post your chicken coop pictures here!

[iwiw60]

Im actually thinking of planting a couple of bushes in the Run itself Just not sure which kind.

Sounds like you need to start a new thread here and see what kind of response you get..I'd be curious to know, too!!

 

[Bethel3330]

Yes, it was you...sorry 'bout that! I was just wondering because in the other photos I didn't see any other ventilation other than that one window.

Under the eaves is open with welded wire covering it

 

[iwiw60]

Under the eaves is open with welded wire covering it

Ah-HA!! Gotcha!

 

[gilcamp4]

Probably the ones who have been using the old coop will continue using it since it is "home" to them. It's a shame you don't have a neighbor that likes chickens. So if your chickens are out it can only be in an enclosed run?

here is the coop they are in now the other side is going to have the run, they will still have this part plus under it, they love being under it is cool, at the end of the rabbit cage is a gate he said he is going to open, the rabbit cage is going to be part of the new run for new coop, it will be moved back passed the gate which is were we started the new coop, we have 2 fans one for each coop, 1 door, 2 window, and the floor of new coop, that's a start, we still need 2 more windows and the lumber for walls going to use that texter 111 for outside walls and make gate for new yards and put the fence up, then we will have 2 large coops. we have 23 chickens in this one and in our screen house we have 30 peeps.

 

[Sylvester017]

here is the coop they are in now the other side is going to have the run, they will still have this part plus under it, they love being under it is cool, at the end of the rabbit cage is a gate he said he is going to open, the rabbit cage is going to be part of the new run for new coop, it will be moved back passed the gate which is were we started the new coop, we have 2 fans one for each coop, 1 door, 2 window, and the floor of new coop, that's a start, we still need 2 more windows and the lumber for walls going to use that texter 111 for outside walls and make gate for new yards and put the fence up, then we will have 2 large coops. we have 23 chickens in this one and in our screen house we have 30 peeps.

Under the trailer coop is nice hiding/snoozing area for the birds.

What kind of predators do you have in your tree area? Your pen looks good for keeping the chickens inside but what kind of predators do you have around that have to be kept outside the pen? Use cinderblocks or paver stones around the pen base to keep out digging critters. Don't know what kind of critters you have as we all have something different depending on our area.

That's a lot of total chickens you're going to have. Using some as meat or selling eggs? I'm sure you've got some sort of plans besides just hobby?

 

[DoubleMM]

Wanted to finish the run this weekend, but it was 106 to 108... Had to stop by 10AM. Soon

 

[Sylvester017]

Sounds like you need to start a new thread here and see what kind of response you get..I'd be curious to know, too!!

Im actually thinking of planting a couple of bushes in the Run itself Just not sure which kind.

Jessi Bloom's book on Free Range Chicken Gardens suggests stickery or thorny plants like certain desiduous evergreens, berry bushes, or roses for chickens to snooze/hide under. We use rose bushes since that was the only plant in our backyard and the chickens always congregated and slept under it before we started setting up a bunch of low shelters and popup canopies and a big doghouse for them. Our girls seem to like the shelters up against fences and building walls. Our rose bush was along the side yard fence and was very big at 25 years old.

 

[Sylvester017]

How do those of you who have coops in hot places deal with 100+ temps.

We get quite a few 100+ temps during the summer. Im thinking if I put a bucket air conditioner in the coop it might help
I do not have a lot of natural shade in my back yard I have a tarp over part of the run and the coop shades an area underneath.

I put some icebags our yesterday and that seemed to help them through the worst of it. I also give them watermelon and make sure they have cool water to drink.

We set up a popup canopy in the backyard and buried the legs about one foot into the ground so it doesn't parasail away in the wind. Usually once a year after the top gets deteriorated we get a new tarp and tie it down to the top frame with nice ball-ties and it looks almost as good as a replacement canopy top which are too expensive. Under the canopy we set up a 4x4 raised bed with dirt for their dust baths good for either hot or rainy days. During the hot summers we set up a portable Orbit Mister all day long under the canopy and the girls love to get drenched standing under the light mist when it gets really hot and humid. They even prefer sitting in a moistened dust bath hole to cool off and snooze. They will spend the whole day under the mister in the shade of the canopy.

We also have a low lean-to shelter under the canopy against the fence for snooze time. We have shelters all around the perimeter of the yard fence and some rose bushes and gradually adding more things as we go along. Eventually we want a wide arched decorator bridge in the center yard with more plants for another shelter for the girls to sit under. Our first shelters were trashy looking but we didn't care as long as there were hiding places for the chickens from aerial predators and its worked the 3 years we've had backyard chickens. As $$$ allows we replace, repaint, or rebuild the shelters as we go along.

We found a big doghouse at a thrift store for 1/3 the pet store price. We once saw all 4 of our hens dive into it when the barnyard alarm was sounded for the Cooper's Hawk. Hawks won't go after hiding chickens - they prefer to swoop on prey in open areas for some reason.

We mix Gatorade Frost half with water (for electrolytes) and make sure the little S.S. bowls are set under a couple low shady lean-to's. We don't leave water in big bowls any more because we have a Leghorn that muddies the drinking water by standing in big bowls so we don't use big bowls any more. We tried several different watering methods and this worked best for us. If our Leghorn wants wet feet she'll have to go stand under the Orbit Mister. The little S.S. bowls also make it easier for our bantams to reach and are nearly impossible to knock over like all the other waterers we tried. The S.S. bowls are easy to clean every day and don't get any warmer than plastic bowls if left in shade all day.

I've read people use ice cubes or put floating bottles of frozen water in their waterers to keep the water cold but we never did any of that. Just made sure to have Gatorade water mixed and placed under a shady lean-to where no sun hit it throughout the day. With the Orbit Mister going throughout a heatwave day we never found it necessary to do the ice cube thing.

A TX BYCer on another thread said that lighterweight fowl and bantams weather heatwaves better than Heavier LF and Dual-Purpose types. He said in 112 degree TX heat his dual purpose were dying like flies but his bantams were doing fine. I always thought it was the larger straight combs that helped regulate heat in chickens but he said it was determined more by the weight of the bird.

We hit the 90s several times this past month and my girls choose the Mister under the canopy shade during the hottest parts of the day. Because we have very hard water we bought a package of replacement mister nozzles for when the nozzles get clogged - replace them 1 to 2x/per year.

Of course cold produce from the fridge is always refreshing - grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, etc. Cucumbers have an anti-inflammatory ingredient which is great for the reproductive egg-laying hens especially during heatwaves when we all swell from the uncomfortable heat. I want to make egg laying as comfortable as possible for our girls in warm weather.

Since our hens free-range the yard we never set up any A/C or fans in their coop. But we notice that hens don't mind breezes. We have a Silkie that loves to stand in front of heaters OR fans to feel the breeze over her teddy bear feathers. She will tap on top of the floor fan when she wants it turned on and then she'll sit in front of it. The Silkies at the Country Fair liked sitting in front of a big box fan on the floor and a hard-feathered breed sat behind it because she couldn't fit into the pile of Silkies in front of it!

 

[Sylvester017]

Sounds like you need to start a new thread here and see what kind of response you get..I'd be curious to know, too!!

Get a paperback copy or download to Nook from Barnes & Noble "Free Range Chicken Gardens" by Jessi Bloom. It has every kind of info about chicken behaviors and the best plants chickens love and has a lot of attractive pictures. I drooled and read this book every time I was in the bookstore and finally someone gave me a gift certificate and I bought the book. I use it for reference more than "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens."

 

[joelchick]

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