post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Rick O Shea]

Very nice coop " Detz ". It appears very well thought out and will meet many requirements. . It is definately a design idea for my planning archives. One question though: what is the size of the hen house portion & how many birds was it planned for ?
Thanks for the ideas.

 

[bigmrg74]

Most EGGcellent job.... I see your site inspector was giving it the once over.....

Not only is she a site inspector, she's also the one that got to bouncing on me this morning telling me to get up so she could check on her chickies.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: I love dogs with big personalities.... Mine used to watch the chicks in the brooder with avid interest a little drp coming off her nose because she was working it so much... she was part cattle dog when the chicks were out shed follow them every where... Of course closely supervised... when shed get too interested all I would have to say was a soft "no Dogs" and shed sit down... funny thing though she was afraid of the full grown ones...

I miss her so....

deb

 

[TJordan]

Not only is she a site inspector, she's also the one that got to bouncing on me this morning telling me to get up so she could check on her chickies.  

She looks like mine. She thinks she's a big chicken.

 

[bigmrg74]

I love dogs with big personalities.... Mine used to watch the chicks in the brooder with avid interest a little drp coming off her nose because she was working it so much... she was part cattle dog when the chicks were out shed follow them every where... Of course closely supervised... when shed get too interested all I would have to say was a soft "no Dogs" and shed sit down... funny thing though she was afraid of the full grown ones...

I miss her so....

deb

Miss Belle here is a toy Aussie Shepherd, and she loves to herd the girls around and such. She's gotten pretty decent about herding them back towards the coop most of the time. Just need to work with her more about that. But right now I have a movable fence around the coop to keep them out of the garden, so she hasn't had to do much herding other than the odd time they sneak over or under the fence.

 

[Mims]

you can hedge your bets if you paint it... any screw hole or hole drilled leaves an edge that is exposed thats where the corrosion starts... Dissimilar materials too will help corrosion along the way... but if you can exclude the air you are good to go.

Just for FYI down the road. My background is sheet metal enclosures and designs for the computer and infrastructure industry.
among a few things... LOL.

I have soo wanted to see a coop or run built with those because I Understand metal..

thank you

deb

Deb - Here you go! I am turning an old abandoned shed into my coop. I am shading the heck out of it, and cutting tons of openings to make it more of an open air coop, being that I'm in West Texas. But this baby has a 6" concrete floor, and sits next to a huge barn and shade tree that will keep it cooler for all but the late afternoon. To combat that, I am going to use lattice panels and grape and wisteria vines, plus I am planting 3 trees on that side. Excuse all of the junk. The previous owner used that area to pile junk, and we haven't removed it all yet. I will be covering the first 20' of the run with metal roofing, and the rest of the run after that will have a HW cloth cover. I also plan on having roosts and nest boxes in the run, under the metal roofing area, in case the shed gets too hot anyway.

Trying to make the best of this situation. Wish me luck! There's no where else to build it that has shade.

 

[Katelynschicks]

the chickens stay inside the coop while we are not home. But come out when we get home for couple hours. Just moved them outside yesterday. And they love it!!!

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Awesome.... that concrete floor will help with the heat as well. Sounds odd but I would use rice hulls on the floor than set a sprinkler in there to sprinkle it all when it gets hot. the concrete will absorb that moisture and evap will bring the temperature down a few degrees. as long as you have pleanty of ventilation. The rice hulls are excellent for this kind of job because they stay dry a very long time.... any moisture that hits them rolls off.

Is it a steel or aluiminum shed. Steel you can paint it with a rust inhibiting base coat then you can paint it any color. If its Aluminum Make sure you get something that will adhere to aluminum... Because Aluminum doesnt rust doesnt mean it wont corrode.

I LOVE wisteria... just remember its poisonous... even though its in the Pea family the pods are toxic.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8433406

How about growing grapes they vine like it and even the leaves are edible....

deb

 

[Mims]

So glad to know that about the wisteria. I have 2 grape vines that need to be planted, so I will just use those instead. Thank you.

Now that you mention it, I have no idea if it is steel or aluminum. My barn is definitely steel, but I will have to check on the shed when I get home. I do plan on painting it, though. It's pretty ugly right now. I'll check on where I can buy rice hulls around here. I've never noticed them for sale, but then, I wasn't ever looking for them. Thank you for all of your advice!!

 

[perchie.girl]

So glad to know that about the wisteria. I have 2 grape vines that need to be planted, so I will just use those instead. Thank you.

Now that you mention it, I have no idea if it is steel or aluminum. My barn is definitely steel, but I will have to check on the shed when I get home. I do plan on painting it, though. It's pretty ugly right now. I'll check on where I can buy rice hulls around here. I've never noticed them for sale, but then, I wasn't ever looking for them. Thank you for all of your advice!!

You are welcome.... My home is in the desert so we get up to around 105 in the summer... I hose down the Decomposed granite in my coop/runs to give them some relief... and have been considering using concrete pavers so I can do just that... get em wet to help take the temperature down.

But if your area is humid.... it may not work as well... I didnt think of that when I posted before.

But rice hulls are awesome... as bedding they stand up longer meaning they dont get packed down. I used them for my horse at a barn that required them because of that. Easier to move soiled bedding out. The feed stores will carry them in bale form just like shavings ... if they are available in your area... But I believe parts of Texas and Louisana have big rice farms...

They are a bit more expenisve than shavings here but last twice as long. Plus I have the option, for cleaning coops, of using a shop vac for the working end....

deb