post your chicken coop pictures here!

[FarmerPhronc]

Almost have the old hen house ready to repaint. Cut ventilation openings in the gables on both ends. Once the painting is done I'll cover them with 1/2" hardware cloth.







While I have a window on both sides that will be most likely closed during the harsh winters we have here in Colorado. I only have a 12' x 18' chicken door down low. I'm thinking I'm gonna need more ventilation. Your opinion please!

 

[junebuggena]

Here is a pic of my wannabe rooster. She has no spurs and doesn't crow as often as my roosters used to so I'm still hoping for a hen:



She was bought with 2 other 'chipmunks' all of which were identical when purchased and all are completely different thus the general term 'Easter Egger'. They were supposed to be Auracana's. I have one leghorn laying now (I think) small to medium size and store bought white at this point but they usually lay larger eggs as they mature in my experience. Still bigger than bantam eggs but way smaller than my others. They range over 6 weeks in age so it may take a while to see more eggs.

Can't pray over something like this and don't believe in crossing my fingers so here's hoping (Isn't she pretty?)

That is a cockerel. No doubt. And spurs don't usually begin to develop until after 6 months of age.

 

[TerryH]

I'm thinking I'm gonna need more ventilation. Your opinion please!

I would say you'll need more. 1 sq.ft. of permanent ventilation per chicken is a good general rule.

 

[MeepBeep]

I'm thinking I'm gonna need more ventilation. Your opinion please!

Off to a good start, if it was me I would remove the solid soffit boards and screen the entire underside of the overhang on each side... Between that and the cut in gable vents you should be well vented...

 

[Intheswamp]

Almost have the old hen house ready to repaint. Cut ventilation openings in the gables on both ends. Once the painting is done I'll cover them with 1/2" hardware cloth.







While I have a window on both sides that will be most likely closed during the harsh winters we have here in Colorado. I only have a 12' x 18' chicken door down low. I'm thinking I'm gonna need more ventilation. Your opinion please!

Those gable vents will help. They maybe cover four chickens' worth of ventilation? Will there be enough roof overhang to keep snow from accumulating and blocking the vents?

In regards to more ventilation... Are the soffits open or closed? Looks like they're closed from the pictures. Having some of them open would create a good amount of ventilation and have it placed up high. And I don't think you'd have an issue of snow accumulation (I'm in south Alabama so I don't know the "doings" of heavy snow ). You could go as far as to create some sliding panels to open, reduce, or close those possible soffit vents. Don't forget to screen the soffit vents if you go that route.

Ventilation is good, draft isn't. Keep all of your winter ventilation up high above the chickens' heads. Summer ventilation is a bit different...they welcome a breeze during the heat...meaning those windows could be larger or maybe leave them as they are and create some larger screened areas on the other two walls. I've often thought that if I lived in a cold climate that I'd design my coop with sufficient upper ventilation to handle things during the winter. But, I'd also have large screened openings in the walls, larger than standard windows. For winter use I would install snug fitting shutters into these openings (probably built from the cutout panels where the large openings were created) knowing that the upper vents were adequate for the chickens. Leave it wide open for summer but in the winter shutter the sides up and let the upper vents do their things. Just my thoughts...

Will the coop have a covered area that the pop door opens to? That would allow the adventurous chickens somewhere to venture if snow gets to be an issue in the full run.

I've spoken of snow...and I'm not sure if you have it much or just really cold temperatures. If you do have snow, have you worked out how your "people" door will work if snow piles in front of it?

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[bruceha2000]

Here is a pic of my wannabe rooster. She has no spurs and doesn't crow as often as my roosters used to so I'm still hoping for a hen:



She was bought with 2 other 'chipmunks' all of which were identical when purchased and all are completely different thus the general term 'Easter Egger'. They were supposed to be Auracana's. I have one leghorn laying now (I think) small to medium size and store bought white at this point but they usually lay larger eggs as they mature in my experience. Still bigger than bantam eggs but way smaller than my others. They range over 6 weeks in age so it may take a while to see more eggs.

Can't pray over something like this and don't believe in crossing my fingers so here's hoping (Isn't she pretty?)

That bird is unquestionably a cockerel. The comb is huge and red, he has the "telltale" rusty red coming in on the wings. I would start looking for a home for him. Sorry.

 

[mclanea]

5.1 quake 1 k deep about 1:05  in an area called Borrego Springs....  about ninety miles away.  thirty miles from my house though.

Glad everything is off there

g'Nite everyone.

Felt it in San Diego. Sounds like everyone was fine.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

That bird is unquestionably a cockerel. The comb is huge and red, he has the "telltale" rusty red coming in on the wings. I would start looking for a home for him. Sorry.

if I didn't already have more than enough roosters I would take him, cant you keep him or do you live in an area where you cant. he looks like a nice rooster for breeding my mixed flock but I have 6 roosters I need to find homes for already.

 

[FarmerPhronc]

Those gable vents will help. They maybe cover four chickens' worth of ventilation? Will there be enough roof overhang to keep snow from accumulating and blocking the vents?

In regards to more ventilation... Are the soffits open or closed? Looks like they're closed from the pictures. Having some of them open would create a good amount of ventilation and have it placed up high. And I don't think you'd have an issue of snow accumulation (I'm in south Alabama so I don't know the "doings" of heavy snow ). You could go as far as to create some sliding panels to open, reduce, or close those possible soffit vents. Don't forget to screen the soffit vents if you go that route.

Ventilation is good, draft isn't. Keep all of your winter ventilation up high above the chickens' heads. Summer ventilation is a bit different...they welcome a breeze during the heat...meaning those windows could be larger or maybe leave them as they are and create some larger screened areas on the other two walls. I've often thought that if I lived in a cold climate that I'd design my coop with sufficient upper ventilation to handle things during the winter. But, I'd also have large screened openings in the walls, larger than standard windows. For winter use I would install snug fitting shutters into these openings (probably built from the cutout panels where the large openings were created) knowing that the upper vents were adequate for the chickens. Leave it wide open for summer but in the winter shutter the sides up and let the upper vents do their things. Just my thoughts...

Will the coop have a covered area that the pop door opens to? That would allow the adventurous chickens somewhere to venture if snow gets to be an issue in the full run.

I've spoken of snow...and I'm not sure if you have it much or just really cold temperatures. If you do have snow, have you worked out how your "people" door will work if snow piles in front of it?

Best wishes,
Ed

The gable openings will be covered with 1/2 inch hardware cloth so I don't think snow accumulation will be an issue. The soffit is solid however I could cut openings in it.

My little coop has a hardware cloth floor so air moves in from there and out the vents in the top. I've seen it get -30 F here and have had no issues with frost bite that's why I am considering adding more ventilation down low.




I will be adding a 8 x 12 ft run which will pretty much double my run area. I plan on covering half of it to provide them a snow protected area. As you can see from the pic they currently have about 25 sq ft of protected area under the small coop.

The people door in the other coop sits about 2 ft off the ground. If we get that much snow I'll be having issues just getting into the run area let alone the coop.

 

[gpeters3]

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if I didn't already have more than enough roosters I would take him, cant you keep him or do you live in an area where you cant. he looks like a nice rooster for breeding my mixed flock but I have 6 roosters I need to find homes for already.

He was supposed to lay colored eggs. Ill list him in the local want adds. I cant keep roosters because im not zoned for chickens so dont want to bring attention to them.