1' per bird. They will use less space in the winter since they "pack in" to help stay warm but they need to spread out in the hot weather
- shade

I figured I would have it EASY converting a horse stall into a coop. The stall already had 2x4 welded wire on the upper (open part) of one side and the front, chicken wire on the other side. All I had to do was take off the half height plywood door and put in people and chicken doors in its place ...... until I read about predators. Then I had to cover all the openings AND the ceiling in 1/2" hardware cloth. Figured the dirt floor was safe since it was covered with heavy rubber horse stall mats, no raccoon is going to dig up through those .... until I saw the ermine up by the house. Those things can squeeze through really small openings and the small gaps between the mats would be no problem since I had already seen evidence of mice coming up. So I had to take up the mats, cover the floor with 1/2" hardware cloth poultry stapled to the walls and put the mats back in.

Structurally, your hoop house is great and it is NOT too big for the number of birds you have. There is really no such thing as "too big" for a "back yard" flock. I was just commenting on the things that were lacking or overkill. You can put in as many nest boxes as you like. People may think you need one box per bird, kind of like one bed per person but it is not so. For people new to chickens who haven't watched their hens all use the same few boxes, ignoring others when the "favorite" was occupied, I figured it was worth a mention. I have a 4' enclosed community box and a 4' open box with 2 dividers in the coop. There is a "corner grain feeder" nest on the floor in the feed storage room because one girl laid an egg there ONCE. That one is used RARELY and the bird I put it there for never laid another egg other than in the open box in the coop. The 3 open nests are favored by 8 of the 10 birds and some are pretty insistent on WHICH one they want. The Anconas like one end of the closed box (as does one of the Black Australorps on occasion) so EFFECTIVELY, I have 4 nests in use by 10 birds. I suggested the roosts over fewer nest boxes because you don't really want to duck under the roosts to get to the back of the coop. I always look for the practical/functional part of a design, I can't help it!

Same with the water nipples. You can easily handle 3 birds on one, they don't have to drink all at the same time and I've found they don't drink a whole lot anyway. My ten go through maybe a gallon a month in the winter when there is no other source of water. Less in the summer when they are out eating bugs, green growing stuff and finding puddles to drink from. Your pipe is already made, you can certainly leave it as is but it is pretty saggy at the mid point and if one of the nipples fails (I had 3 of 5 fail the night before Thanksgiving 2 years ago and it wasn't even close to freezing, still don't know why) I'd rather not have to deal with such a length unnecessarily. Also, given how little the birds drink, there is a lot of water sitting in that much pipe. It could get awfully hot in the summer sun just as the water in a garden hose does. Other people can save some time and expense by making one much shorter if they understand they don't need 1 nipple per bird.

 

[Sylvester017]

You should NOT need to take a brooding (as opposed to BROODY) hen off the nest to eat and drink. They will do it on their own. Chickens existed long before people "helped" them do so.
No offense but sorry to disagree back at you - broody/brooding/broodys/broodies sometimes will leave a nest early in the morning to go eat/drink/dust-bathe and if there's a helpful roo he'll set the eggs while she takes care of herself. But this isn't always the case and broodies will waste away without some assistance from humans. The main thing is to keep a close eye on them. It's easy for a hen to act normal to cover underlying issues so it's up to us to care for them if there's no roo assistance. Our broody was eating but not drinking enough water and her eyes were shutting from dryness. The other hens picked on her and drove her from the feed/water so we had to step in.


It isn't the people who make poultry wire that are idiots, it is the people who use it for an unintended purpose. And they are not necessarily idiots, just ignorant that something called "poultry wire" isn't predator proof and shouldn't be used to keep poultry safe from predators. Poultry wire is a relatively cheap and convenient way to keep poultry where you want them, or out of places you don't want them. You can make the sides and top of a broody box out of poultry wire. You can make partitions in a barn out of poultry wire. You can fence off your garden with poultry wire. You just can't make a predator proof enclosure out of it.
Sorry to disagree in a non-offense way but chicken wire is useless for anything IMO. You can't put it around the yard for keeping out chickens. In a matter of a week or so it gets so mangled from chickens pushing against it that it doesn't give you the longevity of wear like the thicker squared rabbit fencing. The chicken wire might be useful inside small enclosed areas in a barn/garage or chickies brooder or to enclose a broodie nest but even then it mangles easily out of shape and has to be tossed after a use. I feel sorry for newbie owners who think this stuff is useful for their coop walls.


Back on my soap box

You do not need a ramp. That door isn't far off the ground, put a stump half the height to the door sill in front of it if you like. The chickens will hop right in with or without the stump. You don't need a ramp for little ones either. We brooded ours in a bathtub in the house (no we didn't ever use that bathtub). By the time they were fully feathered to go outside (~ 3 weeks, it was July 7th so not a cold time of year anyway) they were on the edge of the bathtub, they were on the floor of the bathroom. They couldn't get back into the tub from the floor but the height from the bottom inside the tub to the top was less than the distance you have from your door to the ground. You could put a stump in temporarily for them, if it makes you feel better.
I love stumps. They are so decorative and the chickens like them. My contractor felled our orange tree to the ground and hauled it away before we got home and I was so disappointed not to get to salvage a couple stumps!


You are going to put proper width roosts in your new coop instead of those sent by the company, right?

Given you have only the 5 birds, you can leave out 3 of the 5 designed in by the company. 8' of roost is plenty for 5 birds.
Before we even ordered the coop my DH and I had extensive discussions about whether the modifications we wanted would be worth the effort. After assessing all the other coop companies we felt the roosts would be an easy fix. We thought the upper roosts were poorly spaced but figured the company wanted the customer to feel it was utilized area. We might use one upper perch as a trial and see if our Amer likes it - she loves heights. What we didn't like was the cardboard particle board interior walls which is being advertised as a "wood" interior that chickens like - haha! Other than that the coop is solid, much larger than we expected for a 4x4 and 4x5 counting the extended nestboxes. Having the run space under the coop w/ additional attached 4x4 covered kennel run space is far more than we need for 5 free-range hens. We had always planned a canopy or a patio roof over the coop because it keeps cooler in summer and protects from our occasional gully-washer rain - which we haven't seen since Feb. We've had 80-90+ days for 3 weeks now. Waiting on parts to finish assembly.

 

[bruceha2000]

Bruce, I'm going to disagree on the brooding bird eating bit. We ended up caving to a bird this winter, she had been broody for about a month when we finally gave her eggs to sit. I know, bad idea. She did well enough hatching out the chicks, but sitting in the nest for so long combined with the cold made her pretty much waste away. After we finally realized she had gotten so skinny, we were beyond the point where our assistance could do any good anymore. Of course, just letting them go broody naturally they wouldn't sit for as long, they would start brooding right away.

But other than that, I agree with everything you said.

That is the point of my differentiating between BROODING and BROODY Felix. If you had a broody bird sitting on a nest with nothing to hatch for a month, she was already a week past the 21 days it takes the eggs to hatch. Yes you have to take a BROODY bird off the nest so they don't waste away, that is why mine go in the broody buster box since there is ZERO possibility there will be any fertile eggs and these girls sit on the plastic egg in the nest and will just as stubbornly sit on nothing but shavings in the nest. They aren't happy in the box but they do eat and drink and in a few days are back to being regular chickens again. A BROODING bird should naturally take a few minutes off the nest every day since they don't want to poop in the nest and should eat and drink while they are out.