post your chicken coop pictures here!

[arkansas55]

omgosh!!!!!!!!!!!! how beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Sylvester017]

Yes, they stick close to the house and tree lines. Once in a while they'll check out the frog pond but that's also close to the trees but they never go into the open field unless they're following me. They have tons of natural hiding places and they will also take cover under the benches surrounding my firepit. When they are a little more exposed my dog is usually right with them keeping watch.



Here he is keeping watch with his Hamburg partner while the rest of the flock takes their dust baths throughout the flower bed.

Your dog looks like a sweet Newfie. Probably wouldn't hurt a fly but his size sure would intimidate predators! Your yard/garden is lovely - no wonder your girls love to forage!

 

[islandgirl82]

Your dog looks like a sweet Newfie. Probably wouldn't hurt a fly but his size sure would intimidate predators! Your yard/garden is lovely - no wonder your girls love to forage!

Oh he's incredibly sweet and Newfie is spot on. He's very gentle but doesn't put up with anyone's shenanigans either. My biggest predator issue had been a couple of neighbors' dogs but we've all been working on training them and my boy chases them back to their house if he doesn't approve of their behavior. It never takes much chasing on his part.

And my chickens LOVE helping me tend the gardens! I can't set foot in them without my posse at my heals. I have to be quick when planting though or the holes I dig get filled back in before I even get the new plants out of their pots!

 

[Sylvester017]

6 week old pullets and California rabbits co-habitating. Coop and covered run.

Is that little coop large enough for both rabbits and chix to sleep in? Some bunnies can chase chix around in a small enclosure like yours and stress the laying hens.

We put a pop up canopy over our little coop so we didn't let rain into the nestbox when we collected eggs.

Love the raised garden beds - bet those chix and bunnies eye those plants every day LOL!

Your two hills in the photo remind me of my yard right now - I'm turning over soil to lay more paver stones for my extended veggie garden - however my hills aren't quite as large as yours

 

[Sylvester017]

Oh he's incredibly sweet and Newfie is spot on. He's very gentle but doesn't put up with anyone's shenanigans either. My biggest predator issue had been a couple of neighbors' dogs but we've all been working on training them and my boy chases them back to their house if he doesn't approve of their behavior. It never takes much chasing on his part.

And my chickens LOVE helping me tend the gardens! I can't set foot in them without my posse at my heals. I have to be quick when planting though or the holes I dig get filled back in before I even get the new plants out of their pots!

I love Newfies but can't have one in our heatwave climate. Their fur is better suited to mellow or cold climates.
I have a matriarch Silkie hen that sits on my hoe or shovel when I'm digging. She's so trusting so I have to rabbit fence the girls from my digging area so I don't hurt them. Another thing the girls love is to dig in moistened or turned-over soil to dig dig dig. Nothing is there for them to find but they have fun anyway!

 

[MontanaFam]

Actually the rabbits have their own hutch within the run. They all run around together during the day and get along swimmingly. They eat near each other and seem to have not issues at all. At night, the pullets head to their roosts within the henhouse and the rabbits head into their hutch. They have more than enough room and couldn't be happier

.

They all hang out together. I think it helps that they are all so young. They'll grow up together

Is that little coop large enough for both rabbits and chix to sleep in? Some bunnies can chase chix around in a small enclosure like yours and stress the laying hens.

We put a pop up canopy over our little coop so we didn't let rain into the nestbox when we collected eggs.

Love the raised garden beds - bet those chix and bunnies eye those plants every day LOL!

Your two hills in the photo remind me of my yard right now - I'm turning over soil to lay more paver stones for my extended veggie garden - however my hills aren't quite as large as yours

 

[PrimroseMom1]

I guess I'll return them for 2x4 tomorrow. Maybe more isn't always better. Thanks!!

 

[rubie]

Supplies and equipment were never things we realized when we first got chickens.  We just figured a container for feed and one for straw bedding, but we didn't calculate the storage for Oyster Shell, bags of whole wheat and groats, scratch, storage for our food handling gloves, litter scooper, tools for raking the coop floor, poultry maintenance health supplies, etc.  Our garage is crowded with all this stuff and barely enough room to park the car!  We have a double door storage cabinet on the patio but it is filled with seasonal garden supplies and tools.  We have a very small property and had we thought about it would have opted for storage space with the coop.

Don't forget: broom, dust pan, diatomateous earth, scissors, place for heat lamps, medicine...ug and more. I have most of the chickining supplies together but not all. I didn't think about storage when designing coop but there are really great ideas on here and wonderful people who take the time to share with us. I love BYC !!

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Here he is keeping watch with his Hamburg partner while the rest of the flock takes their dust baths throughout the flower bed.

What a beautiful Landseer! I grew up with Newfs. Simply amazing dogs.

 

[Sylvester017]

Don't forget: broom, dust pan, diatomateous earth, scissors, place for heat lamps, medicine...ug and more. I have most of the chickining supplies together but not all. I didn't think about storage when designing coop but there are really great ideas on here and wonderful people who take the time to share with us. I love BYC !!

Well, the broom and dust pan were already in their own spot before we got a coop and we started a chicken first-aid box that we have to keep in the house with things like soft tape, scissors, antiseptics, etc. The heat lamps we don't need in our mild climate thank goodness but yes, that's another good object to keep in a storage space.

As for DE we don't use any powders around our chickens - not even dusty lice pesticides - we use organic liquid Poultry Protector for lice/mite health maintenance and that eliminates the need for powdery DE which is not only ineffective for insect control but very dangerous to chickens and humans as well - the warning label is longer than on a bottle of lye.
Here's why I and owners on the BYC Silkie Thread don't use DE - http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/05/diatomaceous-earth-de-benefitrisk.html

Chickens are susceptible to respiratory issues so we don't use anything powdery around our chickens like DE, baking soda, vitamin powders, lice/mite dust powders, etc. We had two Leghorns that sneezed for an hour after their vigorous ordinary dirt baths so we didn't complicate their environment with any more dusts/powders.