post your chicken coop pictures here!

[lil urbanette]

Everyone that wants to get rid of their junk sets it out by their mailbox in our neighborhood - the unwritten "free to good home" signal.  Yesterday we found two long sides of a disassembled wood cabinet that we picked up.  We'll repurpose the long boards set on top of a couple cinderblocks to make more lean-to shelters for our backyard free-range hens.  They use the shelters, the popup canopy, the shrubs, the rosebushes, and the doghouse as places to snooze/hide under from aerial predators.  These shelters have saved our girls from the visiting Cooper's Hawk more than once.  When you have chickens thoughts and conversation are always about the girls!

Met a lady in line at the cash register and she mentioned she was buying the stuff for her chickens.  Well we talked for 10 minutes about our girls like we were talking about our children!

We have the same idea around here. Beats having to haul things off. I love striking up a conversation about my chickens. Why are they so fabulous? My brother in CA was so enthused when I told him of my chickens. Yay, another vote for team chicken! I am in the process of placing some hideouts in the yard for my girls, why do they insist on hanging out in my enclosed porch through the doggy door? Lol

 

[recfsh]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/887267/our-new-run#post_13504776

This is the original build post for the run. I jus sketched a basic 8 x 12 design on paper to get an idea for how much wood I would need.

I just love that run! Did you have the plans to build it? It's exactly what I'm looking for!

 

[LindaB220]

Just WOW!!!!

 

[NikJov1981]

I built a rain shelter recently for my chickens' "day pen" area. We dedicated a side of the yard to them so they have somewhere to forage and dust bath during the daytime hours when we are home. I set it up so we can see them roosting out of one of our living room windows. The chickens seem to enjoy peeking in and watching us just as much
It rains a lot here in FL so they need somewhere to hang out while the brief but sometimes heavy afternoon storms pass through. Once the rain passes they immediately head for the feed and seem to really enjoy the pellets after they've been soaked with rain!
Just a couple things left to do: attach the proper gate hinges and latch for the front access gate, and I still have to build a gate to access my compost heap on the other side of the far end of the pen I don't want the chickens pecking through the compost and getting a taste for the egg shells and other chicken no-no stuff like avocado skins we toss in there. Some spare chain-link fencing does the job for now, but it makes getting to the compost heap a bit of a pain

Side Pen by (cobrabyte), on Flickr

Side Pen by (cobrabyte), on Flickr

Side Pen by (cobrabyte), on Flickr

Side Pen by (cobrabyte), on Flickr

 

[73luke]

I thought I would add a few images of my new run/coop.
The feeder was made from an off cut of waste pipe with a cowling attached to the end, this normally extends out of the roof of a house but turning upside down made the perfect feed bowl.
The waterer was made just using 3 nipples and some pvc pipe connected up to an old water cooler bottle kept on the outside of the run and connected via a small piece of tubing.
And after a few responses from other members I have changed the coop roost to one much thicker and a little higher but still made from a thick tree branch.
Ive also attached some curtains to the nest boxs for privacy and I thought I may as well give them matching window curtains too!
Ive kept to the sand inside and out as I find it only takes 10 minutes a day to go through it all with a cat litter scoop to remove all the offending bits.
Finally to finish it all off Ive given them an automatic pop door that can be programmed for various time/day openings etc.

 

[Latestarter]

Hey 73Luke: Like everything you did there! Pretty sweet set up for your birds. One question and one comment... Q: How in the world are you going to reach that high to fill up that food pipe? It also looks pretty close to the ceiling so might be a tight fit to fill it. Unless there's some way you can lower it then lean it to one side to fill then lift/slide (crane? forklift?) it back up there. C: The cowling edge is too low in relation to the pellet release holes. The birds are going to waste a LOT of feed out onto the ground (which is already noticeable in the pic). Don't know if you can get a "deeper" cowl, or maybe alter it somehow so the openings are lower inside the existing cowl. The food won't be quite as deep, but should flow just as well and they'll have no problem sticking their little heads down inside to get it

That will however mitigate (to some extent) the wasted feed.

 

[73luke]

Hi there,

the pipe comes out with remarkable ease and when its almost empty it weighs very little, cant say the same when I top it up of course. I think putting something around the top section of the holes that the feed comes through will stop the feed spillage hopefully, thanks for the tip.

 

[RedKell]

Since RedKell has now updated the profile to say North Western Australia, we can rule out raccoons getting the chickens. And while "roos" on this forum is usually short for roosters, these are the marsupials!

Do you have REAL Black Australorps? I gather they are more U shaped than the American version.

Bruce

Yes, I meant Kangaroos, sorry

No raccoons, or bears,or wildcats or wolves or any of the other scary stuff I see posted about on here!! People say Aussie wildlife is bad!!!!
I'm very new to chicken keeping, and live in quite an isolated (if fairly large) town. The only chooks up here seem to be Isa Browns. I was chasing Australorps but couldn't get hold of any. No sure if they are different to the American ones or not.

I am loving looking at everyones coops. Its amazing the detail people have gone into. Guess I'm not the only one who thinks the girls like it pretty

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks for the advice Sylvester. There are really not many predators about where I am, our main wildlife are Roo's and they don't come into town!! I think the ones I will need to watch out for are snakes (heaps in summer, haven't had one in the yard yet, but it wouldn't surprise me) and the odd hawk. I figure their main threats will be the mutt, and his kitty sidekick, LOL. That being said I might start putting some money aside so I can upgrade if it seems necessary.
So far the girls seem to be quite happy in their, I'm really glad they are all getting along. I was a bit worried about putting the young chicks in with the bigger ones, but they seem to be looking after them.

The 1/2" hardwire is excellent for protecting against snakes. Good luck on your chickeneering. As said before you never know you have wildlife until you get chickens - especially young chicks are wildlife's easiest prey.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have GOT to stop posting what my chickens do on BYC forums.

First I responded to the "When do chickens lay?" thread that they will OCCASIONALLY lay over night, from the roost. Ever since I've been picking up several eggs a week when I open the coop. TWO today! One must have been Echo's since she didn't lay yesterday. It was cracked enough the membrane had broken so the girls will get that scrambled later today.

Then yesterday I posted that I've never had an egg crushed in a nest. So what do I find later this morning? An egg crushed in the nest!

Had to be Zorra's based on size and color. Don't know the weight but mid 60's (grams) is her SMALL egg.
No one had eaten it and it wasn't hard to clean up, just scooped it out with a paper towel and some of the shavings.

I swear, the girls are reading my posts and saying "Oh YEAH? Well smarty pants, how about THIS?

"



Bruce

Yep, if you keep chickens long enough, you'll have all the experiences eventually - the sudden dead chick or hen, the mean vicious bully, the problem of LF mixed with bantams, prolapse, broodiness, hen saddles, chicken diapers, indoor hospital pens, extended chicken vacations from laying, eggbound, bloody fights, broken eggs, egg eaters, soft-shells, aggressive breeds, gentle breeds that won't defend themselves, predator attacks, snow storms, rain storms, heatwaves, lice, mites, worms, vet visits, a leaking coop, etc, just to name a very very few. And if you can still love chickens after all that you get an A+++