post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Sylvester017]

Some amazing coops on here. After looking at what we want done, and my lack of building skills, I might need to hire one of you to come build it for us! *laugh*

Sorry - you'll have to get a coop the hard way like the rest of us with blood, sweat, tears, and MONEY - LOL

 

[sled483]

I'm done!!!

 

[MikaylaSD]

Pretty design.

I see daylight over the nestboxes. Hope you use good sealants or a removable watertight bin to hold your herb garden. I have an herb garden on plastic shelves and each variety in it's own drain base and still I get leaking but then I don't have them over my nestboxes.

Lovely wood finish and great hardwire protection. Is there anything to prevent critters from digging under the coop pen? We had a stray German Shepherd and his mutt friend break down our gate and then attack the coop. It was a lifesaver to have the coop set on paver stones with a 3 foot wide paver stone walkway around the coop and pen which prevented the mutts from digging under to get to the chickens. Lucky we had a neighbor who chased the mutts away.

Thank you!! There is a very small gap above the nestboxes but its very warm here right now so I'm not worried about a little extra ventilation. Once winter comes we will definitely need to seal it up. We aren't sure how to do the drainage on the herb garden yet, still figuring that out. We don't have anything to keep predators out around the run at the moment. Wouldn't be a bad idea but we do live in town and have a 6ft privacy fence with a locked gate around our property so no stray dogs can get in. Our pitbull and coonhound keep out any other critters

 

[wyandodo]

These are my coops.

3 years old (Forsham Cottage Arks)




8 years old (Forsham Cottage Arks)

 

[ceubel]

My coop is finally finished with the run attached. My 8 chicks are just 9 weeks old and love being outside in the run and digging around for bugs. I plan on keeping the coop door open at all times and let them go in and out of the run as they please. Don't worry thought, I made the run very secure and dug the fencing down a foot on every side

 

[cyndilynn]

Finally put the finishing touches on my coop and run!

 

[Sylvester017]

A question regarding the early mornings... Why do people feel the need to let their livestock out at ungodly hours? I've always found that most animals can be conditioned to living with a rhythm you find more suitable yourself. I open the coop around 9 in the morning and close it around midnight.

That's a good point regarding the optional lifestyle we can adapt to our flocks.

Just like with human children we all get a personal rhythm going that suits ours and the chickens' lifestyle. We personally chose to go with the natural rhythm of the chickens. They used to holler at 5 a.m. But after uncovering the tarp over their coop they became accustomed to patiently watching us as we set up their free-range feed and clean water and then opened their door like children running out to recess! Cut down a lot on the early a.m. squawking for them to watch us doing this a.m. routine. As long as the tarp stays over the coop in the mornings we can wait as late as 6:00 or 7:00 before starting this routine depending on daylight savings time. We like to let our flock out as early as possible to get in their foraging since our summer times are brutal here and not the best time of the day for foraging.

Chickens are such creatures of habit and routine that they are easily adaptable. They are so pliable that the poor things will adapt even to crowded conditions some humans keep them in. Domesticated animals depend on human care for their survival and have no choice but to adapt to whatever we toss at them.

On these chicken websites most are raising chickens not just for convenient utility. To many they are not just a hobby or business but also family pets and spoiled a little more. Some even keep them as house pets. We have one Silkie that gets tired of waiting in line for her "favourite" coop nestbox and comes into our in-house hospital pen to lay her egg and then goes back out prompty. Talk about chicken adaptability LOL

 

[Glos Girls]

That sounds like a good idea. But we will be moving our coop to the barn/shop. An uncle who is a big cattle farmer just brought over 100 peeps! Mercy! Our 21 girls are our first run at raising chickens, so looks like we had best learn fast!

 

[iwiw60]

Very nice...great job!

 

[Bigwheel]

Finally, wrapping things up the "Chix Shall Lay". Took a couple weeks of work but happy with the final results. Just need the girls to grow up and start producing.