post your chicken coop pictures here!

[danverhen14]

I see. But is he actually contained in that coop? He doesn't get into a larger area?

no he get to go out in the larger run in the daytime but he is locked up in this at night and when it is raining

 

[lynnehd]

no he get to go out in the larger run in the daytime but he is locked up in this at night and when it is raining

Oh good! They sure like to flap their wings, etc.

 

[Wendy High]

Here is my homemade hen house. All from repurposed material. Not real fancy, but has lots of love and loads of learning. And the chickens love it.

 

[bruceha2000]

Looks good from here Wendy! Any inside shots?

 

[Wendy High]

Still pretty bare on inside. Mostly 5 gallon buckets, 1 double nesting box and some pine saplings for roost. Have gotten lots of ideas from site.

Still a labor of love. Little at a time.

 

[TJordan]

Very nice. I'm going to use fallen tree limbs for my roosts. Save my bought wood for other projects. Like the smaller 'new chick' coop I'm going to build for my set I have in my incubator now.

 

[cabinchicky]

Fallen limbs and saplings are great for roosts anywhere! We have them inside and in the runs as well. It gives my roosters a place to guard the hens and crow from. The hens use them to get away from randy roosters or nap.

 

[Sylvester017]

Here is my homemade hen house. All from repurposed material. Not real fancy, but has lots of love and loads of learning. And the chickens love it.

That's a nice run and coop! I like that you have a plentiful space for your run. I have a small backyard that had an open space. By accident I discovered our hens liked to snooze/hide under a lean-to I made to shade their feed/water. They also liked to snooze under an old stickery climbing rosebush along the fence. It gave me an idea to add a pop-up canopy with doghouses under it for them to snooze/hide during the day. The Cooper's Hawk will be 5-feet away seeing a hen but won't go after the hiding/sheltered hen. Our Silkies can't fly or run fast so we have many shelters nearby they can quickly dive under/into!


Old stickery climbing rosebush the hens would snooze under. The Cooper's Hawk would land on the fence and see the chickens but he wouldn't bother them under the thorny bush.


Doghouses are popular with our hens and we have 4 large recycled ones scattered around the yard and under the pop-up canopy. We thought they would be tempted to lay their eggs in the doghouses but they never did -- always used the coop nestboxes instead.


Sometimes an old wheelbarrow makes a nice snoozing shelter.



Our first lean-to was for the feed/water but the chickens took it over as their hiding/snoozing shelter.



I've seen 4 chickens at once dive under the cedar lawn rocker when a Cooper's Hawk landed on the fence. We're adding more lawn furniture!



Even behind the waste bins chickens used them to hide/snooze.



During backyard remodeling the construction crew left some scaffolding lumber and we converted them into a long wide shelter along the new block wall.


The old canopy was small so we got this larger 10x10 and are working on putting a 4x4 raised cedar garden bed dust-bath area centered under it where the chickens will be able to dust-bathe in dry dirt during rainy days.



The important and safe lesson we learned was to have several shelter options in an open foraging yard. Our hens like to hug the walls, buildings, and fences so we set up most of the shelters along these places. I hope to add a curved walking bridge in the middle of the backyard to add an additional hiding/snoozing shelter plus eliminate an open swooping area from the Cooper's Hawk. If there are no running hens he can't swoopdown on them with his talons!

 

[the poppster]

I have a few good sized spruce trees in the yard. Along with a wooden garden swing, wheel barrow, four wheeler and yard trailer. I will stuff white feed sacks with other empty sacks or leaves and lay them under the tree branches on the ground and another under the trailer....I figure it resembles my border collie, taking a break in the shade. Eagles and hawks circle high overhead, but don't seem inclined to get a closer look. The Roos do their job and warn the flock, and the girls run for cover. Of course that draws the dog's attention, and she comes out of her resting place...only confirming that those white sacks could be a dog....oh and I rearrange things every day....even move the sacks a few times a day so nothing it really static...Seems to throw the predators off...I'll tie white grocery bags to the top of pen poles, so they move around with the breeze...keep them guessing...They will find easier, less threatening, more familiar prey.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have a few good sized spruce trees in the yard. Along with a wooden garden swing, wheel barrow, four wheeler and yard trailer. I will stuff white feed sacks with other empty sacks or leaves and lay them under the tree branches on the ground and another under the trailer....I figure it resembles my border collie, taking a break in the shade. Eagles and hawks circle high overhead, but don't seem inclined to get a closer look. The Roos do their job and warn the flock, and the girls run for cover. Of course that draws the dog's attention, and she comes out of her resting place...only confirming that those white sacks could be a dog....oh and I rearrange things every day....even move the sacks a few times a day so nothing it really static...Seems to throw the predators off...I'll tie white grocery bags to the top of pen poles, so they move around with the breeze...keep them guessing...They will find easier, less threatening, more familiar prey.

Those are such good suggestions! I have no trees and neither do our neighbors because of high winds breaking off tree branches but some people use CD disks tied to trees or clotheslines, etc, that they say deters hawks too. We aren't zoned for roos so my hens have had to be creative on their own. My hens were the ones that let me know they liked hiding places all around the yard. Because of high winds we buried the legs of our canopy into the soil so it doesn't para-sail. We know once a year we have to replace the canopy cover but the chickens are worth the cost in order to stay safe! Our doghouses are from thrift stores, yard sales, and recycled donations from friends. On trash day we drive around the neighborhood looking for lumber pieces or headboards to make into more lean-to's. We haven't had any daytime visits from night critters like possums or raccoons but by night-time our girls are closed up in a secure coop with a clip-lock on their pop-door. A couple feral cats entered the yard but my hens chased them off and I've never seen them again!