post your chicken coop pictures here!

[MangerSainFarms]

Just got newest

coop delivered. So far I'm liking it. Has all the amenities. Time will tell if the small ones like it. 6x12 with four nest boxes.

 

[jtbass2756]

Just got newest coop delivered. So far I'm liking it. Has all the amenities. Time will tell if the small ones like it. 6x12 with four nest boxes.

Before you put your pretty ladies in there, go get some 1/2" or 1x2" and put over that chicken wire that's on there. That is a pretty coop and should not start out with any of your ladies or gents being the feast of the neighborhood.. The chicken wire can be ripped apart and the holes are big enough predators can reach thru the holes and pull the chicken thru one piece at a time.

 

[MangerSainFarms]

The wire is 3/4" x 3/4". My other coop I built has the half inch. You think the 3/4 will make that much difference ?

 

[MangerSainFarms]

Before you put your pretty ladies in there, go get some 1/2" or 1x2" and put over that chicken wire that's on there. That is a pretty coop and should not start out with any of your ladies or gents being the feast of the neighborhood.. The chicken wire can be ripped apart and the holes are big enough predators can reach thru the holes and pull the chicken thru one piece at a time.

The wire is 3/4" x 3/4". My other coop I built has the half inch. You think the 3/4 will make that much difference

 

[Peggy O]

Hi guys. Need some advice on roost relocation I think. Not everyone is using it, if anyone is at all during the night. I know they are on it some mornings, but I have also seen them sleeping in a pile on the floor. I would like to open the next boxes soon, but i know they will just start sleeping in them again if I do. All 6 birds had been piling in them at night (2 boxes), so I sealed them off from use 5 weeks ago. My girls are 19 1/2 weeks old and due to begin laying at around 26. My roost is low, I have heavy breeds, I would like to raise it up, but how high is to high? I am hoping that they will use it if it is higher. I also need to add a second roost, as I removed the ones that came on the kit part of the house. I think roosts are better in the addition, a larger space we built off the back. Their food is in the kit part, also the nest boxes. Water is in the back room. Is there a better way to arrange all that stuff? How should I space two 2x4 roosts? I don't want them to poop on each other. Here is a picture of the house I had on here before, just so you have an idea of what I am talking about.


Any input would be helpful. I really want them to sleep on the roosts.



They do like to "roost" just not inside the house it seems. They try to sleep on the roof a few nights a week. I have been moving them when they do.

 

[Sylvester017]

Just got newest coop delivered. So far I'm liking it. Has all the amenities. Time will tell if the small ones like it. 6x12 with four nest boxes.

Does it move around easily so that it can be parked on a cement slab or paver stone patio to keep out digging critters during night hours and then rolled out onto the lawn during daylight hours? I can envision a canvas carport over the slab too. During storms the carport/parking slab will be nice to keep the chickens lifted off of soggy ground. If you don't have a canvas carport or popup canopy over the coop, you may want to attach a lightweight awning over the nestbox lid to keep the nestbox dry from rain when the lid is lifted to collect eggs. I wonder why a perching bar wasn't installed inside the open pen area. The design allows for hanging feeder/waterer under the coop near the people door so they can move with the tractor.

Just about every experienced chickeneer on this thread will suggest you cover the cheap 1-inch poultry wire with sturdier 1/2-inch hardwire. My little coop came with the cheap poultry wire and I nearly lost my chickens from two mutts who broke into our backyard and mangled the wire so badly it would've allowed the dogs into the coop if a neighbor didn't chase them off and save my flock. You probably already spent a lot on the tractor/coop but believe me the 1/2-inch hardwire will save your flock - just install it right over the poultry wire so you don't have to pull out existing wire.

Liking a design is important - I love most of the design of our little coop - but more importantly how SECURE is it against the predators that you never knew your neighborhood had until you got chickens!

To make moving the tractor easier I would just put lightweight artificial foliage like plastic ivy in the window box instead of heavy dirt and live plants that makes the tractor heavier to move. Like us with our open wire walls you may find a tarp helpful during inclement weather if you don't have a canvas carport or popup canopy.

 

[Tarzakus]

Here is our chicken house. It's seven years old, we just remodeled it a few months ago; removed asphalt roofing and put on metal to make it lighter/better looking. Added cedar shingles over osb sides for looks and weatherizing, and painted the trim. It's up on legs because the floor is welded wire mesh which allows poop to drop through onto the ground, I've never needed to shovel out the chicken house. The snowboard is going to be screwed onto the bottom of the legs so we can pull the henhouse around our place with the riding mower... but we are having a hard time finding another snowboard! The one we have only cost $5 at a recycle center; anyone out there know where we can get a matching cheap snowboard?

 

[TJordan]

We had tried a bungie cord to hold the door open but the wind kept swinging the door and the cord came off so we resorted to using a heavy brick to hold the door open.  The chickens love standing on the brick and when we move the brick they chase the crickets under it - fun!

If the string doesn't work, and even if it does, we have plenty of bricks around the house lol... "One day" my husband plans to build a brick smoker... Only had them for 2 years in back.... So thanks for that idea.. I'll use it tomorrow.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hi guys. Need some advice on roost relocation I think. Not everyone is using it, if anyone is at all during the night. I know they are on it some mornings, but I have also seen them sleeping in a pile on the floor. I would like to open the next boxes soon, but i know they will just start sleeping in them again if I do. All 6 birds had been piling in them at night (2 boxes), so I sealed them off from use 5 weeks ago. My girls are 19 1/2 weeks old and due to begin laying at around 26. My roost is low, I have heavy breeds, I would like to raise it up, but how high is to high? I am hoping that they will use it if it is higher. I also need to add a second roost, as I removed the ones that came on the kit part of the house. I think roosts are better in the addition, a larger space we built off the back. Their food is in the kit part, also the nest boxes. Water is in the back room. Is there a better way to arrange all that stuff? How should I space two 2x4 roosts? I don't want them to poop on each other. Here is a picture of the house I had on here before, just so you have an idea of what I am talking about.


Any input would be helpful. I really want them to sleep on the roosts.



They do like to "roost" just not inside the house it seems. They try to sleep on the roof a few nights a week. I have been moving them when they do.

Somewhere on this thread Bruceha2000 suggested some dimensions for roosting perches. I believe he said placement should be higher than the nestbox ledge, 12 inches from the wall, not placed over nesting boxes, plenty of jumping off space from the perch to the floor if you have large breed hens, plenty of headroom below the ceiling or the chickens won't fly to the perch, and at least a 3-inch round pole or branch for the perch. My preference for a perch is a 2x4 plank flat side up using all the other recommendations stated by Bruce.

Now these are recommendations only. In my case our pre-built custom coop at the feed store has the perch at the same level as the nestbox ledge. The chickens have always used the skinny perch (2x2 only) during the daytime but when it comes to roosting for the night they all pile into our 3 large nestboxes - sometimes up to 4 chickens in one box on cold nights. They've done this for 3 years and we don't worry about it. On hot nights sometimes a hen will use the 5-inch wide nestbox ledge to sleep on during the night. We have to check the straw every morning and clean the boxes as needed but the girls are fairly good about not pooping much in them surprisingly.

In a wild environment chickens will pick a roosting place where they feel safe. If our girls feel safe inside the boxes then farbeit for us to force them otherwise. l think they like the boxes at night because 3 walls of the coop are open wire and the 2x2 roosting pole is against exposed wire walls so the enclosed nestboxes are more secure to them. Better in the boxes than having them pile up on the floor which Silkies will tend to do.

When summer nights are warm or humid chickens will want to perch in an area that has more circulating air. The inside of a coop on a perch might be suffocating to them. We had to bring our Ameraucana into the house last week she was panting in such distress in the coop. We had to drop open the nestbox lid to allow more air because they were all breathing and panting with difficulty. So glad the humid spell has passed!

 

[Sylvester017]

Here is our chicken house. It's seven years old, we just remodeled it a few months ago; removed asphalt roofing and put on metal to make it lighter/better looking. Added cedar shingles over osb sides for looks and weatherizing, and painted the trim. It's up on legs because the floor is welded wire mesh which allows poop to drop through onto the ground, I've never needed to shovel out the chicken house. The snowboard is going to be screwed onto the bottom of the legs so we can pull the henhouse around our place with the riding mower... but we are having a hard time finding another snowboard! The one we have only cost $5 at a recycle center; anyone out there know where we can get a matching cheap snowboard?

Good idea using the snowboards. Hope you can find one.

Did you insulate the ceiling from the tin roof - it will get hot inside that coop. We had such suffocating humid weather last week I had to bring a distressed hen into the house at night!

Cute remodel job!