post your chicken coop pictures here!

[TJordan]

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!

I like the metal roof but everything I've read says to avoid the wire floor because it hurts the birds feet and if it gets really hot the floor will cook their feet... The snow boards are cool ...

 

[Peggy O]

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!

Thank you! This is very helpful information. My coop kit roosts were also almost at the nest box level, a tad above. They fell down all the time though, so I took them out. The backroom perch we made is higher. I guess maybe I will just move it up a tad, so they still have good headroom, and add a second in a sort of L shape, so it can be 12 in from the back wall, and not interfere with the door or chicken size pass through door to the addition. I hope they just decide to use them. I am scared they are going to squish all the eggs when that time comes.

 

[Tarzakus]

We are in the Pacific Northwest near the ocean, it never gets too hot here; plus, there is a lot of ventilation, the hens have never shown any distress in there.

 

[Tarzakus]

The wire floor has never become hot enough to harm the chicken's feet, there isn't enough metal in the wire mesh to conduct much heat to the chickens... no problems with feet over the seven years that I've had this hen house. Mostly they jump from the door straight up to the roost.

 

[Sylvester017]

Thank you! This is very helpful information. My coop kit roosts were also almost at the nest box level, a tad above. They fell down all the time though, so I took them out. The backroom perch we made is higher. I guess maybe I will just move it up a tad, so they still have good headroom, and add a second in a sort of L shape, so it can be 12 in from the back wall, and not interfere with the door or chicken size pass through door to the addition. I hope they just decide to use them. I am scared they are going to squish all the eggs when that time comes.

I cannot count on one finger how many eggs in 3 years were ever layed in a nestbox overnight. Now early mornings a hen will stay in a nestbox to lay her egg after the others have left the box. I've also had hens lay as late as late afternoon. They lay eggs at all times of the day but I've never had one lay during the night.

Some people claim they find eggs under the roosting bars. If a hen stays on the roost after the other hens leave in the morning she could possibly stay lazily perched until she lays her early morning egg rather than moving to a nestbox. I have never had any problems with my hens using the nestboxes to sleep. The only time I ever had a broken egg was when a Silkie layed a soft-shell, or when a young inexperienced Ameraucana pullet layed her first egg and clumsily stepped on it on her way out of the nestbox. Many times I've had two chickens sitting in the same nestbox on one egg and it's never been broken. The shells are pretty sturdy to withstand brooding and experienced chickens are instinctively gentle with eggs. Have you ever seen all those photos of nestboxes with 5 or 6 eggs in them? Well, each hen that enters that box to lay her egg never damages the previous layed eggs in that nest.

I wouldn't worry about where your chickens want to roost. The climate may be dictating where they sleep. During winter you might find them all huddled in one nestbox or one perch together for warmth LOL

 

[Sylvester017]

We are in the Pacific Northwest near the ocean, it never gets too hot here; plus, there is a lot of ventilation, the hens have never shown any distress in there.

I figured something like that since you said the coop was a remodel and that you had chickens in it before.

We are dying here in SoCal when the humidity hits - you'd think we were in AL or MS or TX ! We know it's really bad when it affects the chickens throughout the night. We could never house our chickens in your design which is absolutely lovely BTW. 3 walls of our coop are open wire. Only during rain or the coldest nights do we tarp/cover the walls.

 

[TJordan]

The wire floor has never become hot enough to harm the chicken's feet, there isn't enough metal in the wire mesh to conduct much heat to the chickens... no problems with feet over the seven years that I've had this hen house. Mostly they jump from the door straight up to the roost.

Ok... Good to know

thanks

 

[jtbass2756]

Raccons are notorious for this type of damage - looks like the same kind of mess one did in my daughter's yard when I house-sat. I was picking up trash for an hour all over the yard because there is no way it was a dog - Coyotes come around her property but can't and never have gotten in. However Coons are so nimble with their manipulative paws along with collapsing spines to squeeze through small places, climb rain gutters, climb block or stucco walls, etc. It's hard to imagine a 20-40 lb animal being so strong to do that kind of damage. I watched a documentary on the American Raccoon and they become more clever and nimble with each succeeding generation and teach their kits these clever new innovations. A Raccoon's litter can be from 4-6 kits and the dutiful mother forces the kits to learn her secrets of manipulation, opening locks, finding loose wires and boards to tear open a small entrance, squeeze between doors to enter barns, coops, and sheds, etc. In Ontario Canada a Raccoon broke through a front door to viciously attack a man in own his living room! Even in the city alleyways Raccoons will not give up their status and hog the space from stray cats and rodents. They are becoming more aggressive coming out during the daytime now. The American Raccoon has populated from Southern America to Alaska. In Japan the imported and now feral American Raccons have so overpopulated the forests as to begin damaging Japan's historical temples with feces and urine rotting the wood and collapsing structures - there's an active program established to eradicate Japan's Raccoon populations. Chicago and Ontario Canada have the most severe city Raccoon problems and only getting worse everywhere in the U.S. Your landscape lights were probably broken because Raccoons are curious creatures and love taking things apart. They don't always kill chickens for food either but love the frenzy of killing just for the chase!

Sylvester, check out these paw prints and tell me what you think. These were in some soft dirt on a night that it rained so hard. That tells me they/it was there after the storm. The first reason I saw that made me think "dog" was two "skidmarks" on the outside of the shed part of the coop. Looked like something had raised up on the 4ft side of painted plywood. I know nothing about paw prints but this is the one that I have a ruler with. But anyway, check these out and give me your opinion.

 

[vehve]

As most regulars on this thread have quite vivid imaginations and are good at coming up with ways of misusing something for chicken coop builds, I have a little winterization issue that I would appreciate some feedback and ideas on.

I'm going to be covering the run to keep out snow in the winter. My original plan was to use see through plastic panels, but they apparently cost a bit. Wrapping some thinner plastic around the run would be affordable, but I'm a bit worried about how it would hold up in the wind. Corrugated see through roof panels were also something that I considered, but I sort of don't want the wave profile on the panels, even though it would stiffen them. So does anyone have any ideas for something cheap that would let through light, and still be a large flat and stiff surface, that can withstand freezing temperatures? I need something in the 3x7 foot range.

 

[TJordan]

I added a few chicken hides today... Going to add a few more and roost areas this weekend...

Now it's a hide and seek job for eggs lol... I'll let the kids do the yard