post your chicken coop pictures here!

[DarleneE]

Thank you SO much for the compliments!! I didn't know about he Gatorade!! YES BOTH of them pant at times!! But esp Olivia!! How much Gatorade do I put in the water?? I have a 3 qt "drinker" with the chicken nipple on it..?? I will buy Gatorade tomorrow if you'll just tell me how much to add to my drinker. Thanks!! Funny you like Olivia.. I HATE to have a "favorite", but it is what it is and I think Daisy is the prettier one! She's also the tamest! She sits quietly when you hold her, pet her, etc whereas Olivia just wants to jump off and run and play! She's VERY hyper, VERY rambunctious!! But I LOVE them BOTH and could never choose one over the other cause they're my babies!! Of course I also have my little Japanese Chin dog that's my life and my Maine Coon kitty that I also adore!!!! Can you tell I'm CRAZY about animals?? Haha OK then I'll wait on an answer about the Gatorade and thanks again!!

 

[jcam2881]

This is so beautiful!  We never painted our coop as it doesn't have that much wood but mostly open wire - we have hot weather in So CA so ventilation was key for us. Also we had a ramp that was narrow that came with the coop about 5-inches and the chickens liked it but it wasn't wide enough. Chickens like secure footing so we had to build a wider one for our girls. Yours looks a wee bit narrow but looks like you have space to make the ramp wider. It may be okay so watch how your girls like the feel of it when they use it. Just like space is key for chickens, wider ramps make them feel secure. I love the look of a new coop with all the fresh wood and clean litter - sigh.

Thanks! So proud of it ... Forgot I need a few more vents above., will cut those today. I was thinking about the ramp to... 2x6 felt a little narrow... I'll see how they react tiday !


Haven't time for the clover to sprout fully on ground area.. Wondering what people use as ground cover? I hate grass... Organic backyard farmer ... So looking at alternatives . I will let them free range out whenever possible.

 

[Sylvester017]

Thank you SO much for the compliments!! I didn't know about he Gatorade!! YES BOTH of them pant at times!! But esp Olivia!! How much Gatorade do I put in the water?? I have a 3 qt "drinker" with the chicken nipple on it..?? I will buy Gatorade tomorrow if you'll just tell me how much to add to my drinker. Thanks!! Funny you like Olivia.. I HATE to have a "favorite", but it is what it is and I think Daisy is the prettier one! She's also the tamest! She sits quietly when you hold her, pet her, etc whereas Olivia just wants to jump off and run and play! She's VERY hyper, VERY rambunctious!! But I LOVE them BOTH and could never choose one over the other cause they're my babies!! Of course I also have my little Japanese Chin dog that's my life and my Maine Coon kitty that I also adore!!!! Can you tell I'm CRAZY about animals?? Haha OK then I'll wait on an answer about the Gatorade and thanks again!!

Ameraucanas and EEs are spooky kooky klutzy sweeties. Ours coo's when we hold her. When we give her butt/vent shampoos she stays real still as we scrub her gently to get all the gunk out of her fluffy feathers. She stays still as we use the hairdryer to blow-dry her. She lays so many eggs and has such fluffy hairy feathers that she gunks up - especially if she picks up dirt in a dust bath on a wet vent. We have to really monitor her hygiene. We handle her so much she's used to it. When she was younger she was more spooky but still would lay in our arms and fall asleep. She can go from real jittery to limp depending on the moment. Very sweet, very talkative, very beautiful blue eggs at 2.25 oz. OurFlyBabies.com says they always keep Ameraucanas around because they will take in injured birds or orphaned chicks into their flock where other breeds are not so willing.

As for Gatorade we have no idea how much to put in the water so we did 1/2 bottled water and 1/2 Gatorade. The Pedialyte was just too expensive even at Walmart. We got the Gatorade with the Frost or no coloring. Today we picked up a cucumber flavored Gatorade since our chickens LOVE cukes. Ants love the dextrose in the Gatorade so we sprayed Max Home Defense insecticide on a flat plate before putting the water bowl on it. We let the Max dry overnight. That way the water stays ant free for days and days and days with just one spraying on the plate. We don't use bottled water to be snooty. Tap water has chlorine and some cities still use fluoride and both cause calcium leaching (what is egg shell made of? CALCIUM). We noticed we aren't getting such funny shaped or thin shells since we stopped using the over-chlorinated water during our drought in CA. We have 5-gallon bottles we refill at $1.00 per bottle and have several bottles to use for ourselves and the chickens. Over-chlorinated fluoridated water can't be good for humans either.

Little baby steps. We've had our backyard girls for over 3 years and we're still learning something new all the time. My computer Desktop is bookmarked with tons of information to bring up for references. Nothing wrong with being a crazy chickeneer - right?

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks! So proud of it ... Forgot I need a few more vents above., will cut those today. I was thinking about the ramp to... 2x6 felt a little narrow... I'll see how they react tiday !


Haven't time for the clover to sprout fully on ground area.. Wondering what people use as ground cover? I hate grass... Organic backyard farmer ... So looking at alternatives . I will let them free range out whenever possible.

Your welcome! Let us know how it goes.

Chickens are smart about what to pick and choose when it comes to weeds/grass. Most of the time they are looking for seeds, bugs, or tender sprouted seed shoots so don't worry. As long as there's no chemical pesticides or poisons they know how to forage instinctively from chicks to adults.

One guy said he didn't know how "smart" his chickens were since he caught them eating a styrofoam block. Another blogger said not to worry - the styrofoam would come out of the chicken in the same form it went in and meanwhile the chickens had fun. I laughed so much when I read it!

 

[jtbass2756]

Ameraucanas and EEs are spooky kooky klutzy sweeties. Ours coo's when we hold her. When we give her butt/vent shampoos she stays real still as we scrub her gently to get all the gunk out of her fluffy feathers. She stays still as we use the hairdryer to blow-dry her. She lays so many eggs and has such fluffy hairy feathers that she gunks up - especially if she picks up dirt in a dust bath on a wet vent. We have to really monitor her hygiene. We handle her so much she's used to it. When she was younger she was more spooky but still would lay in our arms and fall asleep. She can go from real jittery to limp depending on the moment. Very sweet, very talkative, very beautiful blue eggs at 2.25 oz. OurFlyBabies.com says they always keep Ameraucanas around because they will take in injured birds or orphaned chicks into their flock where other breeds are not so willing.

As for Gatorade we have no idea how much to put in the water so we did 1/2 bottled water and 1/2 Gatorade. The Pedialyte was just too expensive even at Walmart. We got the Gatorade with the Frost or no coloring. Today we picked up a cucumber flavored Gatorade since our chickens LOVE cukes. Ants love the dextrose in the Gatorade so we sprayed Max Home Defense insecticide on a flat plate before putting the water bowl on it. We let the Max dry overnight. That way the water stays ant free for days and days and days with just one spraying on the plate. We don't use bottled water to be snooty. Tap water has chlorine and some cities still use fluoride and both cause calcium leaching (what is egg shell made of? CALCIUM). We noticed we aren't getting such funny shaped or thin shells since we stopped using the over-chlorinated water during our drought in CA. We have 5-gallon bottles we refill at $1.00 per bottle and have several bottles to use for ourselves and the chickens. Over-chlorinated fluoridated water can't be good for humans either.

Little baby steps. We've had our backyard girls for over 3 years and we're still learning something new all the time. My computer Desktop is bookmarked with tons of information to bring up for references. Nothing wrong with being a crazy chickeneer - right?

I'm right there with you Sylvester.....except I'm a newbie with less than a yr under my belt.... babysitting some marans and silkies right now.. got them at 2 day old level. I've never had them this young. My EE are going on 5 weeks so I carry them outside during the day (don't have a predator proof pen yet) and then bring them in at night. But I have one of my marans that is not doing well. Seems to be the runt of the group so hasn't gained and grown like the rest this week. Got it separated and it is still live this morning but even my poodle knows this chirp belongs to that chick. He will go to the door wanting me to follow to take care of that baby.. Don't know what else to do for it... yuk !!

 

[ceceuu]

Here is the Tractor coop my hubby made.

 

[jtbass2756]

Here is the Tractor coop my hubby made.

Oh this is so cool.....can you pict on how you set up the inside...

 

[LindaB220]

Finally done!

Cute!!! You have definitely got it going on. How many chickens will it hold?

 

[jcam2881]

Cute!!!   You have definitely got it going on.  How many chickens will it hold?

Thanks! .. I have 6 .. For now! They should b comfy. I want to Try to avoid going over board as I can't possibly eat that many eggs a week

 

[DarleneE]

Ameraucanas and EEs are spooky kooky klutzy sweeties. Ours coo's when we hold her. When we give her butt/vent shampoos she stays real still as we scrub her gently to get all the gunk out of her fluffy feathers. She stays still as we use the hairdryer to blow-dry her. She lays so many eggs and has such fluffy hairy feathers that she gunks up - especially if she picks up dirt in a dust bath on a wet vent. We have to really monitor her hygiene. We handle her so much she's used to it. When she was younger she was more spooky but still would lay in our arms and fall asleep. She can go from real jittery to limp depending on the moment. Very sweet, very talkative, very beautiful blue eggs at 2.25 oz. OurFlyBabies.com says they always keep Ameraucanas around because they will take in injured birds or orphaned chicks into their flock where other breeds are not so willing.

As for Gatorade we have no idea how much to put in the water so we did 1/2 bottled water and 1/2 Gatorade. The Pedialyte was just too expensive even at Walmart. We got the Gatorade with the Frost or no coloring. Today we picked up a cucumber flavored Gatorade since our chickens LOVE cukes. Ants love the dextrose in the Gatorade so we sprayed Max Home Defense insecticide on a flat plate before putting the water bowl on it. We let the Max dry overnight. That way the water stays ant free for days and days and days with just one spraying on the plate. We don't use bottled water to be snooty. Tap water has chlorine and some cities still use fluoride and both cause calcium leaching (what is egg shell made of? CALCIUM). We noticed we aren't getting such funny shaped or thin shells since we stopped using the over-chlorinated water during our drought in CA. We have 5-gallon bottles we refill at $1.00 per bottle and have several bottles to use for ourselves and the chickens. Over-chlorinated fluoridated water can't be good for humans either.

Little baby steps. We've had our backyard girls for over 3 years and we're still learning something new all the time. My computer Desktop is bookmarked with tons of information to bring up for references. Nothing wrong with being a crazy chickeneer - right?

Thank you again for all the information. You seem to be very knowledgeable about chickens!! My husband is at Lowe's right now buying the wire needed to fence a large area off in our backyard so our two girls can free range out there while I'm home all day. He's going to also put some wire on top to basically enclose it all around from aerial AND ground predators yet they'll still be able to peck all the grass and dirt they need!! It'll also be under a tree so that they will have shade out there as well and not be in direct sunlight. I will put some food and water out there for them as well. I know they will LOVE this!! I've been giving them lettuce, tomato, carrots, hard boiled egg, and today even some leftover fried rice with little vegetable pieces in it and they're LOVING it!! They're SO cute cause the minute I go out to the lanai they come running to the door of their coop to see WHAT if anything I'm bringing them to eat!! Or also they even enjoy walking all around in the lanai too when it's just too hot for me to sit out back in the yard with them!! Ooooh wanted to ask you what you feed yours? Mine are eating veggies and fruit as well as the food they sold me at the feed store. They said it was "laying feed"?? There's SO many kinds that I have no idea WHAT to buy. Unfortunately, sorry, I LOVE my girls to death, but I'm NOT up to making fermented food or mash etc. That's just a bit too much for me. SO that being said.. what type feed would you recommend I get for them? They're 14 wks old now. Oooh and I also have some "scratch" that they sold me at one feed store, then was told NOT to give them that as their diet as it makes them too fat and they won't lay eggs then!!?? SO I give them a little on the side as a snack.. for instance right now I'm out of mealworms.. so scratch besides the fruits, veggies and leftovers is what they're eating beside of course their regular feed that's in their feeder. Does that sound about right?? Do you know the name of a type of feed that's REALLY good for them?? Thanks for all your help and I guess at this point I should just be PM you!!??