post your chicken coop pictures here!

[SouthernFarmChick]

Love the roost bar! This is a good design, I really like it!

 

[SouthernFarmChick]

How many chickens do you have in Oakland?! That's so great! What part of Oakland!? I used to work as a Paramedic in Oakland back in the 80s ad 90s. I'd be afraid moving back to a city lifestyle and having to deal with City ordinances and all!

 

[Sylvester017]

It has been my experience that peppers or acidic foods will delay laying and will stop laying for a few days until it passes through their system. I never try to force my hens to lay. And never put the pullets on laying feed until after they have laid their first egg or two. Laying pellets, crumble, mash can cause a hen to lay to large of an egg her first time and it can and has resulted in death when she could not pass the egg. They stay on grower/finisher until after the first egg. I have never heard of peppers being good for deworming or good for anything in a chicken

Thank you for adding this information on this post because I've noticed the same thing about layer feed for a hen laying her first egg of the season or a pullet laying her first egg -- my girls will consume the oyster shell but they avoid the layer pellets and eat all the other stuff we give them during the day. Eventually they eat the pellets if they require the nutrition. That's why I love letting them free-range the yard all day to pick and choose what their bodies need -- whether its oats, wheat grain, cooked rice, bird seed mix, mealworms, insects, grasses, etc. Another mention is that during midday my girls always seem to take a snooze/rest after a busy morning of foraging and filling their crops. After a 2 or 3 hours snooze in the doghouses or the coop pen, they come out again for a busy afternoon of foraging again to fill their crops before roost.

 

[Sylvester017]

I hope you can make out the roost bar in my pics. I was wondering if this will work so close to the nest boxes. The coop is for 5 bantams coming feb 26. We will have time to rework it if the hens don't like it or they sleep in the boxes. Maybe I'll cover the nesting box with curtains? What do you all think?

So nice to see ppl getting into chickens! I love the coop enclosed by your added security pen.

My chickens from the start used the enclosed nesting boxes to sleep in -- even the boy we had slept in the boxes -- he was supposed to be a "pullet" and got re-homed. Our little coop has 3 wire walls where the perch is but they prefer to sleep inside the spacious nestboxes (16x16x 2ft tall) to feel secure at night - the boxes don't have curtains but they have round entrance holes which gives a lot of privacy yet they can still watch what goes on outside the nestbox. They use the roost during the daytime but sleep inside the 3 nestboxes sometimes 2-3 hens per box. Our nestboxes also have a plank ledge about 7" wide running the front length of the nestboxes rather than perches. This makes it easier for the Silkies to hop up 18" to the ledge and walk on it to get to their favorite nestbox. We have a wide ramp leading up to the ledge and they occasionally will walk up or down the ramp to get to a box.

We let the hens sleep in the nestboxes if it makes them feel secure -- better than piling up on the dirt floor to sleep! We clean out the boxes every morning if there's poop in them and/or add clean straw as needed. Once a month we clean out the boxes completely and use organic Poultry Protector (directions on label) for lice/mite control. We have a new coop on order that has a different configuration and believe the hens will use the roosts inside the new coop but we'll see if they continue using the straw nestboxes to sleep or not. Ppl try to change their chickens' behavior but we let ours do what feels right for them as long as there are no injuries involved.

 

[bruceha2000]

Grandpa's treadle feeder and another wooden treadle feeder model were considered by me but I don't like the feeder lid coming down on a chicken's neck if another chicken holding down the treadle happens to walk away while the other chicken not on the pedal is still eating (Grandpa's is nice because it has side barriers that keep other chickens from feeding at the sides when another chicken has the treadle open but I still don't like the lift-up lid -- these lift-up lid models are not as tall as the inward swinging access treadle feeders). On eBay and on ChickenCondos.com the galvanized models are the kind of treadles that open the feed access from the front inward of the feeder so if if slams shut it doesn't whack the chicken above the head/neck (a couple times getting whacked from overhead could keep the spooky chickens from using a treadle). Everyone needs to do what works for them and my final decision is to get the ChckenCondos Cove Product treadle feeder. It's bigger than I need for 5 chickens so it will never be filled to the top but at least it will keep the *!#*!* wild birds out of my organic feed. The average price for these taller galvanized feeders are in the $100+/- range whether you go on eBay and pay shipping or get it from some other online company. There's a cabinet company in OKLA that sells his homemade inward access treadle feeders but his assembly video was too much for me to deal with but he has a good price on his 26# medium galvanized model at about $79 (his smaller size was too small IMO):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rat-Proof-C...129?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20d755b641

Thanks for the alternate idea Sylvester, I've only seen "top opens up" treadle feeders and I think your concern is warranted. I will look at inward opening designs ... and then see how that can possibly work without the feed blocking the door in the open position

Planned this combined coop and greenhouse. Details changing along the way.

Basic concept is recycled materials only.

Progress so far is some tiles lain and 4 columns erected.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm thinking the coop is REALLY narrow. Where do you plan to put the roosts and how many birds??

I hope you can make out the roost bar in my pics. I was wondering if this will work so close to the nest boxes. The coop is for 5 bantams coming feb 26. We will have time to rework it if the hens don't like it or they sleep in the boxes. Maybe I'll cover the nesting box with curtains? What do you all think?

My concern is the chickens have no "runway" to land when they leave the perch, they don't helicopter very well

I think ~2x the height of the perch is about minimum. Also, how much height is there between the bar and the top when closed? The birds will need minimally a bit more height than they are tall when standing, more is better for air circulation.

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks for the alternate idea Sylvester, I've only seen "top opens up" treadle feeders and I think your concern is warranted. I will look at inward opening designs ... and then see how that can possibly work without the feed blocking the door in the open position

I believe the chicken treadle has a gradual feed drop so the lid can still open inward but it happens to be one of many questions I have to pose to the company when I order it -- the photos of treadle feeders are just too hard to see how the details work. I am at my wits' end to keep the wild birds out of our expensive feed and I'm tired of running outdoors to chase them off every 20 mins. My Ameraucana (my avatar) sees me chasing wild birds off and she's picked up the pace chasing them off too -- smart girl! To keep the wildlife out of the chickens' water I'm also getting a couple Brite Tap nipple waterers to place around the yard. If the wildlife come around our yard they'll have to STARVE & stay thirsty! I have tulle covers and bird nets over all my garden beds to keep the dam* little pests off my veggies. I love the Hummies and feed them sugar water. But House Sparrows are so aggressive they chase off other species en masse and don't give other birds a chance! Sparrows will attack other nesting species in birdhouses and kill them to take over the nests. Very savage little devils. We used to get little House Finches but the Sparrows have taken over the neighborhood. We occasionally see a flock of Mourning Doves, a lone Mocking Bird, or Black Phoebe but mostly it's the infestation of the Sparrows who are not indigenous to the U.S. but were originally brought over as pets from England decades ago! Ribbons, streamers, balloon "eyes', and nothing scares them away.

 

[Amberjem]

 

[KensingtonHens]

Thanks for the alternate idea Sylvester, I've only seen "top opens up" treadle feeders and I think your concern is warranted. I will look at inward opening designs ... and then see how that can possibly work without the feed blocking the door in the open position 

I'm thinking the coop is REALLY narrow. Where do you plan to put the roosts and how many birds??


My concern is the chickens have no "runway" to land when they leave the perch, they don't helicopter very well  I think ~2x the height of the perch is about minimum. Also, how much height is there between the bar and the top when closed? The birds will need minimally a bit more height than they are tall when standing, more is better for air circulation.

You make a good point about the "runway', I'll have to think of something. Any ideas?:/ I plan on leaving the top open like in the picture with some chicken wire for comfort
Now my coop seems too narrow. Bummer! What I'll do is look for ideas and then probably let the hens guide me. Maybe lower the perch to nearer the bottom poo box. Hummmm...

 

[KensingtonHens]

So nice to see ppl getting into chickens!  I love the coop enclosed by your added security pen. 

My chickens from the start used the enclosed nesting boxes to sleep in -- even the boy we had slept in the boxes -- he was supposed to be a "pullet" and got re-homed.  Our little coop has 3 wire walls where the perch is but they prefer to sleep inside the spacious nestboxes (16x16x 2ft tall) to feel secure at night - the boxes don't have curtains but they have round entrance holes which gives a lot of privacy yet they can still watch what goes on outside the nestbox.  They use the roost during the daytime but sleep inside the 3 nestboxes sometimes 2-3 hens per box.  Our nestboxes also have a plank ledge about 7" wide running the front length of the nestboxes rather than perches.  This makes it easier for the Silkies to hop up 18" to the ledge and walk on it to get to their favorite nestbox.  We have a wide ramp leading up to the ledge and they occasionally will walk up or down the ramp to get to a box. 

We let the hens sleep in the nestboxes if it makes them feel secure -- better than piling up on the dirt floor to sleep!  We clean out the boxes every morning if there's poop in them and/or add clean straw as needed.  Once a month we clean out the boxes completely and use organic Poultry Protector (directions on label) for lice/mite control.  We have a new coop on order that has a different configuration and believe the hens will use the roosts inside the new coop but we'll see if they continue using the straw nestboxes to sleep or not.  Ppl try to change their chickens' behavior but we let ours do what feels right for them as long as there are no injuries involved.

I love you way of letting the hens do what feels good to them! i wonder if they really like an enclosed space to sleep. My coop is pretty open for now, I think I'll cose it in the front or near the top front. I've got a little time. But I am hoping to put them outside after two or three weeks. It's 80 here today but I don't know what March will bring. Could get cold. I'm in zone 10. Pretty warm most of the year except for a few chilly nights.

 

[smthgrly]

mine is still a work in progress. We actaully are making one side for the chickens and the other for the rabbits.