post your chicken coop pictures here!

[cabinchicky]

We have had only 1 rat, thankfully! It was male and not full grown yet. We seen it one night putting the kids to bed. Then set traps even a leg hold one. Hubby finally got it with a pellet gun after sitting out there for almost 2 hours. I do see my birds catch mice too, talk about mayhem when that happens! Brahmas catch them most the time of see it.

Only time we witnessed chickens catching mice in the yard far from the coop was a Leghorn who found a nest of 3 pink babies and tore them apart, and our littlest Silkie who caught a small mouse and had all the other chickens chasing after her - she was NOT going to give up her catch!  I hope this means our chickens are always catching other rodents when we're not there to watch!  I was thinking about getting a cat but with chickens doing the job I won't need a feline LOL!

I have yet to see my guineas catch one. Talk about vicious birds! Have two left who think they are chickens and run with my BA pullets.

 

[TripsChicks2]

Here is ours... And boy was it a hassle but so much fun also.

 

[ShanandGem]

The Pallet Palace for my Orpingtons. Ugly but effective. And practically free.

 

[perchie.girl]

speaking as a person who had slipper sized rats living iN her house.... when you see one there are at least five more. I had to resort to poison but then i didnt have any animals besides dogs. I made bait stations out of Five gallon buckets with the lids fastened on drilled three holes in the sides and put the bait inside.

Then the buckets got hung from the rafters where their Greasy foot traffic trail was. I had that many....

I had to refill the bait stations every three days. and Yes my house smelled of Decomp for a while.... it was horrible.

I had an Aussie cross dog who was an excellent Ratter. I saw a rat in the planter under my front window.... I had put a couch out there for the dogs .... VERy BAD idea... I moved the couch and about three or four rats bailed from the couch into thier holes. Rosie saw this and moved a YARD of soil from the planter digging them out and killing them one by one. Shed shake the rat I would tell her to drop it when I thought it was dead and she would go after another. Four adults four Juveniles and three nests of Pinkies about seven in each nest.

Thats when I fabricated my bait stations.

Things I ws doing wrong.....
Junk piled up against the house
Dog food outside always full
Junk inside the house too.
IGNORING the situation or brushing it off as no big deal.

deb

 

[cabinchicky]

speaking as a person who had slipper sized rats living iN her house....  when you see one there are at least five more.  I had to resort to poison but then i didnt have any animals besides dogs.   I made bait stations out of Five gallon buckets with the lids fastened on drilled three holes in the sides and put the bait inside.

Then the buckets got hung from the rafters where their Greasy foot traffic trail was.  I had that many....   I had to refill the bait stations every three days.   and Yes my house smelled of Decomp for a while....  it was horrible.

I had an Aussie cross dog who was an excellent Ratter.    I saw a rat in the planter under my front window....  I had put a couch out there for the dogs .... VERy BAD idea...   I moved the couch and about three or four rats bailed from the couch into thier holes.   Rosie saw this and moved a YARD of soil from the planter digging them out and killing them one by one.    Shed shake the rat I would tell her to drop it when I thought it was dead and she would go after another.     Four adults four Juveniles and three nests of Pinkies  about seven in each nest.

Thats when I fabricated my bait stations.

Things I ws doing wrong.....
Junk piled up against the house
Dog food outside always full
Junk inside the house too.
IGNORING the situation or brushing it off as no big deal.

deb

Our rat issue was last summer. Only ever seen that one, mice and chipmunk are my problem now.

 

[Sylvester017]

Expansion day. Our prefab coop is getting a run expansion, 32"x16'. I think my 6 white leghorns will then be comfy. Yes I know about chicken math, but for now comfy

How wonderful that if you have White Legs that all 6 of your chickens are the same breed. Our White Leg was a gentle alpha leader for 3 years and after her 3rd year molt she went bonkers on the gentler smaller breeds in the flock and we had to re-home her before she injured a smaller breed. Your 6 Legs will be dynamo egg layers and evenly matched for pecking order status. Be aware that these girls are active and will require some or all free-range time or they will peck at each other in confinement. These poor sweeties get debeaked in commercial industries for a reason. I grew up around White Babcock Leghorns and love Legs for so many reasons but unfortunately couldn't keep our one Leg among our gentler smaller birds.
Here is our sweet White Leg in her younger days:




Are your canopies Coleman? My one big canopy for our chickens is a Coleman but I couldn't find replacement covers. I found the following link on gardenwinds.com for generic 10x10 covers in choices of good/better/best qualities that look like they might be a good fit for our Colemans:
https://www.gardenwinds.com/univers...l?gclid=COyrjtHzsssCFdKIfgodEyMN7w#googlebase

We use our Coleman canopy as shade for the chickens, protect their feed/water station, and to keep rain out of their raised-bed dust bath.

 

[NanaNeen]

How wonderful that if you have White Legs that all 6 of your chickens are the same breed. Our White Leg was a gentle alpha leader for 3 years and after her 3rd year molt she went bonkers on the gentler smaller breeds in the flock and we had to re-home her before she injured a smaller breed. Your 6 Legs will be dynamo egg layers and evenly matched for pecking order status. Be aware that these girls are active and will require some or all free-range time or they will peck at each other in confinement. These poor sweeties get debeaked in commercial industries for a reason. I grew up around White Babcock Leghorns and love Legs for so many reasons but unfortunately couldn't keep our one Leg among our gentler smaller birds. Here is our sweet White Leg in her younger days: Are your canopies Coleman? My one big canopy for our chickens is a Coleman but I couldn't find replacement covers. I found the following link on gardenwinds.com for generic 10x10 covers in choices of good/better/best qualities that look like they might be a good fit for our Colemans: https://www.gardenwinds.com/univers...l?gclid=COyrjtHzsssCFdKIfgodEyMN7w#googlebase We use our Coleman canopy as shade for the chickens, protect their feed/water station, and to keep rain out of their raised-bed dust bath.

this is our first run with leghorns. I think they are beautiful. They are 17-18 weeks now and so far are good with each other. I hope it stays that way. I can't free range but will put as much entertainment into their run as possible. When finished it will give them 3'x22' of ground area. I have no idea about the canopy replacement. I would check amazon or eBay. You might just be able to purchase a new popup as cheap or cheaper than a cover...

 

[Sylvester017]

this is our first run with leghorns. I think they are beautiful. They are 17-18 weeks now and so far are good with each other. I hope it stays that way. I can't free range but will put as much entertainment into their run as possible. When finished it will give them 3'x22' of ground area.
I have no idea about the canopy replacement. I would check amazon or eBay. You might just be able to purchase a new popup as cheap or cheaper than a cover...

That is great about giving your Legs space and entertainment. They are so-o-o active a breed and as open range foragers are easier on the overall feed bill. Legs have been one of my favorite breeds of all time. If I didn't have littles in the flock I would've kept my Legs. Legs are assertive for a lighterweight breed which is what I like in a flock of mixed dual purpose breeds. Even if Legs are lighterweight they can hold their own around heavier breeds like Marans, Orps, Wyans, RIRs, etc.

I checked eBay and Amazon and a half-dozen websites including Coleman to find replacement canopy covers. I got tired of using tarps as covers - they looked fairly nice when tied down with ball ties to the canopy frame but they didn't last past a year. I was intrigued with gardenwinds.com because they offer the heaviest duty gazebo tops that will last for more than one season. I thought I would try one to see if it lasted more than a year. Our neighbor has a heavy-duty gazebo canopy and it's been up for over 4 years without needing replacing.

Behind the pink block wall behind the telephone pole is our neighbor's beige 2-tier gazebo canopy from 5 years ago and it still looks good. If I can order a custom canopy top made out of the same Riplock material and not have to replace the cover every year it will be worth the money. This old photo was taken before our block wall replaced the old chainlink fence.


Nearly 5 years later the neighbor's 2-tier gazebo canopy is yellowed but still in good shape!


The neighbor's 2-tier canopy in the background with our Coleman in the foreground.

 

[pigcoon]

Love the canopy idea! Can't wait to see the finished set up!

 

[NanaNeen]

That is great about giving your Legs space and entertainment. They are so-o-o active a breed and as open range foragers are easier on the overall feed bill. Legs have been one of my favorite breeds of all time. If I didn't have littles in the flock I would've kept my Legs. Legs are assertive for a lighterweight breed which is what I like in a flock of mixed dual purpose breeds. Even if Legs are lighterweight they can hold their own around heavier breeds like Marans, Orps, Wyans, RIRs, etc. I checked eBay and Amazon and a half-dozen websites including Coleman to find replacement canopy covers. I got tired of using tarps as covers - they looked fairly nice when tied down with ball ties to the canopy frame but they didn't last past a year. I was intrigued with gardenwinds.com because they offer the heaviest duty gazebo tops that will last for more than one season. I thought I would try one to see if it lasted more than a year. Our neighbor has a heavy-duty gazebo canopy and it's been up for over 4 years without needing replacing. Behind the pink block wall behind the telephone pole is our neighbor's beige 2-tier gazebo canopy from 5 years ago and it still looks good. If I can order a custom canopy top made out of the same Riplock material and not have to replace the cover every year it will be worth the money. This old photo was taken before our block wall replaced the old chainlink fence. Nearly 5 years later the neighbor's 2-tier gazebo canopy is yellowed but still in good shape! The neighbor's 2-tier canopy in the background with our Coleman in the foreground.

Looks like you are doing some patio and raised beds also? I'm thinking of adding another raised bed next spring for smaller quantity veggies. Hubby does a bigger garden for corn, tomatoes, green beans and onions.