post your chicken coop pictures here!

[iwiw60]

UPDATE: Well, we finally got all the posts set and concreted in...WHEW! Temps that day were just awful, got a sunburn, but I got my posts in!! YAY!

Next will be putting all the 2 x 4's on top and bottom and then it's hardware cloth time...WOOT!

UPDATE: After two more weeks of working by myself the chicken run is DONE! I found someone to help me put all the hardware cloth on, I can't tell you how "chewed up" my hands and arms were from cuts and nicks! But that was the end of my help. So I went to the hardware store and bought 8 sheets of 2' x 10' metal roofing and when I found out there would be a $15 charge to deliver I said "we're going to jam it in the van...yes, my VAN! The guys out in the yard managed to get them in and I drove home...very slowly as I could not see to my right because of the way it was crammed in there! So! I get home and managed to unload them all. The next day I got up early while it was still relatively cool (temps have been 95+) and stood there staring at the panels, staring at the run, staring at the panels, staring at the run. I packed my pockets full of those rubber-screw thingies, put the battery in my drill, and grabbed my first panel. It was actually pretty easy walking one over to the run and standing it up, then leaning it against the run, picking it up and sliding it in place...wow, this is going to be easy I said. Then I took my 3-step ladder and climbed up and in between the cross-slats, made sure everything was straight, etc., and sunk my first screw...there's where the problem was. I almost didn't have enough strength in my arms to make the screw 'grab' and sink! But it did, only problem was that third screw furthest away from me each time...holy geez! I was reaching as far as I could and the further away the less "oomph" I had to get it to grab! Each panel had a row of 3 screws across and 5 rows down it. By the time I got that first panel in I was toast! ... BREAK TIME!

Sat in my lawn chair staring at the other 7 panels...how am I going to do this? After resting for a few I mustered up the courage, grabbed the 2nd panel, got it in place, back up the ladder and screwed the 15 screws in on that one! ... BREAK TIME!

And on it went until I got to the last panel. By then I was so tired my legs were shaking, my arms were literally dead, and I said heck with it, I'll get that last one in the morning. Mistake....BIG MISTAKE. I woke up so stiff and sore I could hardly roll my 70-year-old body out of bed! But get up I did, and after lots of coffee out I went, grabbed that last panel, told it it was not going to get the best of me and slapped it up...YAY!

Then it was off to the hardware store yet again, this time to have the guys show me how to make my door...oh, THAT was fun! I ended up running 2 2x3's the height of the opening and putting a 2x4 top and bottom and a leftover piece of 2x3 for the center...it actually came out pretty good! And then it dawned on me...I have to tackle the unruly remaining roll of hardware cloth, release the "beast" from the bailing wire that was holding it closed, and cut the wire....by myself!

Having never unrolled and cut the stuff by myself I grabbed leftover pieces of posts and laid them on top to keep it down...voila! Got it cut! Then screwed it to the door...whew! I put it in the opening, looked a little tight, but took the spring-loaded hinges and screwed the door in...great! Added the handle...great! IT WOULDN'T OPEN! It was too 'tight' up at the top, about 4-6 inches-worth....I gave up for the day defeated. My BIL is coming over tomorrow with a planer and says he'll fix me up. So, the only thing left now is cutting the pop hole in the coop. You're thinking 'easy', right? Wrong! My coop is a Lifetime shed that is made out of that new-age plastic Rubbermaid type stuff and is double-walled, so I'm going to draw the opening on the outside and drill pilot holes in each of the corners, then my BIL will cut the opening for me with one of those reciprocating saw thingies, the ones with a sword-looking blade that I don't have.

So, there you have it, what the past 2 weeks have been like for this old lady....I have NEVER been so glad to have something done in my LIFE!

 

[vehve]

UPDATE: After two more weeks of working by myself the chicken run is DONE! I found someone to help me put all the hardware cloth on, I can't tell you how "chewed up" my hands and arms were from cuts and nicks! But that was the end of my help. So I went to the hardware store and bought 8 sheets of 2' x 10' metal roofing and when I found out there would be a $15 charge to deliver I said "we're going to jam it in the van...yes, my VAN! The guys out in the yard managed to get them in and I drove home...very slowly as I could not see to my right because of the way it was crammed in there! So! I get home and managed to unload them all. The next day I got up early while it was still relatively cool (temps have been 95+) and stood there staring at the panels, staring at the run, staring at the panels, staring at the run. I packed my pockets full of those rubber-screw thingies, put the battery in my drill, and grabbed my first panel. It was actually pretty easy walking one over to the run and standing it up, then leaning it against the run, picking it up and sliding it in place...wow, this is going to be easy I said. Then I took my 3-step ladder and climbed up and in between the cross-slats, made sure everything was straight, etc., and sunk my first screw...there's where the problem was. I almost didn't have enough strength in my arms to make the screw 'grab' and sink! But it did, only problem was that third screw furthest away from me each time...holy geez! I was reaching as far as I could and the further away the less "oomph" I had to get it to grab! Each panel had a row of 3 screws across and 5 rows down it. By the time I got that first panel in I was toast! ... BREAK TIME!

Sat in my lawn chair staring at the other 7 panels...how am I going to do this? After resting for a few I mustered up the courage, grabbed the 2nd panel, got it in place, back up the ladder and screwed the 15 screws in on that one! ... BREAK TIME!

And on it went until I got to the last panel. By then I was so tired my legs were shaking, my arms were literally dead, and I said heck with it, I'll get that last one in the morning. Mistake....BIG MISTAKE. I woke up so stiff and sore I could hardly roll my 70-year-old body out of bed! But get up I did, and after lots of coffee out I went, grabbed that last panel, told it it was not going to get the best of me and slapped it up...YAY!

Then it was off to the hardware store yet again, this time to have the guys show me how to make my door...oh, THAT was fun! I ended up running 2 2x3's the height of the opening and putting a 2x4 top and bottom and a leftover piece of 2x3 for the center...it actually came out pretty good! And then it dawned on me...I have to tackle the unruly remaining roll of hardware cloth, release the "beast" from the bailing wire that was holding it closed, and cut the wire....by myself!

Having never unrolled and cut the stuff by myself I grabbed leftover pieces of posts and laid them on top to keep it down...voila! Got it cut! Then screwed it to the door...whew! I put it in the opening, looked a little tight, but took the spring-loaded hinges and screwed the door in...great! Added the handle...great! IT WOULDN'T OPEN! It was too 'tight' up at the top, about 4-6 inches-worth....I gave up for the day defeated. My BIL is coming over tomorrow with a planer and says he'll fix me up. So, the only thing left now is cutting the pop hole in the coop. You're thinking 'easy', right? Wrong! My coop is a Lifetime shed that is made out of that new-age plastic Rubbermaid type stuff and is double-walled, so I'm going to draw the opening on the outside and drill pilot holes in each of the corners, then my BIL will cut the opening for me with one of those reciprocating saw thingies, the ones with a sword-looking blade that I don't have.

So, there you have it, what the past 2 weeks have been like for this old lady....I have NEVER been so glad to have something done in my LIFE!

Good job. Next time you're installing tin roofing, hit the screw with a hammer first to get it through the tin. Makes it a lot easier.

 

[iwiw60]

Good job. Next time you're installing tin roofing, hit the screw with a hammer first to get it through the tin. Makes it a lot easier.

NOW you tell me!!!

 

[vehve]

NOW you tell me!!!

You didn't ask before

Any time you think "There must be a better way to do this", you have a good excuse to go inside and ask your friendly helpers on BYC and they'll come up with something.

I can only imagine the trouble you've gone through screwing in those screws through the tin. That takes a lot of strength.

 

[bigmrg74]

Good job. Next time you're installing tin roofing, hit the screw with a hammer first to get it through the tin. Makes it a lot easier.

That or another cordless drill handy with a drill bit to punch a starter hole in.

I've also kept a pole barn nail around to used to punch a starter hole in as well.

 

[LindaB220]

Dought I wont see or feel any tornados or earthquakes when I live across the pond

Good to have you. What do you have over where you're from. Cold? Heat? Where are you from? I'm in deep south US in La and it's hot, hot, hot.

 

[gilcamp4]

ok now i have a problem, have had chickens for a total of 15 years, never have i had a chicken sleep in the nest well last week i found not one but 4 sleeping in them, dh said he would block them off for night, but what about that early bird egg. i have taken them out and put them on the roost the last 2 nights, oh ya like that helped had more do it, i just finished cleaning this coop and now the nest full of poo, any ideas?

 

[bruceha2000]

Carved out some time after work today to get some more done on the coop, and yep, the run portion will be roofed. I'm in FL so no worries about snow or extreme cold weather so my design is open air for good ventilation, with enough cover to keep the rain out.

The chickens will love all that shade and cover! Oh, I see you later posted you keep the out of this eden. I think you should let them roam. I know chickens can make a mess of a garden but mine seem not to do so all that much since they have a lot of areas they can rip up for dust baths where there are no plants.

I love beautiful lush landscaping. We are constantly working on our yard with the foraging chickens in mind. Have you ever researched what plants are toxic vs. safe for chickens? It's amazing all the things they can or can't have in a foraging environment. I invested in the paperback book "Free-Range Chicken Gardens" because I have no idea what is safe vs. toxic. It surprised me that the tomato vines and leaves are toxic to both humans and chickens but that the fruit itself was ok - who knew? I had to be sure to keep a Leghorn out of the raised garden bed because she loved eating the tomato leaves!

I wonder if people are a bit too cautious. There are tons of plants around the house and barn, I have no idea what many of them are and the chickens are fine. They hang out near and under but don't eat the hostas (which I guess are toxic to them or something) but the 2 variegated ones in front of the house are almost leafless. Woodchuck I think but it ignores the other hostas not more than a few feet away.

I'm off work for the next 2 nights it's my weekend) so I'm going to spend a few hours tonight at work scrounging through junk pallets, which are mostly new pallets that are odd sizes so we just throw away by the truck load. I figure in a couple or 3 weeks I'll have enough materials to start my pallet wood coop. I'll strip off enough slats for the siding and set up my router table to either T&G or shiplap the boards to get a water/airtight seal at the joints. Approximate size of the coop will be 4' W X 6' L X 6' H (24" from ground to bottom of floor and 4' from floor to roof peek) with 4' X 12' run. So I'll be creating lots of sawdust in the near future and probably have the new materials I need to get from the depot in a month or so. I'm really looking forward to this project to actually start coming together.

Keep the sawdust, well not dust but if you have 'chips' from the router, they make good run material. I planed down a bunch of hard maple and threw 2 dust collector bags worth in the barn run where it gets wet when it rains heavy. Kept their feet dry and they have spread it from the original ~5'x5' area a good 10' down the alley.

I am so pleased with our funky coop/yard. The entire thing was designed around using the privacy fence as the back side. Most of this is found or recycled materials. Very little was purchased...which makes it even better! We have a total of 11 nesting boxes (which is way to many but gives the girls a choice). We have a PVC feeder we made and a 5 gallon bucket (covered with a trash bag in one of the photos) we made into the waterer using pvc pipe and poultry nipples. I have a 3 foot apron around the entire coop and run. On the privacy fence at the back of the yard I have fencing buried several feet down into the ground. The chickens have several roosts and a mirror to keep themselves busy and we also let them free range when we are outside. It's not conventional but we love it. Another upside to putting the coop/yard where we did is that I can see the yard with our home security camera! It's nice to see them run around when I am not there.
Note: the copyright for the photo is my own.

No shape is stronger than a triangle! And it was easier to build than a "4 wall with roof structure". Also easy to put a tarp over that you can rig with line and pulleys to raise or lower as needed for shade/rain protection.

Sorry but I have to get on my "ramp" soap box. Much too steep, the cleats are too far apart and too wide (vertically). Chicken toes and nails don't dig into wood for climbing. Otherwise it looks nicely done.

An addition to our chickening project:



Finally we can keep the chicken equipment organized.

The heck with that, tell me about those snow rails on the "big coop"!

We had an unusual snow, ice, snow layer last winter - about a foot thick with half of it being ice. I have no pictures of the slabs that blasted off the roof in the spring but my guess is some of them were 100 pounds or more before they hit the deck still just covered with plywood and no railing. I don't think it would look a lot different now if I HAD found time to put up the railing last fall.

It did this to the flange on the plumbing vent:


still on the roof


after removal. I cut out the raised part so I could drill holes in the exact same places in the replacement. Don't need 12
MORE holes in the roof!


The ice hit just at the edge of the deck framing where the rail SHOULD be and I'm sure would have splintered at least some of it.

So I'm looking into rails or cleats. Are both used in Finland or only rail?

This is our new coop, we just finished it this week and hope to get our girls sometime this week.

No, no, no. You are supposed to get the day old chicks, THEN start the coop and figure out how to get it done when you discover they are ready for it at 4 weeks old!

Looks really nice. Love the ventilation and light.

Just need some real chickens now, besides my boy. Lol. Anyone know where to look for year old hens for sale? Want 3-4 egg layers first, then will raise next.

Could be hard unless you know someone personally. Chicken age is pretty hard to tell after they are mature, no telling how old they are REALLY. Sometimes there are 4-H or schools with "raise the chicks" projects. You don't really want them older than ~4 to 5 months anyway since that is when they start to lay. Get a year old hen now and she is likely to moult soon. Not many, if any, eggs when they moult and they tend not to lay well in the winter after they start moulting. They lay well their first winter though.

Here is our little coop. It was re-purposed from a dog house someone was getting rid of, and a dog run someone was selling for fifty bucks on craigslist. We added nesting boxes on the sides, a door that opens up for cleaning access on the back, and we re-did the roof because it was old warped plywood that was falling apart. It kind of looks like a tin roof in the photo, but it's actually the plastic stuff in light blue.

The orange bucket in the top photo is their water fountain, with poultry "nipples."






Inside view:



They don't really "need" a heat lamp in July, but they were stressed out by the new environment, and turning on the night light calmed them right down.

I'm surprised they even went in the coop with the heat lamp on. Cut some windows in the walls so they have light and it looks like it is seriously in need of ventilation.

UPDATE: After two more weeks of working by myself the chicken run is DONE! I found someone to help me put all the hardware cloth on, I can't tell you how "chewed up" my hands and arms were from cuts and nicks! But that was the end of my help. So I went to the hardware store and bought 8 sheets of 2' x 10' metal roofing and when I found out there would be a $15 charge to deliver I said "we're going to jam it in the van...yes, my VAN! The guys out in the yard managed to get them in and I drove home...very slowly as I could not see to my right because of the way it was crammed in there! So! I get home and managed to unload them all. The next day I got up early while it was still relatively cool (temps have been 95+) and stood there staring at the panels, staring at the run, staring at the panels, staring at the run. I packed my pockets full of those rubber-screw thingies, put the battery in my drill, and grabbed my first panel. It was actually pretty easy walking one over to the run and standing it up, then leaning it against the run, picking it up and sliding it in place...wow, this is going to be easy I said. Then I took my 3-step ladder and climbed up and in between the cross-slats, made sure everything was straight, etc., and sunk my first screw...there's where the problem was. I almost didn't have enough strength in my arms to make the screw 'grab' and sink! But it did, only problem was that third screw furthest away from me each time...holy geez! I was reaching as far as I could and the further away the less "oomph" I had to get it to grab! Each panel had a row of 3 screws across and 5 rows down it. By the time I got that first panel in I was toast! ... BREAK TIME!

Sat in my lawn chair staring at the other 7 panels...how am I going to do this? After resting for a few I mustered up the courage, grabbed the 2nd panel, got it in place, back up the ladder and screwed the 15 screws in on that one! ... BREAK TIME!

And on it went until I got to the last panel. By then I was so tired my legs were shaking, my arms were literally dead, and I said heck with it, I'll get that last one in the morning. Mistake....BIG MISTAKE. I woke up so stiff and sore I could hardly roll my 70-year-old body out of bed! But get up I did, and after lots of coffee out I went, grabbed that last panel, told it it was not going to get the best of me and slapped it up...YAY!

Then it was off to the hardware store yet again, this time to have the guys show me how to make my door...oh, THAT was fun! I ended up running 2 2x3's the height of the opening and putting a 2x4 top and bottom and a leftover piece of 2x3 for the center...it actually came out pretty good! And then it dawned on me...I have to tackle the unruly remaining roll of hardware cloth, release the "beast" from the bailing wire that was holding it closed, and cut the wire....by myself!

Having never unrolled and cut the stuff by myself I grabbed leftover pieces of posts and laid them on top to keep it down...voila! Got it cut! Then screwed it to the door...whew! I put it in the opening, looked a little tight, but took the spring-loaded hinges and screwed the door in...great! Added the handle...great! IT WOULDN'T OPEN! It was too 'tight' up at the top, about 4-6 inches-worth....I gave up for the day defeated. My BIL is coming over tomorrow with a planer and says he'll fix me up. So, the only thing left now is cutting the pop hole in the coop. You're thinking 'easy', right? Wrong! My coop is a Lifetime shed that is made out of that new-age plastic Rubbermaid type stuff and is double-walled, so I'm going to draw the opening on the outside and drill pilot holes in each of the corners, then my BIL will cut the opening for me with one of those reciprocating saw thingies, the ones with a sword-looking blade that I don't have.

So, there you have it, what the past 2 weeks have been like for this old lady....I have NEVER been so glad to have something done in my LIFE!

GOOD JOB! I was in the same shape as you were after your 7th panel when replacing the roof vent, half clinging to an emergency escape ladder tied to a railing on the other side of the house. Man was that quad and arm killing! I also had to give up and finish the next day.

 

[vehve]

That or another cordless drill handy with a drill bit to punch a starter hole in.

I've also kept a pole barn nail around to used to punch a starter hole in as well.

That works too, but I like hammering in the screw. You get nice precise placement for the screw, and in my opinion it's the quickest method.

 

[bruceha2000]

ok now i have a problem, have had chickens for a total of 15 years, never have i had a chicken sleep in the nest well last week i found not one but 4 sleeping in them, dh said he would block them off for night, but what about that early bird egg. i have taken them out and put them on the roost the last 2 nights, oh ya like that helped had more do it, i just finished cleaning this coop and now the nest full of poo, any ideas?

And these are chickens you have had for some time and in the same coop? That is weird.