post your chicken coop pictures here!

[HighStreetCoop]

Yeah, gotta have a screen door. I have the entrance door to my coop hooked open from mid Mar, to Nov. Let that fresh air in.

I'm getting ready to add one to my coop, so this is all very timely.

 

[bruceha2000]

I will make my run about 25 ft by 35 ft. Is that enough? And I have an old garden shed that I could use. It is about 8 ft long, 5 ft wide, and 10 ft tall? Will this be good for the hen house? Also, I live in south Arizona so snow wont be a problem but rain might because we hve a big monsoons!

For the run, yes but for the coop, sorry but no, not for 30 chickens unless they will NEVER be confined to the coop except when sleeping at night. That 40 square feet would be a squeeze for 20 chickens. But check Terri P.'s video just above. You could use the shed for the back half, just take the doors off and build an addition on the front. You could leave it open (with 1/2" hardware cloth of course) on the sides and roof it over. The ventilation will be GREAT and there shouldn't be any wind blowing over the birds in the cooler weather when they will use the roosts in the shed part.

What, it rains in Arizona? Found this: "We only get about 7 inches of rain a year, but you'll remember the night it comes." So I guess the answer is yes and all at once! Definitely need to make sure the rain stays out of the coop and will drain/channel away rather than toward it.

Thank you! It was originally $1600 but we talked the guy down to $1200 plus free delivery to our house that's 45 miles away. I had about $700-900 figured for materials if I had built one. So yes I spent a few hundred more but I also don't have to spend the time building one now. Which is worth much more than a few hundred bucks! Didn't come with a run but I'm going to build one once it gets here and I get it in place. I have a few more weeks until the chicks are big enough to go outside so I have invited a couple buddies down for a BBQ/chicken run building party lol. Free beer and food for giving me a hand building the run. Lol. We have 18 acres so we have plenty of room so I will prolly let them free range a bit on nice days. We have a decent amount of predators so they won't be out free ranging too often

Don't forget: Build the run THEN give them beer. Things go a lot slower and get sloppier the other way around

You can let the chickens decide if it is a nice day to be outside or not. Mine don't really care for the mid day sun and will come out morning and evening (unless we go outside then they come running, ever hopeful for treats). They will hang under the deck, a bush or in the barn when the sun is high and the sky clear. On the other hand, they will be out more on a gray day even with light rain. That wasn't true when they were really young (born June 2012), they stayed out of the rain until the following spring when they were full grown.

For what ever reason people selling coops (including those that presumably know about chickens) install 2x4s narrow side up for the roost. It needs to be wider for the comfort of the chickens' feet.

Lol. He will sit there and watch them run about in their Rubbermaid container for as long as I let him. Hopefully it's a good sign he will be very helpful with taking care of them for years to come!

He WILL! ...until it is his job, then he will lose all interest. Same as every kid in the world. Only fun when you aren't old enough to do it

I just finished my coop over the past weekend. It is made from old metal shed that I took off part of one side and front to let it have circulation because of heat in the area. It doesn't get too cold here so I'm not really concerned about cold. I did a quick how to video if you are thinking of a similar option for your chickens. It came out pretty nice considering I don't have a lot of skills for building.

Looks great though I have to wonder where you found 22 2x3s for a total of $55. And I notice you properly used 1/2" hardware cloth on the perimeter. Did you have that around since it isn't listed in the "materials cost"? It is really expensive.

I wouldn't worry about the birds getting too hot in the metal shed part, just put a second roost in the outer screened part and they will sleep there if it is too hot in the metal part. And no, I wouldn't worry about them getting cold, I saw the trunks of palm trees!

The only thing I saw that I want to suggest is to pop in another screw and washer between all the ones you have on the vertical posts where the wire isn't continuous to the next post. It is a little gappy and you don't give the preds even a hint that they can get in.

 

[jwinders12]

Re: the chick thing. You can try, but be ready for rejection. Mine rejected the introduced babies.

Re:Oodalolly coop. Dh and I just went through all the receipts I kept for this giant coop AND run. The grand total.....$2750.00 and 20-35 hours a week by be for 3 months! Which includes time to go to hardware store once a week.

To just get a basic shed build for us here, which we would have to modify to make the coop what we wanted is 2390 and that does not include a run!

I did not add personal picks and décor I bought for the coop, like signs, and jars, feeders, or sand, mulch, pdz etc.


Add all that, plus the cost of my fancy PANTS chickENS; and I could Probably ADD another $800.
I'm thrilled with the cost


Next project is the garden fence and gate. It's all tilled, but has no fence.

That is a lot of money and time well spent the coop looks amazing. I just did my garden fence as well I used cattle panels with regular old chicken wire around the bottom, but from the looks of your coop I bet yours will be fancier than that lol.

 

[Chooks n Kids]

Just when I thought my new coop and run were close to complete....the horses and goats decided to wreck the run! Guess I will have to figure out another plan...would have thought double wire would have deterred them but it did not. At this rate I will have to sell a thousand eggs to pay for all the damage....hmmmm....maybe I should sell the goats and horses instead. Back to the drawing board and trying to salvage at least some of the wire...

 

[readymom]

I just finished mine.

 

[Latestarter]

I just finished mine.

WOW... that is a chicken mansion! Can't zoom on the pics, but I'd recommend 1/2 inch hardware cloth completely enclosing the lower portion of that run... varmints can (and will) rip right through that "chicken wire" for a fresh chicken meal.

 

[Cabin Katie]

I just finished mine.

Uhh... Can I live in your coop please? I promise to give you're hens first dibs on roost's

 

[readymom]

I may have to take in renter's to pay for it!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I just finished mine.

gorgeous! I agree with whoever said about hardware cloth. Better to be safe.

 

[Cabin Katie]

I may have to take in renter's to pay for it!

LOL