post your chicken coop pictures here!

[ridemcowgirl]

Chickens only use the coop to lay their eggs and go to roost at night.  Their ranging/foraging area is what needs to be roomy.  We keep the feed/waterer outside the coop and don't leave the feeder out overnight.  The main thing is that the chickens are secure, secure, secure from predators whether roosting at night or foraging in the day.

The coop is secure now. That picture was taken while we were in the process of building. We won't be doing a run or pen for them because the coop is in the middle of the horse pasture that is fenced with high gage steal wire mesh that's sunk into the ground 18". Plus we have a mule who's been known to kill coyotes and chase off mountain lions, and 2 LGD's who have gotten their fair share of Fox and raccoons, so no predators are dumb enough to come into the pasture anymore, not even snakes because they avoid being anywhere near the horses. We also have little shelters set up for cover and a good roo who looks out for hawks. we made sure nothing can get in or out of the coop at night before putting the girls in there. Only one we need to worry about at night is the roo because he won't sleep in a coop he likes to roost 30ft in the trees at night, but nothing has gotten the old guy yet so I'm sure he's pretty good at taking care of himself. Plus he's safer outside with the owls than he is inside with our dominant hen lol

 

[bruceha2000]

Ok guys... I'm not sure if I've got a problem or not.... It's now day 3 and I've not gotten a single egg.... My girls are right at 25 weeks old... Have been laying for a few weeks now.... But suddenly I've had a drastic drop in eggs.... I've cleaned the coop and dusted it to ensure no bugs, I've added a second feeder.... They already have 2 waterers that I change every morning.... I'm out of scratch but that seems unrelated... Do I have a thief?! My dog doesn't allergy to anything.... I'm home almost every day, all day... I've even started doing a sweep of the whole yard each evening to make sure no eggs are hiding.... In, under, around, behind... No eggs found anywhere... No shell fragments or anything... It's to early for a molt right? They are still to young right? ....... I would check for egg bound but all 9 hens at once? Not likely....

its about time for molt in some places.... they dont lay much during molt.... just a thought.

deb

Probably said sometime further on but I don't have time to read all 30 pages that I am behind. Since the girls are 25 weeks old, they will not be moulting until next summer/fall. It is something else. I would suggest they be confined to the coop for a day or two just to see if they are laying. Most of mine laid right through their first winter and I do not provide extra light. They had their first moult last summer/fall - big drop off in eggs until mid/end of February this year. Only one PC laid through the winter. One BA laid until the last week of January, then had her FIRST moult.

 

[bruceha2000]

Put a couple of big pumpkins beside the stump "ladder" (LOVE it), light the windows and open pop door and you can have a really spooky Halloween setup on a moonless night!

 

[yellowchicks]

Our insulated coop is 4'x4'x6' high, with a clear-roof galvanized steel run that is 4'x6'x6' high. The coop is equipped with four operable double-pane windows, vents on each wall, two roll-away nesting boxes, a skylight, an indoor solar night light, fully openable front panels, automatic feeder, removable floor/draws, removable poop trays, 2 ft wide door in the run, completely lined with 1/2" hardwire cloth including the ground. Next project is the automated coop door and a solar heated water feeder.

For more details on this coop for the 4 spoiled Leghorns, see here.

 

[TJordan]

Probably said sometime further on but I don't have time to read all 30 pages that I am behind. Since the girls are 25 weeks old, they will not be moulting until next summer/fall. It is something else. I would suggest they be confined to the coop for a day or two just to see if they are laying. Most of mine laid right through their first winter and I do not provide extra light. They had their first moult last summer/fall - big drop off in eggs until mid/end of February this year. Only one PC laid through the winter. One BA laid until the last week of January, then had her FIRST moult.

I thought that as well... They were confined for 3 days and still no eggs... It's been over 2 weeks and these free loaders are still eggless... It might just be the weather change... We did just have our first morning where the temp was below 50 degrees but it's been fairly nice lately...

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Oooh I want a Mammoth donkey for livestock guardian... Or a retired mule... I cant do LGD

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Our insulated coop is 4'x4'x6' high, with a clear-roof galvanized steel run that is 4'x6'x6' high. The coop is equipped with four operable double-pane windows, vents on each wall, two roll-away nesting boxes, a skylight, an indoor solar night light, fully openable front panels, automatic feeder, removable floor/draws, removable poop trays, 2 ft wide door in the run, completely lined with 1/2" hardwire cloth including the ground. Next project is the automated coop door and a solar heated water feeder.

For more details on this coop for the 4 spoiled Leghorns, see here.

Oh I want to know what the mechanism is above. Egg Rollout?

 

[yellowchicks]

@perchie.girl
The insulated egg roll-away nesting box has an internal slope on the bottom and a catchment net on the door to roll the eggs away from the chickens to prevent egg eaters.
There nest box has two removable ramps at 16% slope, each was covered with a golf mat.
Here is a top view of the internal setup of the nest box. The internal baffle separates the chicken and the eggs.
Since there is a tree nearby, collecting eggs will have to be done from one end of the door. A deceleration zone and egg catchment net were designed to cushion the eggs.
The door opening is controlled by two chains and a lock mounted on the side. The net was made of a 1/2" plastic wire mesh and zip ties. When the door is closed, the lower edge of the net will overlap the top of the turf by 4" so the eggs can roll right into the net, easier to get to from the front side of the coop.
The chains can be unhooked to swing the door 180 degree for removing the ramps for cleaning.
The nesting box was painted a darker color for "privacy". There is a strip of rubber inner tubes mounted along the center baffle to shield the 4" vertical clearance above the ramps so the chickens can't see behind them to reach for the eggs.

 

[perchie.girl]

@perchie.girl
The insulated egg roll-away nesting box has an internal slope on the bottom and a catchment net on the door to roll the eggs away from the chickens to prevent egg eaters.
There nest box has two removable ramps at 16% slope, each was covered with a golf mat.
Here is a top view of the internal setup of the nest box. The internal baffle separates the chicken and the eggs.
Since there is a tree nearby, collecting eggs will have to be done from one end of the door. A deceleration zone and egg catchment net were designed to cushion the eggs.
The door opening is controlled by two chains and a lock mounted on the side. The net was made of a 1/2" plastic wire mesh and zip ties. When the door is closed, the lower edge of the net will overlap the top of the turf by 4" so the eggs can roll right into the net, easier to get to from the front side of the coop.
The chains can be unhooked to swing the door 180 degree for removing the ramps for cleaning.
The nesting box was painted a darker color for "privacy". There is a strip of rubber inner tubes mounted along the center baffle to shield the 4" vertical clearance above the ramps so the chickens can't see behind them to reach for the eggs.

I reallly like this alot.... I have a tunnel nest designed that I want to build and am still working on details... I want to access the eggs from a drawer that can hold them under neath the box. But am still working on the deceleration business....

Here is my concept....


I was thinking five degrees or so... but yours is sixteen?

This is a design to fit within my Poultry house in order to collect eggs from the same aisle... I have mobility issues and get about with a rolling walker. also I need the eggs to be stored in a safe location for collection when I am un able to collect for a day or two... Hence the drawer area.

I like the plastic mesh alot. It would keep air circulating as well as act as a "catchers mitt"

deb

 

[yellowchicks]

@perchie.girl
An egg drawer is such an ingenious idea to keep the nesting box size compact! The 16% slope we used was concluded from many egg rolling experiments. Others at BYC have successfully made their ramps at 4" vertical over 24" length, which seems to be the working slope. It all depends on the surface materials you choose. We shorten the ramps to 19" long so there is a 4" flat area for deceleration and the catchment net. For your egg draw design, maybe you can put a foam board at the end of the ramp as an impact cushion, then continue the egg rolling in a reverse slope away from the slot inside the drawer. This way, the deceleration can occur inside the drawer, the chicken can't reach the eggs along the slot, and the drawer can hold more eggs.