post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Sylvester017]

This will be the new home for the chicks I have yet to order. It was just moved from my old house, where it was my hubby's storage building, this morning. It's a 10x14 building and I think I'm gonna make the run about the same. Hopefully within the next month the run and inside will be done! So now it's time to decide what kind of chicks I want!

That is one nice building! And your DH let you use it for chickens? Gotta love him for that! Your chickens could have a lot of fun on that children's playhouse swing also! I priced the playswings for our yard but even the cheapest ones were too expensive for our budget. LOVE that shed!

 

[jtbass2756]

That is one nice building! And your DH let you use it for chickens? Gotta love him for that! Your chickens could have a lot of fun on that children's playhouse swing also! I priced the playswings for our yard but even the cheapest ones were too expensive for our budget. LOVE that shed!

I bet he's already familiar with "chicken math" !!!!!

 

[wvcountrygirl]

That is one nice building!  And your DH let you use it for chickens?  Gotta love him for that!  Your chickens could have a lot of fun on that children's playhouse swing also!  I priced the playswings for our yard but even the cheapest ones were too expensive for our budget.  LOVE that shed!

Yes the DH let me have it for chickens! It took some convincing but he got a 2 car garage when we moved so he wasn't too concerned with the building anymore. His friends told him he was crazy for letting me have it for chickens though. I would let the chicks have the playset if it were up to me but my two little boys might disown me lol

I bet he's already familiar with "chicken math" !!!!!    

He's figuring it out! He still has to build the run and run power to the building that is about 200 ft away from the source. Those chickens better lay golden eggs!

 

[MistyMountain]

So glad you are letting them free-range. It's really what chickens absolutely love. We were afraid to do it at first but after 3 years our hens are quite a savvy flock without a roo. Of course we provide cover for them like a popup canopy, low lean-to's, a recycled doghouse, and a few bushes around the fence for them to snooze/hide under. We don't clip their wings for natural flight in case they need to escape. We have an APA Ameraucana that chases stray cats out of the yard! The Cooper's Hawk doesn't bother the flock because there are no easy chicks to pick off. He prefers going after the smaller wild birds at the wildbird feeder instead.

I love your coop - its nostalgic and goes along with a rural setting.

We've been lucky so far, really. We have the common predators-- hawks, foxes, coyotes, raccoon and possum. We were hit by a hawk twice, both when the chickens were a bit smaller and both on the smaller chickens. One was a complete loss and the Roo got stuck in the run. The second one the Roo saved the pullet and protected her inside the coop. No losses since. This happened in December/January. Come to find out we are on a migration highway for hawks during that time. Now we know better. We have plenty of cover, pine trees, an orchard, briars, but a lot of those don't work well without leaves in the winter. I love the chickens, but understand there will be losses. I will feel bad if I lose any… but it gives me peace knowing that for the time being they get to stretch their wings.

Thank you for the compliment. The bigger (8x10) coop will be built some time around the end of summer, hopefully. They will be similar in style.

 

[Aahobson]

Sigh of relief.  Now for the happy chickens to enjoy!

 

[bruceha2000]

ETA: we're planning on 5 girls, not sure what breed exactly yet, whatever we can find local for a good price. Black Austrolorp, Easter Egger and Barred Rock or Speckled Sussex are at the top of my looong list hehehe.

I have both the BAs and EEs. I would get more in a heartbeat. The Anconas? No, too mean to the other chickens. The Faverolles? No Broody birds, spend more time getting broken than laying eggs. Partridge Chanteclers? Hard one. The remaining bird is a good layer, eggs UDSA small though and she has gone broody several times in her ~ 2 years.

yes I am hoping so, we are just having trouble with choosing a watering system and how to set up the inside of the coop with nesting boxes and roost and flooring...hoping to find some good ideas on here!! any suggestions?

I am quite happy with my saddle nipples in 3/4" PVC pipe that runs a few inches off an outside wall in the coop. Put something under it to catch the drips that occur when the birds drink. Water container is outside the coop so EASY to fill.
Roosts: As high as you can put them while still having headroom for the girls
Nest boxes: Lower than the roosts If they are internal, it is nice to make the bottom higher than a chicken's head height so they don't lose the floor area.
Flooring: Can't help. My coop is a converted horse stall with thick rubber mats on the dirt floor. Not the kind of thing most people have in their coops.

We filled it with feed to make sure it worked properly and let me tell ya, it was a joyous celebration lol! It's a 2" diameter 4ft pipe cut in half, a 90* angle piece, 2 caps at either end and DH drilled five 3/4" holes into it. It was super easy and holds 10 lbs of feed at a time.

That 90 degree angle piece HAS to be a Street Ell. A regular 90 will stop the feed flow as it piles at the bottom of the vertical pipe. The street ell has a long radius turn.

Nesting boxes almost complete:

Maybe the picture is just pre-completion but if not, be aware that chickens LOVE to to peck rigid insulation into bits. Make sure it is covered by t eoor.

Bruce

 

[Aban]

I have both the BAs and EEs. I would get more in a heartbeat. The Anconas? No, too mean to the other chickens. The Faverolles? No Broody birds, spend more time getting broken than laying eggs. Partridge Chanteclers? Hard one. The remaining bird is a good layer, eggs UDSA small though and she has gone broody several times in her ~ 2 years.

I am quite happy with my saddle nipples in 3/4" PVC pipe that runs a few inches off an outside wall in the coop. Put something under it to catch the drips that occur when the birds drink. Water container is outside the coop so EASY to fill.
Roosts: As high as you can put them while still having headroom for the girls
Nest boxes: Lower than the roosts If they are internal, it is nice to make the bottom higher than a chicken's head height so they don't lose the floor area.
Flooring: Can't help. My coop is a converted horse stall with thick rubber mats on the dirt floor. Not the kind of thing most people have in their coops.


That 90 degree angle piece HAS to be a Street Ell. A regular 90 will stop the feed flow as it piles at the bottom of the vertical pipe. The street ell has a long radius turn.

Maybe the picture is just pre-completion but if not, be aware that chickens LOVE to to peck rigid insulation into bits. Make sure it is covered by t eoor.

Bruce

I am so excited to try the pipe feeder!! I have to give my hubby these directions.
Thank you for all of the advice. I didnt know it was better for nesting boxes to be lower than the roost
Do you like the rubber mat on the dirt floor? does it seem to keep the floor dry and clean?

 

[KlingKlan]

I have both the BAs and EEs. I would get more in a heartbeat. The Anconas? No, too mean to the other chickens. The Faverolles? No Broody birds, spend more time getting broken than laying eggs. Partridge Chanteclers? Hard one. The remaining bird is a good layer, eggs UDSA small though and she has gone broody several times in her ~ 2 years.

I am quite happy with my saddle nipples in 3/4" PVC pipe that runs a few inches off an outside wall in the coop. Put something under it to catch the drips that occur when the birds drink. Water container is outside the coop so EASY to fill.
Roosts: As high as you can put them while still having headroom for the girls
Nest boxes: Lower than the roosts If they are internal, it is nice to make the bottom higher than a chicken's head height so they don't lose the floor area.
Flooring: Can't help. My coop is a converted horse stall with thick rubber mats on the dirt floor. Not the kind of thing most people have in their coops.


That 90 degree angle piece HAS to be a Street Ell. A regular 90 will stop the feed flow as it piles at the bottom of the vertical pipe. The street ell has a long radius turn.

Maybe the picture is just pre-completion but if not, be aware that chickens LOVE to to peck rigid insulation into bits. Make sure it is covered by t eoor.

Bruce

Great, BA's and EE's it is... now to find them locally for a good price, at least the BA's, we have a lot of EE's (even though they call them Aracauna or Americaunas... don't ask

). As for the feeder, ummm what exactly is a Street Ell... even DH doesn't know and he's pretty knowledgeabe about those sorts of things lol. We do have to shake it to get the feed down in, so a different way would be great. And that nesting box pic was pre-finish. This is what it looks like completed, before paint and hardware lock:





Thanks for all you share on here Bruce

 

[Sylvester017]

We've been lucky so far, really. We have the common predators-- hawks, foxes, coyotes, raccoon and possum. We were hit by a hawk twice, both when the chickens were a bit smaller and both on the smaller chickens. One was a complete loss and the Roo got stuck in the run. The second one the Roo saved the pullet and protected her inside the coop. No losses since. This happened in December/January. Come to find out we are on a migration highway for hawks during that time. Now we know better. We have plenty of cover, pine trees, an orchard, briars, but a lot of those don't work well without leaves in the winter. I love the chickens, but understand there will be losses. I will feel bad if I lose any… but it gives me peace knowing that for the time being they get to stretch their wings.

Thank you for the compliment. The bigger (8x10) coop will be built some time around the end of summer, hopefully. They will be similar in style.

It's very nice that you have a lot of cover except for winter. We have no big or natural cover whatsoever! Our neighbors all chopped down their trees as well. We all have fairly clear open yards.

I have a book by Jessi Bloom called "Free-Range Chicken Gardens" that had some great information. So what we did was supply several low lean-to's around the fence and against building walls, planted some rose bushes, set up a popup canopy with legs buried in the ground so it doesn't para-sail away in a breeze, and recycled a big doghouse. We are constantly working in the backyard to keep adding pathways, and raised beds, and plants for the girls to dive/snooze under. I have hopes of putting in a curved mock bridge over a fake pebble stone river as another cover. Our hens without a roo have become very predator savvy with all these added covers - none of which are trees or tall bushes. The book helped us understand how to protect free-range hens in our backyard.

We live close to a freeway lined with lots of tall trees filled with predatory birds. There are large wild parrots, crows, and a resident Cooper's Hawk (chicken hawk). Occasionally a Red-tailed Hawk circles high overhead and the girls are ever watchful toward the sky - they ignore planes and helicopters but are especially suspicious when a mylar balloon floats by! Sometimes the Cooper's Hawk sits on the patio furniture 5 feet away watching our girls but he won't go after hiding hens. Hawks prefer aerial attacks on baby chicks or smaller birds mid-air. The small birds at the wild bird feeder keeps his attention focused away from the hiding hens. He's not good at catching the little birds either because they fly into the neighbor's banana plant or dwarf orange tree bush.

We have two small Silkies and those little buggers are the first girls to dive into the doghouse when the barnyard alert is sounded by our jittery Ameraucana. Once I saw all 4 of our hens dive into that doghouse at once! Having multiple low covers and plants has been their saving grace - plus we don't have chicks in the open yard for a hawk to easily pick off! Just MHO but I don't put pullets out to free-range until they are at least 6 months old and smart enough to understand what the experienced hens teach them.

 

[Sylvester017]

Yes the DH let me have it for chickens! It took some convincing but he got a 2 car garage when we moved so he wasn't too concerned with the building anymore. His friends told him he was crazy for letting me have it for chickens though. I would let the chicks have the playset if it were up to me but my two little boys might disown me lol
He's figuring it out! He still has to build the run and run power to the building that is about 200 ft away from the source. Those chickens better lay golden eggs!

Golden eggs! LOL

We figure with just the Vet visits alone our Silkie's bantam eggs cost us over $3 apiece this past year - and that's not counting her housing, feed, bottled water, treats, medical supplies, health maintenance products, bath products, indoor hospital pen, chicken booties, chicken diapers, extra nestbox accessories, straw bedding, security lighting, etc.

At this rate we're not expecting Golden Eggs but PLATINUM eggs!