post your chicken coop pictures here!

[vehve]

But I wish you luck in your adventures to chickeneering. That first picture reminds me of the movie Forrest Gump for some reason, looks nice.

 

[TJordan]

For some reason, all of our birds usually tend to lay during the day. Mostly around noon.

I have 2 that lay before 10 am and 4 that lay around 3pm... Add in the broody momma and the rooster from He€# And that's our happy little group... At least until my 2 eggs hatch (God willing)

 

[WldFlwrs]

Thank you. We love it here. We will watch the laying. When the doors are closed it is pretty dark in there. But the advice is noted.

 

[Sylvester017]

By the way, has anyone tried attaching half a pipe high up on their run on the outside to deter climbing predators? Something that looks a bit like the top of modern prison walls? I think that would be an interesting experiment for someone with a flimsier net on top of their run, but also raccoons in the area.

That's curious - I once had the same wondering question. But those darn Raccoons are so clever they will find the easiest route and bypass the difficult barriers to get to chickens.

 

[Sylvester017]

This is our coop. It's made completely of cedar.
It sits in a 1/2 acre chicken yard to be fenced over the next two weekends.
We plan on trying the deep litter method. We figure the deep mulch method worked so well in our garden, might as well try the deep litter method in the chicken coop.












Nest boxes are designed so that I can move them around inside the coop.

Gorgeous coop. What's the plan for gully-washer rain?

 

[WldFlwrs]

Gorgeous coop.  What's the plan for gully-washer rain?

The coop sits on a high spot and our land is really sandy so water doesn't stand. The coop is structured like long shingles. So far its stayed pretty dry inside with rec

 

[WldFlwrs]

Recent heavy rains over several days. Inside was dry even after two days of 3 inch rains. But we hsve ways to cover if needed.

 

[Sylvester017]

The coop sits on a high spot and our land is really sandy so water doesn't stand. The coop is structured like long shingles. So far its stayed pretty dry inside with rec

Recent heavy rains over several days. Inside was dry even after two days of 3 inch rains. But we hsve ways to cover if needed.

We live in a drought State so when we get rain it'll be heavy so I plan my coop w/ the idea of rain always in mind. If I have an open coop year-round then I'd be in trouble the one or two times we get a down-pour. I absolutely love your A Frame. Beautiful wood!

 

[Latestarter]

This is our coop. It's made completely of cedar.
It sits in a 1/2 acre chicken yard to be fenced over the next two weekends.
We plan on trying the deep litter method. We figure the deep mulch method worked so well in our garden, might as well try the deep litter method in the chicken coop.









Nest boxes are designed so that I can move them around inside the coop.

Hey there @WldFlwrs

and welcome to the thread. Couple of comments:

The coop looks awesome! But from what I can see and not knowing how many birds will be in it or their breed/size, where will they roost? On that crossmember bar above/behind the nest box? It doesn't look very wide and therefore may not prove very comfortable for the bird's feet. A 2x4 on the flat works best or minimum 3" diameter round pole/limb/etc. depending on number of birds, they may not all fit there. You don't really want them sleeping in the nest boxes (makes a nice mess to be cleaned out). Roosts should be higher than nest boxes to help avoid this as well. I believe what @vehve was referring to with darkened nest boxes was that the chickens prefer to be in a darkened/confined space when they lay... so a wide open box like what you have might prove less than appealing for egg laying depending on your birds habits. They may decide it's better to lay on the ground inside or outside somewhere instead. Most all eggs are laid during daylight hours. It should prove relatively easy to enclose the boxes should you decide to take that route. Which may provide a side benefit of keeping the roosting chickens above from pooping into them.

Another question I have is the fact that you said the coop is constructed entirely of cedar. I hope it is not the aromatic type cedar as that has been known to cause respiratory issues, particularly with young birds. It does appear that you have more than adequate ventilation which could alleviate some of this concern.

 

[vehve]

I don't think the cedar will be much of an issue, that thing looks well ventilated, and I think the biggest issues have been with using cedar shavings as bedding, the surface area allowing for evaporation of aromatic oils in shavings is exponentially larger than what you get in constructions made from solid pieces of wood. And as you said, there are different types of cedar too, the amount of harmful contents varies a lot depending on the variety.