post your chicken coop pictures here!

[billkaroly]

That is a dang good job you've done! Love the colors, your flock looks very content in their "digs" !! I especially liked all the handprints on the nesting boxes...too cute! As I was watching I noticed your handmade fly trap bottles...I've never seen them done up like that...the ones I've always seen are like this example:

Could that be why you haven't caught that many yet? Just thinkin' .. couldn't really tell in the video....wishing you all the very best!!

That was the first style I tried and it was worthless. One problem was we get high winds and they got blown over after a few days.

 

[Sylvester017]

Good point about the chicken wire... We are only going to use that for our vent areas and a drop down net on the door for hot weather. We have heavy duty fencing around our run area...

Thank you for your kind reply. Yes, I noticed the fencing at the base of your large coop. Your ground area should have some sore of paver stones around the pen's outer perimeter to deter diggers - rain will make the dirt soft for critters to dig under. Paver stone walkway completely around our pen kept two stray dogs from digging under our coop.

The poultry wire was my main concern for your lovely construction - especially after the lousy experience we had with poultry wire - it couldn't even hold back a couple dogs except for our neighbor's intervention who saved our chickens. Your large pen probably has the same square footage as our little cottage backyard and we can only have 5 hens. Enjoy your flock as I'm certain you can have more than we are zoned for!

 

[TJordan]

Thank you for your kind reply.  Yes, I noticed the fencing at the base of your large coop.  Your ground area should have some sore of paver stones around the pen's outer perimeter to deter diggers - rain will make the dirt soft for critters to dig under.  Paver stone walkway completely around our pen kept two stray dogs from digging under our coop. 

The poultry wire was my main concern for your lovely construction - especially after the lousy experience we had with poultry wire - it couldn't even hold back a couple dogs except for our neighbor's intervention who saved our chickens.  Your large pen probably has the same square footage as our little cottage backyard and we can only have 5 hens.  Enjoy your flock as I'm certain you can have more than we are zoned for! 

If I can't then we are in trouble.. But I don't think it's a problem because across the main road is a big cow/horse plaster and a few houses over the guy has dozens on chickens.. WAY more than us... That's a good idea about the stones around the inside perimeter of the yard... Thanks e

 

[Sylvester017]

T jordan I like doumor as its cheaper, however my hens wont eat the pellets and waste so much feed with crumbles. Also I found that my hens egg shells were really weak and broke easily. So I switched to purina layena layer pellets.

My Silkies couldn't eat the dry layer pellets so we switched to crumbles. My Silkies aren't too keen even with wetting it down. I noticed before that my Silkies would take moistened layer pellets out of the dish and savour each little piece where they don't do that with the crumbles. My next bag I'm switching back to pellets again and letting it absorb some moisture so the pellets keep their shape and the Silkies can savour each piece again. Don't know why my bantams are such dainty eaters. Our Ameraucana just chows down and feed flies everywhere!

 

[Sylvester017]

If I can't then we are in trouble.. But I don't think it's a problem because across the main road is a big cow/horse plaster and a few houses over the guy has dozens on chickens.. WAY more than us... That's a good idea about the stones around the inside perimeter of the yard... Thanks

Because our cottage backyard is so small I would be pushing it to crowd more than a 1/2 dozen hens considering how they like to forage, dust-bathe, and snooze/hide under our scattered yard shelters, popup canopy, plants, and doghouses. Some people will go over-limit with chickens but with health maintenance schedules with our hens we find the allowed limit enough to deal with for us. One Silkie cost us near $400 just in vet bills this past year. We're limited to coop space and let our hens free-range the yard with a lot of shelters for evading aerial predators.

The paver stones would be best around the OUTside perimeter of your pen rather than the inside.

Unfortunately I need about 100+ additional paver stones to finish both my back and front yards but will have to wait until next Memorial Day Home Depot sale to get the stones at discount.

 

[Sylvester017]

Wow, you've been reading BYC to get ideas on security for your coop!

 

[Chippewachicken]

Our Greenroof Coop for 6.

We used feedlot fence for the 12'x26' run. Rubber roofing for the barrier under our herb\grass greenroof.

Here's our mix and match hens: black "red rock mix", Dominique, Wellsummer, Barnvelvader, and Columbian Wyandotte. Oh and one Rhode Island Red rooster.

Tried to make the coop easy to clean, with storage, and accessible eggs from the outside.

 

[TJordan]

Because our cottage backyard is so small I would be pushing it to crowd more than a 1/2 dozen hens considering how they like to forage, dust-bathe, and snooze/hide under our scattered yard shelters, popup canopy, plants, and doghouses.  Some people will go over-limit with chickens but with health maintenance schedules with our hens we find the allowed limit enough to deal with for us.  One Silkie cost us near $400 just in vet bills this past year.  We're limited to coop space and let our hens free-range the yard with a lot of shelters for evading aerial predators.

The paver stones would be best around the OUTside perimeter of your pen rather than the inside.     Unfortunately I need about 100+ additional paver stones to finish both my back and front yards but will have to wait until next Memorial Day Home Depot sale to get the stones at discount.

Outside the yard.. Gotcha... Bad thing is... Looks like my coop will have to wait longer... I warned my husband that the thing was HEAVY!!! But he's a man...

Trying to warn him is a lost cause.. Now he's laying on our bed with icy hot on his pulled back, our coop is beside the stand. Not on it... And my birds are still inside my house..l less than an hour of light left...

 

[Sylvester017]

Here's our mix and match hens: black "red rock mix", Dominique, Wellsummer, Barnvelvader, and Columbian Wyandotte. Oh and one Rhode Island Red rooster.

I love greenhouse roofs. One suggestion - drill 3-4 holes in the lowest side-end of the greenhouse to allow water runoff in a downpour rain otherwise you'll have mud and plants spilling over the backside when filled with rain water - unless you already have a gutter constructed for excess water already?

As for your particle board/OSB construction. It probably won't be necessary to paint all the inside doors but you may want to put a protective coat of paint/sealer on the drop-down nestbox door. Chickens moist poop eventually will cause the board to warp and separate from itself - so a protective sealer will help. Chickens sit on nests but as soon as they are ready to drop an egg they stand in the nestbox and brush their wet butts against the door. If you have enough paint/sealer left over you can think about painting the insides of both sets of double doors too.

For you chicken breed choices I'm glad to see you didn't throw in a gentle Ameraucana or EE into your mix of assertive breeds. Doms are probably going to be your gentlest birds compared to the assertive Wyans and larger Barnies. Of course w/a RIR roo he'll probably keep all the girls in line!

 

[Sylvester017]

Outside the yard.. Gotcha... Bad thing is... Looks like my coop will have to wait longer... I warned my husband that the thing was HEAVY!!! But he's a man...

Trying to warn him is a lost cause.. Now he's laying on our bed with icy hot on his pulled back, our coop is beside the stand. Not on it... And my birds are still inside my house..l less than an hour of light left...

I had to buy my DH a support belt at Harbor Freight Tools to support his back and stomach. I think I'm going to get one too for my gardening! I think the $10 is worth it.

Hope your birdies and DH will be ok!