post your chicken coop pictures here!

[gpeters3]

The top pic is my new roost setup. The bottom pic shows how i prevent roosting on top of nests by bringing the chicken wire right up to the front edge of the boxes. In my old coop i used a tapered lid but the bantams could easily roost on it which is why i changed it with this coop. The roosts are 2x4 flat side up, 2 boards about 18 inches apart in both directions so the ones that cant fly very well can hop up from one to the next. The top roost is a few inches above the nest lip and about 12 inches in front to allow them to hop into the box without flapping their wings. You can see the old metal pipe perches in the bottom pic which were replaced with the 2x4's. I combine the nest boxes with feed hangers and access them from behind in a small work area with access doors for the feed and also for gathering eggs. I think they want some security when they lay and look for a snug nest to do it so naturally go to the nest box to lay. In 5 years of messing with this i have only found a few eggs not in the nest and some of those were knocked out by others including the roosters which are all in the freezer now. I also use fake eggs and was pleasantly surprised to see it actually works.

 

[TJordan]

Oh my.... I could look through these all night long going "That's what I want to do!" And in the end I'll most likely have a 4'x8' box with an exit hole. No roosts. Small nest box.

Unless I BUILD IT MYSELF

Tomorrow is supposed to be ground breaking day on the coop.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Our progress for today.

I'm going to make a page but for now, here's it is.

Sorry the pics are kinda the same, I'm weird and like to take pictures from multiple angles and figure everyone just wants the end pictures and not the step by step LOL

The page will have all the pictures though.

But ya.

With assistance from our handy dandy canine assistant, Gator. He's in charge of distributing kisses and boosting morale

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[koopmaster]

Chickens are a wonderful investment both as pets and utility. 

I'm concerned about your run.  It will not keep hungry winter critters away from free chicken dinners.  Do more to fortify your pen against digging critters or from heavy critters that can jump on the wire and tear it down. 

We never knew we had raccoons in our city neighborhood until we saw one the size of a goat crawl out of the sewer drain.  Two stray dogs broke our fence gate and attacked our coop and mangled the flimsy chicken poultry wire -- a good neighbor chased the mutts off or we would've lost the flock.  Those of us chickeneers who've had close calls or lost birds are paranoid about chicken predators.

Thank you very much for the input Svestor017!!! The chickens are put to bed just before dark each nite and the coop IS varmint/predator ptoof. We are new to raising chickens so tips are always welcomed! We are in the process of building the "permanent cook and run now.

 

[bruceha2000]

WIP

Given the approximate dimensions based on the "human" in the picture, skip the ramp to the nest boxes. They aren't nearly high enough to need a ramp, your hens won't even flap once to get to knee height. Save the floor space. Also, from the looks of it, the higher roost on the left is too close to the wall, it should be 12" minimum (though that could be a perspective thing with the open door).

That could be true but she just seems nastier than normal and i think some people have them get along fine so maybe mines just mean. Or someone told me she could just be a hormonal teenager right now and may settle down. I am hoping that's the cause because otherwise she may have to go

she is a black australorp and almost always picks on the buff Orpingtons. Maybe is low in the pecking order and can't bully anyone but them or takes it out on them? We have another australorp and as far as i kmow, she is not a bully. So I'm not sure what is up with this one. I'll give her another chance and maybe try separating her once the new run gets built but sadly, if she doesn't improve she may have to go

she has pecked me a lot too. I think it is just normal chicken behavior of liking shiny objects and sometimes she even acts scared of me so i don't know but she has pecked my gums last week and then yesterday my eye. And she pecked my albow hard once and made a mark

I have NO IDEA why you let that chicken close enough to your face to peck IN your mouth or to peck your eye. Grab her by her feet and hang her upside down. If you don't end up sending her to "camp" she needs to respect you as flock leader and if that means she is afraid of you, so be it.

I would defiantly consider departing her for a while and let her be the new one to them flock and work her way back into the flock she should settle down then as it will give the others a chance to be higher in the order so she will be lower or she can be the highest and if u don't have a rooster some hens will act as the rooster the hen will crow and lead the lady's just like a rooster would do so maybe that's what she is doing how old is she

Highly unlikely. My Anconas have always been top of the order and think they need to remind the other girls frequently. EXCEPT when they are moulting and they feel vulnerable. But as soon as they get their feathers back, they go right back to "reminding".

That makes sense! I wanted mine for pets but also eggs, to my dad and brothers they're working animals (though they love them

), to me they're pets. I tried to pick breeds that were really friendly to me but also nice to each other. I think part of it is they outgrew their brooder by 2 weeks and were in it till 3 and the last day or so the roof caved it which i didnt notice till later. But maybe some of it is just big girl personalities. Maybe Australorps are just a bossiet breed? My Orpingtons are just the sweetest little things but one of them stands up for herself. My EEs and Barred Rock are extremely friendly and personable but I can't hold them. I don't know, I think they're all fairly gentle besides the one Australorp but hopefully they'll be okay when they move

Australorps are not typically a "top of the order" breed. Maybe you got a bad one. If she is actually damaging the other birds (other than a few missing feathers now and then) I would send her "somewhere". Of the 19 girls I have had, none ever went through a hormonal "teen age" period where they were nasty then got better.

Thanks so much for the suggestions!! The box is actually bigger than it looks, it is 5ft x 8ft give or take an inch. The roosts I will be switching out to 2x4's in the very near future but right now my ladies are still small and love those little rods, I have read different ideas on the roosts some say flat footed and other say no. I think I am going to try both and see what works best and they like the best. But will have to def get something a little strudier as they get heavier. I have installed vinyl floor in the bottom of each milk crate that I can remove to clean and to keep stuff from falling through, eventually I want to do the sloped roof on the top boxes. I find as we are building it the ideas I originally had I am scraping as I see it take shape. I also want the metal hardware cloth (I think that is what it is called) to put all the way around, however it is on the more expensive side so I have to buy in a little at a time. The whole coop is 12x8ft and then roughly 10 ft high at its lowest point so that is a lot of wire. Lol.. Please keep your suggestions and advice coming, I appreciate it very much!!!!

Oh and the girls are already in there... This is their first night in the box, as the have been in their brood box inside the coop for almost 2 weeks.

I do have one question, how often are y'all cleaning out the coop and the nest area??

They will like whichever type roost is the highest in the coop even if it is a very inappropriate 1/2 wide. High = safe in their "I am a prey species" minds.

I have deep bedding pine shavings in my coop and rake the poop in every morning. I have dragged it all out into the run and put in new twice in almost 4 years. I add some new every now and then.

I "fluff" the pine shavings in the nest boxes every week or so because they get compacted. If an egg gets broken in the box I will toss it and the surrounding shavings out. My birds do not sleep in the nest boxes so they do not poop in them. I add new every now and then here as well.

 

[IvanTsary]

Good to know about the ramp, it just wastes floor space. The roost is about 12"from the wall, but I might just run one roost bar the 8 feet across the front and then shift the nesting box to where the door will be instead of adding a egg door.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

u could put the roost up against the wall up to the roost so it don't take up much floor space

 

[Tika75]

Ok so 1 more question... Did you have to put your hens in the nest boxes so they knew to go in or did they just start investigating them on their own??
I didn't have to show mine where to nest. Of course right now I'm not using a nesting box, but a bigger flower pot. They seem to like it just fine.

I do have one question, how often are y'all cleaning out the coop and the nest area??


The coop I clean out about once a week, but I see that others don't. I'm afraid a snake might decide to hide out there though. My nest I haven't had to clean out yet. I have had to add some straw because it was compacted. I use a bigger flower pot instead of an actual nesting box right now.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Given the approximate dimensions based on the "human" in the picture, skip the ramp to the nest boxes. They aren't nearly high enough to need a ramp, your hens won't even flap once to get to knee height.  Save the floor space.  Also, from the looks of it, the higher roost on the left is too close to the wall, it should be 12" minimum (though that could be a perspective thing with the open door).


I have NO IDEA why you let that chicken close enough to your face to peck IN your mouth or to peck your eye. Grab her by her feet and hang her upside down. If you don't end up sending her to "camp" she needs to respect you as flock leader and if that means she is afraid of you, so be it.


Highly unlikely. My Anconas have always been top of the order and think they need to remind the other girls frequently. EXCEPT when they are moulting and they feel vulnerable. But as soon as they get their feathers back, they go right back to "reminding".


Australorps are not typically a "top of the order" breed. Maybe you got a bad one. If she is actually damaging the other birds (other than a few missing feathers now and then) I would send her "somewhere". Of the 19 girls I have had, none ever went through a hormonal "teen age" period where they were nasty then got better.


They will like whichever type roost is the highest in the coop even if it is a very inappropriate 1/2 wide. High = safe in their "I am a prey species" minds.

I have deep bedding pine shavings in my coop and rake the poop in every morning. I have dragged it all out into the run and put in new twice in almost 4 years. I add some new every now and then.

I "fluff" the pine shavings in the nest boxes every week or so because they get compacted. If an egg gets broken in the box I will toss it and the surrounding shavings out. My birds do not sleep in the nest boxes so they do not poop in them. I add new every now and then here as well.

It's definitely possible I got a bad one, not sure. I got the teenage idea from someone that told me it so I'm not sure. As for her getting close to my face, the gum thing happened when I was bending down to reach under the coop to I think get their feeder and she got me. The eye thing she flew onto my leg then my shoulder and I was feeding her and she pecked me. She also rolled onto my back and wouldn't get off when I was trying to get out. I sometimes hold the others but when they look curious about my face turn away or stop them. I just wasn't careful about them. I'm not going to allow them to climb all over me anymore though

 

[TJordan]

It's definitely possible I got a bad one, not sure. I got the teenage idea from someone that told me it so I'm not sure. As for her getting close to my face, the gum thing happened when I was bending down to reach under the coop to I think get their feeder and she got me. The eye thing she flew onto my leg then my shoulder and I was feeding her and she pecked me. She also rolled onto my back and wouldn't get off when I was trying to get out. I sometimes hold the others but when they look curious about my face turn away or stop them. I just wasn't careful about them. I'm not going to allow them to climb all over me anymore though

The last rooster that attacked me... Found himself in a nice warm bath with special bath salts and all the veggies he could want