post your chicken coop pictures here!

This chicken coop was made out of "green" rough cut Cedar, cut and milled on a private Ranch in the "board and baton" style favored by the pioneers. The batons spanned the Cedar joints that would widen as the fresh cedar dried. It may look like a giant outhouse but the chickens luv it!
 






The chicken run was made from an AKC 10'x10' dog kennel, covered in 1/2 "welded wire hardware cloth. The automatic door was made with a six' length of plastic trellis topping and a piece of galvanized sheet metal. I used an add-a-motor D-20 and a digital timer for the automatic door. The coop sits on Cedar log skids. It measures 8'x8' and averages 6' high. I used tarps on the Cedar board floor as the Cedar is too green to seal. It needs to cure about six months before I can put a sealant on it if I so choose. I still need to add a perch to the nesting boxes and maybe even a chicken ladder. The roost which is not shown is a 5" diameter Alder trunk which was a "dead fall" on my property. It's pretty high up so I will probably add a chicken ladder to the roost. The nesting boxes aren't in use yet as the young chickens (6 Wellsummers and 6 Amercuanas) won't start laying till September. I still need to do some trimming on the hardware cloth at the roofline of the chicken run. The chickens seem happy so far.
 


Notice the skirt of welded wire at the base of the chicken coop. It will be partially covered in large rocks to prevent predators from digging under the run. There are many tree roots here and I didn't want to cut thru them. This method of predator proofing has been used quite successfully in Australia to keep the Dingo's out. The Aussies just pile on rocks, logs, tent stakes or whatever to secure the welded wire to the ground. This method is even used to keep wolves from digging out of their large enclosures in some North American wolf breeding programs. The welded wire ground skirt is securely tied to the inside of the chicken run with aluminum wire. The welded wire hardware cloth also makes for a great medium to slough off that chicken poop from the bottom of your boots after entering the walk-in coop.
 
The run is made from an old 8x4 raised garden bed. I am not handy with woodwork so I just screwed 2x4s to the bed and across the top and sides of each other to make the frame. Yesterday we got the run covered and surrounded in hardware cloth. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to mount the galvanized roof panels, I want them to be removable
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Instead of building a coop, we decided to attach the run to our old playhouse. So far we cut out extra windows for ventilation, made a pop door and secured everything with hardware cloth. It's not Ft Knox but we are working on it.
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They have been staying in the unfinished coop because they have outgrown the brooder. For now they are using the 2x4's and the brooder box for a roost.
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I'm gonna take a shot at building a removable roost and poop board. They are slinging food everywhere so I am also looking for ideas on DIY chicken feeders. The last thing I plan on building is the nesting box, 3 chickens = 1 box. Less work for me. In the future I hope to replace the roof on the playhouse and install a solar attic fan. After a lot of trial and error we are finally getting somewhere.
 
Nice job so far! But I'm wondering...how many chickens are you planning on housing in it? The coop area seems awfully small.. :idunno
I'm not sure if you were referring to me or someone else, but I only have 3 hens. Is the playhouse big enough for 3?
 

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