post your chicken coop pictures here!

[PrimroseMom1]

I have a picture of my son's run....let me show you...he is military and had to be in DC the next morning so he did a shortcut. Thought the 2 layers would be enough. Kids went out the next morning to find 6-8 young pullets dead !

It will usually keep chickens in, or to protect your gardens, can keep chickens out, but it is meaningless to predators. It is not whether predators will kill your chickens, but when. You often don't have to wait long to find dead ones.

 

[CHIKENROOKIE]

Remember peeps, the chickens do not care if the cuts are crooked..........my wife uses a term that fits. "Rustic"

 

[jtbass2756]

Remember peeps, the chickens do not care if the cuts are crooked..........my wife uses a term that fits. "Rustic"

Well,,,, have I got a "RUSTIC COOP" for her!!

 

[vader]

Just started my coop. It will house 4 hens. They are 2 weeks old now so I have about a month to finish. Nice coops on this site!!!

 

[iwiw60]

Just started my coop. It will house 4 hens. They are 2 weeks old now so I have about a month to finish. Nice coops on this site!!!

Very pretty coop for sure! I see a couple of things you might want to re-think. The white trellis trims on the bottom...do you have hardware cloth behind them so predators can't dig under? Also, what type of wire are you planning on your run? Please say it isn't chicken wire...aack! Chicken wire is totally useless when it comes to predators, and while I don't know what part of the country you hail from (it's not in your avatar signature thing), you are backed up to a forested area...prime area for raccoons, weasels, skunks, you name it. Use 1/2" hardware cloth...everywhere. You might consider "aproning" it, too. Here's a couple of sample pics to give you the idea:





I wish you all the very best whatever way you decide to go!!

 

[vader]

thanks for your advice the white trellis is just for show I do have half inch hardware cloth that I will be installing just bought it today at Lowes it wasn't cheap but after reading all the post I guess it will be well worth it.I will be also building a run to the left of it which I will post up

 

[Sylvester017]

my coop....i realize now that I will have to add features to the bottom and replace chicken wire w/ hard cloth to make the mobile coop safe from predators.

If this is a permanent housing as well as your mobile unit you probably will need a lock on the eggbox lid because even smaller Raccoons are STRONG and manipulative to figure out simple locks and lifting rather heavy objects. I like the way you have clearance space at the bottom of the ramp for the chickens to have room to jump up or down from it. A lot of rain water/moisure will run off from the roof onto the eggbox lid so don't open it while it's raining to keep the nestbox material dry. Or else park the tractor under a patio awning or popup canopy during stormy weather. Most people construuct an awning or extend the roof over the eggbox but you don't have room for either it appears so a popup would work well - that's what we did.

 

[Sylvester017]

it was custom built by a guy in Oregon. it is very nice and so easy to move around and made of mostly recycled materials. yes, i must get it up to predator proofing before too long. thanks

It's so sad that builders are good at carpentering but have no knowledge of chickens or how a coop should be configured! That's what happened about our custom coop purchased in the feed store - great design but the devil is in the details like cheap OSB walls, cheap one-inch chicken wire, and a skimpy 2x2 perch that was not removeable and neglected to set higher than the nestboxes. Not only that but the roof is pure FLAT and collects rain water so we had to put a popup canopy over the whole thing.

 

[Sylvester017]

Why can't you use chicken wire for fencing? Just curious. Is it not predator proof?

Chicken wire is not interlocked but loosely woven into itself with very thin breakable wire and predators can very easily push on it or claw at it to rip the hexes from each other. Two stray dogs mangled and tore our chicken wire beyond repair and a good neighbor chased them off before they got to our birds. 1/2 inch hardwire is sturdier and small enough to keep out even mice or snakes and strong enough to keep out manipulative Raccoons who have great strength for their smaller size.

 

[Sylvester017]

Well,,,, have I got a "RUSTIC COOP" for her!!

And a lovely Ft Knox on top of that! Beautiful!