post your chicken coop pictures here!

[the poppster]

When we got our new Barn Coop I set up a 2x4 plank for my hens and the silly girls liked the 2x2 rounded-edge roosts instead that came with the coop!  All 4 of our hens were accustomed to sleeping in the old coop's nestboxes.  The 2 Silkies still sleep in the new nestboxes -- they are a pile-on-the-floor kind of breed anyway -- while the 2 LFs are using the new coop's rounded-edge roosts.  Hey, as long as they're happy, I'm happy!

I would try to discourage the hens from roosting or sleeping in the nest boxes....They tend to poop a lot when roosting and sleeping....you will have poop covered eggs. Not to mention that they can break eggs while getting comfortable....which usually leads to egg eating....and that is a really tough habit to break them of.....oh! And it's catchy, one starts and if you don't stop it right away....you will likely end up with another bird with a taste for eggs.

 

[bruceha2000]

Quote:
I wasn't referencing the "how to keep chickens out of the flower bed" topic but the "what plants are not safe for them" one.

Quote:
I believe that they will go where they want (and may be trainable to stay out) but often just follow their beaks while they forage so the rabbit fence acts as a guide

If there are plenty of "OK" places they don't necessarily feel a need to go to the "Not OK" places. But mine do like shade in the noonday sun so if the only place a chicken has to get out of the sun (besides the coop which mine do NOT use during the day) other than the "not OK" places they will be in there.

Mine have made 2 outside dust bath spots. On near a lilac bush (and yes the small plants there are gone) and one under the picnic table which is over a spot where there is no grass because there was stuff piled there for a couple of years. Other than that, they don't mess in the flower beds other than fall and spring when nothing is growing.

 

[TJordan]

Yes it is sand. It is extremely easy to clean. I also mix in a little DE as well. Best thing I ever did. Good luck!

I think I might suggest it. As long as we can water proof this one. The one that burn to the ground had a bad leak because my husband missed the joint board when he screwed the roof down.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Ya I do the same thing take a little sand out of the stream let it dry through it in ur coop with a little de and scoop the poo every morning so easily takes less than 10 minutes to clean unlike all of that straw I used scrap it all out put new in took me over half an hour

 

[FarmerPhronc]

My first grazing panel. Just need to attach the wire. 2 more to go.

 

[Sylvester017]

I would try to discourage the hens from roosting or sleeping in the nest boxes....They tend to poop a lot when roosting and sleeping....you will have poop covered eggs. Not to mention that they can break eggs while getting comfortable....which usually leads to egg eating....and that is a really tough habit to break them of.....oh! And it's catchy, one starts and if you don't stop it right away....you will likely end up with another bird with a taste for eggs.

I grew up on a farm raising all kinds of poultry and started our tiny backyard flock 5 years ago after retiring and these methods that I use have been working for us. Every situation, every coop, every breed, every area/space, every method of raising chickens will be different strokes for different folks. I do welcome suggestions however because it helps other readers assess their situation and I'm never too old to learn something if I haven't heard before. Thank you very much for the suggestions but my bantam and LF girls have been sleeping in nestboxes for 5 years. Silkies are a pile-on-the-floor kind of breed so their sleeping in nestboxes is fine with me - better than the coop floor. The Silkies use the roosts during the day but will pile up for the night in the nestboxes. The two LFs began using the roosts in the new Barn Coop but once in a great while they will stake out a nestbox for the night - but they trained themselves to use the new coop roosts after having slept in the old coop nestboxes for years so I'm thinking the way a coop is configured may have a lot to do with why or where a hen chooses to roost since we never forced them sleep in or on the roosts or the boxes. We check the coop nestboxes every morning and clean them out if they need it. Real easy-peasy to clean when you use straw in the boxes. We're used to it and haven't had any issues with "dirty" or broken eggs - with only 4 hens it hasn't been a problem. I imagine with much larger flocks and big hen houses sleeping in nestboxes as you suggested would be more of an issue. We have the added advantage of being retired, usually always home, and have the coop just steps away from the kitchen door so we hear the egg songs immediately and the eggs don't sit in the nests for long. Silkies will easily go broody if eggs are left in the boxes so we take eggs out immediately. Being home is a luxury we have being retired and is one of the reasons we waited until retirement to build the little pet flock we wanted. They're better entertainment than a TV -- we haven't owned a TV in 5 years!

 

[tinrooster farm]

Just found and joined BYC today. Love the site -as I am just starting my own little flock. Great info and pics!

 

[Sylvester017]

Other than that, they don't mess in the flower beds other than fall and spring when nothing is growing.

Since our backyard remodel the grass and soil was shaved off and left the backyard (and our frontyard too) just as bare as desert. I had to sprout seeds for the chickens to get tender greens and lots of cucumbers, cantaloupe, leafy greens, etc etc etc, and they left the 2-ft-tall fenced-off potted veggies alone. Our youngest chicken, a Breda, is just a little over a year-old and as a youngster she was incorrigible about flying to places in the yard she shouldn't. Now that she's matured she has been behaving. It used to be our young Ameraucana that went places she shouldn't and now she's one of the "mature" respecters of the rabbit fencing. The longer we have the backyard flock and experiment with different breeds the more I've learned about training them - sometimes by accident and sometimes from good suggestions on BYC.

 

[Sylvester017]

Just found and joined BYC today. Love the site -as I am just starting my own little flock. Great info and pics!

 

[bruceha2000]

I grew up on a farm raising all kinds of poultry and started our tiny backyard flock 5 years ago after retiring and these methods that I use have been working for us. Every situation, every coop, every breed, every area/space, every method of raising chickens will be different strokes for different folks. I do welcome suggestions however because it helps other readers assess their situation and I'm never too old to learn something if I haven't heard before. Thank you very much for the suggestions but my bantam and LF girls have been sleeping in nestboxes for 5 years. Silkies are a pile-on-the-floor kind of breed so their sleeping in nestboxes is fine with me - better than the coop floor. The Silkies use the roosts during the day but will pile up for the night in the nestboxes. The two LFs began using the roosts in the new Barn Coop but once in a great while they will stake out a nestbox for the night - but they trained themselves to use the new coop roosts after having slept in the old coop nestboxes for years so I'm thinking the way a coop is configured may have a lot to do with why or where a hen chooses to roost since we never forced them sleep in or on the roosts or the boxes. We check the coop nestboxes every morning and clean them out if they need it. Real easy-peasy to clean when you use straw in the boxes. We're used to it and haven't had any issues with "dirty" or broken eggs - with only 4 hens it hasn't been a problem. I imagine with much larger flocks and big hen houses sleeping in nestboxes as you suggested would be more of an issue. We have the added advantage of being retired, usually always home, and have the coop just steps away from the kitchen door so we hear the egg songs immediately and the eggs don't sit in the nests for long. Silkies will easily go broody if eggs are left in the boxes so we take eggs out immediately. Being home is a luxury we have being retired and is one of the reasons we waited until retirement to build the little pet flock we wanted. They're better entertainment than a TV -- we haven't owned a TV in 5 years!

You are probably one of the few people who could use MORE nest boxes than you have hens.
Over here we have the sleeping nests and over there we have the laying nests.