post your chicken coop pictures here!

[ShrekDawg]

I didn't know we had stalking city raccoons in our neighborhood until a year after we got chickens -- we drove home at 2 a.m. morning to see a raccoon the size of a goat come out of the street drain just 5 houses away!  City raccoons are more dangerous and clever than rural ones because of all the city obstacles they cleverly learned to maneuver around - traffic, fences, freeways, tall buildings, sewers, etc.

Agreed. City coons are smart little buggers! You ever seen Raccoon Nation?? It's a Nature (PBS) program and last I checked was on Netflix. Highly fascinating imo

 

[Sylvester017]

Built this from a kit I got at tsc this week. Chicks are in it during the day and in the brooder at night. Going to put hardware cloth on the bottom and move them out full time this weekend.

Love the Barn Coop styles! This is such a cute model. It took me a few years to finally get a sturdy larger Barn Coop model You may need to attach a larger run or allow free-ranging because chickens need space to run, and scratch, and flap, and dust-bathe -- like all chickens do!

Wow!!!

O ya my cousin could take a few and then my neighbor would take the rest as they have like 50 chickens I took my rooster over and they said o ya u can just set him down so I would imagin that they would take them

That is outstanding to have such a good neighbor and cousin! Our good neighbor saved our birds when stray dogs attacked our first little chicken coop 5 years ago -- we've been good friends since I found out what great animal lovers they are!

 

[gpeters3]

We live in Western NC so we do have freezing Temps. I have not thought of a warmer. I need to investigate this further. I was imagining my self thawing water bottles every morning come winter...

I unplugged my heater a few weeks ago and found it frozen next day. Until a couple of days ago we still got below freezing every night and could still get below freezing again before summer. It didn't freeze solid but the bottom where they get the water was iced over. When i first started i had an open dog dish style water dish and had to knock the ice out every morning all winter. They only had access to water a couple hours each day because it froze in a few hours during the colder days. Then i got a heated open dish and used that for a couple of seasons but chickens are cute but very, very dirty and love to poop in their water and food so i tried to make a cover for it and they defeated every scheme i tried until i bought the current hanging, heated drinker. Now i hang everything as high as possible to still allow them access to it. As my chicks grew i kept shortening the hanger to raise the dishes up. Now, instead of pooping in them, they simply knock them around and spill it all out. They will defeat all your efforts until you finally defeat them with nipple drinkers using pvc. That's my next and, hopefully, last effort. Soon as i get the hardware cloth burried I'm starting on that project.

 

[gpeters3]

FINALLY finished the run! Our $200 craigslist coop and the run we built for my 16 girls (well, 13 girls and possible 3 roosters)

I would like advice on a top for the run. What works best to keep hawks/eagles/ravens etc out? We get lots of snow in winter so I need something that it won't pile up on and break it down. Is bird netting sufficient? The girls are locked up tight inside the coop at night so not terribly worried about raccoons climbing in. I haven't seen any around during the day.
It's about 14x20. Thanks for any suggestions!

I used 2" chicken wire for 5 years with no predator issues, top and sides. I now use 1" wire all over but add deer wire to the bottom 6' and may he adding some hardware cloth to the bottom 3' or so in the run. That would prevent any reach throughs. We have coons, skunks and possums and also coyotes and possibly stray dogs and cats here but i think the only thing that actually got any of my birds was a hawk when i ranged them. Now they stay in the coop and run. I'm using wolmanized firing strips to secure all my wire with zink coated nails every foot or so. (I have nail guns for everything) Should be good for several years. (Used staples on the wire before but they are a slow pain)

 

[hitchyourwagon]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/users/users/question/user_id/272856

 

[squidvicious]

I just put my heat lamps on a timer so i dont have to remember to plug them in and unplug them. Mine are using their brooders for cover in the run til i get up the nerve to integrate them with the mature hens. Since that's the only cover they have i have to turn the heat off during the day.

This is,my first flock. I have the lamp off at night now. I think they could probably go out full time but the bottom of the run doesn't have any protection. Their brooder is only a largeish dog crate in my living room. Tell ya what though, I'm not doing chicks inside again if I can help it. Dust is everywhere! Lol

 

[squidvicious]

Accidentally posted a reply twice. D'oh! Lol

All your coops are so cute!

My mom won't let me put up any new structures even though there is plenty of space. Oh well. I'm hoping I can gradually convince her that we need a new barn with a milking area for the goats I want to get. Lol

 

[NanaNeen]

I unplugged my heater a few weeks ago and found it frozen next day. Until a couple of days ago we still got below freezing every night and could still get below freezing again before summer. It didn't freeze solid but the bottom where they get the water was iced over. When i first started i had an open dog dish style water dish and had to knock the ice out every morning all winter. They only had access to water a couple hours each day because it froze in a few hours during the colder days. Then i got a heated open dish and used that for a couple of seasons but chickens are cute but very, very dirty and love to poop in their water and food so i tried to make a cover for it and they defeated every scheme i tried until i bought the current hanging, heated drinker. Now i hang everything as high as possible to still allow them access to it. As my chicks grew i kept shortening the hanger to raise the dishes up. Now, instead of pooping in them, they simply knock them around and spill it all out. They will defeat all your efforts until you finally defeat them with nipple drinkers using pvc. That's my next and, hopefully, last effort. Soon as i get the hardware cloth burried I'm starting on that project.

my bottles are nipple design. I love them. We had the dirty water feeders when we had chickens several years ago and went through the the same raising process you describe. This is our first experience with a smaller coop. I can't hang a five gallon bucket so I'm trying to be creative with what pve watering system. For now the two bottles last a little over a day but as they grow I will need a larger supply.

 

[NanaNeen]

I didn't know we had stalking city raccoons in our neighborhood until a year after we got chickens -- we drove home at 2 a.m. morning to see a raccoon the size of a goat come out of the street drain just 5 houses away!  City raccoons are more dangerous and clever than rural ones because of all the city obstacles they cleverly learned to maneuver around - traffic, fences, freeways, tall buildings, sewers, etc.

everyone has the chance of predators. They can dig under and fly in...

 

[adkhunter1590]

Quote:If you look at that chicken wire at the bottom, a coon or fox will be under that and in with your birds in 5 seconds flat. Stray dogs or a feral cat won't have any problem either. strongly suggest you use 3' tall 1/2" squares (1/4" is a weaker grade/gauge) hardware cloth as a wrap around the bottom of your run and attach it with poultry staples or screws with fender washers, and then do some sort of apron out from it to prevent diggers from getting under. Best of luck!

I should of taken pics Sunday instead of Saturday. That chicken wire is now buried around the perimeter about 10 inches down. I'm not real worried about anything getting in there after my chicks. We haven't had any predator problems since we started keeping chickens about a year and a half ago. I lost 2 to Hawks and had a third go missing during free range time but nothing so far has attacked our coop. The coop is also very close to the house so I think that helps. I think today I'm gonna head down to lowes and pick up some roofing material and get that finished up before we get any more rain