post your chicken coop pictures here!

[jtbass2756]

Laugh it up... Now I've got to figure out a way to keep her out... The crazy dog jumped the fence yesterday and so she's on a chain... NOW she digs under it!!!

can't move her elsewhere because our garden is on the other side!!!.....

I'm sorry.....you just put that picture in my mind!!!

I am in the process of getting my run up to par when it comes to predators...which include coyotes...I wasn't physically able to bury my 1/4"hardware cloth 12" down like I did with my first smaller coop...so this time I've spread the 12" out from the base and I' putting paving stones around my fence line, a little costly but will give me more peace of mind as far as diggers.

I didn't have a run with the first coop so this one has really been a challenge for me along with the heat index. I still have to put the lumber reinforcement to secure the wire where the layers come together. AND I have to secure the netting over the top of the run....so I understand your frustrations at getting it all covered. I wish I could have had a camera filming me this whole summer...I could have won the big jackpot on AFV !! I'm 65 and never have built...so I have my own circus here in my backyard!!

Good luck with you dog problem. I know some put a electric wrap around the bottom of the run and coop...delivers a small jolt like those invisible pet "yards"

 

[bigmrg74]

Ok guys.. I came home from babysitting today only to find 2 hens sitting ON TOP OF my dog!!! Bad thing is... She's NOT in the run... She dug a hole under the gate and the birds squeezed under...

Your hubby does realize that us idiots online here are mocking him for being lazy and not getting your chicken coop built when he's had plenty of time to get it done right??

 

[702marine]

We never had problems with wild critters in the suburbs until we got chickens.  A road-kill oppossum or raccoon on our cul-de-sac tells us they're around!  Over the weekend we heard about an escaped illegal albino Cobra loose in the city of Thousand Oaks - scary stuff!   An 8-foot wall is a wonderful protection from canines - dogs, foxes, wolves.  That kind of wall is great.  The only thing that bothers me when we build ours is that it won't keep raccoons out - they are clever and dexterous enough to scale stucco, brick, rain gutters, etc.  They are really getting clever.  And each female breeds a minimum of 6 kits more every year!

I know what you mean about those 100 degree days - we've got them too with 40% humidity on top of that.  The chickens are miserable but they use the shelter of our pop-up canopy and several scattered plywood shelters and doghouses to snooze/hide in during the day.  We have an Orbit Mister that works to keep them cool without wasting a lot of water.  Chickens love the moist ground to scratch or dust-bathe.

For our girls we decided not to clip their wings.  I asked my breeder and was told not to do it on the off-chance they need flight to get away from a predator.  After having two stray neighborhood mutts break our gate and attack our little coop we felt it had been good advice.  Our girls are very good about staying in the parameter of the backyard even though some can easily fly over the fence.  The older ones show the younger ones what the "rules" of the yard are.  We have a 2-foot-tall roll of rabbit fence dividing the vegetable garden from the chicken yard.  A couple times some younger pullets flew into the garden but we quietly and slowly ushered them out the gate and they quickly realized to stay on THEIR side of the fence.  It's only 2-ft tall but they respect the barrier - I never thought it possible til we tried it.

We are lucky here not to have those critters. My lab is great with protecting them as well. He went running out of the dog door the other night to go check on them. It woke me up too. Turned out to be the wind knocking over the empty trash cans. The chickens are locked up in the coop at night but at least I know he is on top of it. The wing clipping works well for us. I even do it for my Quail just in case they get out when I have to open the hutch. I had a mister system but it didn't work out well because the water is too **** hard here so it just clogs up. I am lucky enough to be retired so I am able to be home most days when it is really hot out. I go out and spray the straw bed a little bit so they can lay in it and cool off. I also have a shallow tray with a few bricks in it. I fill the tray with water to the level of the bricks. The bricks become saturated with water and are cool to the touch because of evaporation. The girls love to just stand on the bricks and get cool. Even on the hottest of days at 115 degrees they don't even so much as hold their wings out. It works really well....

 

[jtbass2756]

Everyone who's building their coops right now, be sure to document your process and enter the coop competition!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...mmer-2014-win-a-20-byc-store-gift-certificate

So far I think the competition only has 13 or 14 entries, and with the amount of builds I've seen pictures of here, I think quite a few of you would have something to submit.

I had thought about entering because I've taken a lot of pictures and boy what a story I could tell, except it would be a comedy! LOL When I went back and uploaded them to my profile and got to looking at them...LOL...I realized that I couldn't give people so many good ideas.!!!!.....because everything I had done, had been done the wrong way

and I have basically built my coop and run 2 times..

with no building experience and no help........LOL..

..........I'm the one who will be looking to see those entered! I don't know how many times I have already studied the coops people had built on here and tried to get ideas I could apply to mine!

 

[vehve]

Quote: It's on the coop page, in the menu on the left, the topmost button, it's blue, says "Add a Coop Design".

 

[vehve]

Quote: Well, people need to know what not to do too

 

[TJordan]

Your hubby does realize that us idiots online here are mocking him for being lazy and not getting your chicken coop built when he's had plenty of time to get it done right??  

Well... If you think of all the time he has spent watching football and playing Xbox these last few WEEKS/MONTHS then yes... He's had time... He had time to go out to the hunting camp with his brother and replant his field, he's had time to go watch the first AU game at his brothers, and less not forget the countless hours spent beating BOTH Dragon Age games to prep for the third one in November ...... Oh and my favorite.... Taking apart my frame work because he wants to be the one to do it... I have almost everything cut and ready to go up... He just needs to add the screws and help hold things in place.... I might see my new coop up by new spring.....

Now he's got the idea to HATCH over 50 eggs next year for meat birds as well..... I'll tell him that I want to see the coop and run BEFORE we hatch....

 

[scooter147]

Love the crows I cheer them on when they harass the hawks.

My hens have learned that when the blue jays start squawking there is a hawk around and they scoot for cover. The crows come in when the blue jays give the warning and chase those flying chickens eaters off.

 

[TJordan]

As far as I can tell, this is the basic layout that my husband has in mind for our new coop... He told me to come up with the interior plan but to keep in mind that the front will be screen with a removable wall for colder weather... I've come up with 3 plans... Can I get some input? He said he would rather the nest box be against the back wall that will tie into our shed... But on the sides would be ok as well...

Over all... 3.5'x7.5' floor, 4'x8' slanted roof......
Screened front wall with removable wood for cold weather
2' tall in front 3' in back allowing water drainage with 6" overhang
2' frame to keep off ground
Large fenced in yard for semi-free range

10 chickens

 

[iwiw60]

As far as I can tell, this is the basic layout that my husband has in mind for our new coop... He told me to come up with the interior plan but to keep in mind that the front will be screen with a removable wall for colder weather... I've come up with 3 plans... Can I get some input? He said he would rather the nest box be against the back wall that will tie into our shed... But on the sides would be ok as well...

Over all... 3.5'x7.5' floor, 4'x8' slanted roof......
Screened front wall with removable wood for cold weather
2' tall in front 3' in back allowing water drainage with 6" overhang
2' frame to keep off ground
Large fenced in yard for semi-free range

10 chickens

I think if you were to have your roost bars/poop tray along that long wall with your nesting boxes underneath, that would be a good space-saver...Here's mine, although much smaller than what you would build lengthwise:

You could run this down the entire length of that one long wall, and put your nesting boxes underneath. This poop tray setup is absolutely the best way to go. I have Sweet PDZ Granular in mine and daily poop patrol is a snap...3-4 minutes...DONE! Just an idea!!