post your chicken coop pictures here!

[urbanchick1950]

My neighbor directly behind feed 20 wild cats. They live in his sheds and stay in his backyard except for forays into my yard to kill songbirds and doves. I stopped putting water in my birdbaths to keep the cats from lining up for the birdie buffet daily!from talking to neighbors I'm not sure we have raccoons but we are going to put the hardware cloth or welded wire around the bottom perimeter. Mainly to keep the chickens from poking their heads through the chain link. No matter the food in the run they want that one blade of grass growing outside their safe little home.the tarps keep the chickens heads inside the run, for now, so the cats can't leap onto them and hurt the silly birds who lose their suspicion of them because the cats sphinx-like patience and stillness lulls the chickens into thinkinG they are not a risk!!! Smart cats, silly chickens.
We wanted to get two Americauna flock mates they were raised with. The previous owner had 4 birds in this coop before enlarging both their flock and their coop and run.

we went with the blocks vertically to make the under space large enough to prevent critter hiding space and to make sure we can reach chickens and or eggs. And we are adding more concrete blocks. Although That COOP Weighs Several Hundred Pounds AND Won't Shift easily. I so appreciate the experience and wisdom offered here.we love our chickens and want a good life for them. Thank you and God bless!

 

[bruceha2000]

....

On the topic of the lower area of the fencing. The tarp might keep the feral cats from reaching through the fence but I don't think the cats will really intimidate the chickens "mentally".
.....


Ed

I don't know. It is true that my girls aren't concerned about the cat across the street that comes to visit occasionally but they are truly wigged out by the 2 alpacas (5-6 years old) that arrived Sunday morning. The boys are in the field behind the barn which the chickens used to frequent. The girls can still go in through the gate but the boys can't come through to where the chickens come out of the barn every morning. Or did. Last I was down there, one hen was in the nest in the feed room, 2 were in open nests in the coop and the remaining 9 were up on the roosts. They NEVER spent time in the coop other than to lay, eat or drink before. If they were in the barn, they hung out in the alley and made dust baths in the shavings. I ASSUME they will figure out the alpacas aren't going to hurt them.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Quote: But what fun we had doing all those things they call dangerous now

 

[Sylvester017]

My neighbor directly behind feed 20 wild cats. They live in his sheds and stay in his backyard except for forays into my yard to kill songbirds and doves. I stopped putting water in my birdbaths to keep the cats from lining up for the birdie buffet daily!from talking to neighbors I'm not sure we have raccoons but we are going to put the hardware cloth or welded wire around the bottom perimeter. Mainly to keep the chickens from poking their heads through the chain link. No matter the food in the run they want that one blade of grass growing outside their safe little home.the tarps keep the chickens heads inside the run, for now, so the cats can't leap onto them and hurt the silly birds who lose their suspicion of them because the cats sphinx-like patience and stillness lulls the chickens into thinkinG they are not a risk!!! Smart cats, silly chickens.
We wanted to get two Americauna flock mates they were raised with. The previous owner had 4 birds in this coop before enlarging both their flock and their coop and runwe went with the blocks vertically to make the under space large enough to prevent critter hiding space and to make sure we can reach chickens and or eggs. And we are adding more concrete blocks. Although That COOP Weighs Several Hundred Pounds AND Won't Shift easily. I so appreciate the experience and wisdom offered here.we love our chickens and want a good life for them. Thank you and God bless!

You're doing a good job planning for the safety of your flock. I love what you've done and plan to do! I do agree with someone else's suggestion about your towering cinder block foundation. I tried standing up blocks and found them too unstable for my waterers and ladder ramp and layed them flat instead for more stability. Standing up on end made them rock back and forth and rain mud caused them to sink/shift. You'll still be able to collect eggs or chickens from under the coop if the cinder blocks are on their long side and stacking them two bricks thick under each coop leg. My Silkies like to poke through the block openings to catch spiders that like to spin inside the holes. We use two sizes of blocks (there are nice big square hole blocks and thinner rectangular hole blocks to choose from):







Silly Silkie hairdo's after a romp through spider webs in the cinder block holes!

 

[TJordan]

You're doing a good job planning for the safety of your flock. I love what you've done and plan to do! I do agree with someone else's suggestion about your towering cinder block foundation. I tried standing up blocks and found them too unstable for my waterers and ladder ramp and layed them flat instead for more stability. Standing up on end made them rock back and forth and rain mud caused them to sink/shift. You'll still be able to collect eggs or chickens from under the coop if the cinder blocks are on their long side and stacking them two bricks thick under each coop leg. My Silkies like to poke through the block openings to catch spiders that like to spin inside the holes. We use two sizes of blocks (there are nice big square hole blocks and thinner rectangular hole blocks to choose from): Silly Silkie hairdo's after a romp through spider webs in the cinder block holes!

I like the spider feast area. I'm going to put sprouts in my holes in the cinder blocks and cover with hardware cloth. That way the sprouts can grow up giving a special treat but protecting the roots from over eager birds. I will also be planting some herbs in the blocks that they can't reach that will be along bottom to prevent critters under coop. Peppermint keeps rats and snakes away. Some seasoning herbs for me and maybe some others. Will research. Any ideas??

 

[Sylvester017]

I like the spider feast area. I'm going to put sprouts in my holes in the cinder blocks and cover with hardware cloth. That way the sprouts can grow up giving a special treat but protecting the roots from over eager birds. I will also be planting some herbs in the blocks that they can't reach that will be along bottom to prevent critters under coop. Peppermint keeps rats and snakes away. Some seasoning herbs for me and maybe some others. Will research. Any ideas??

I like your screened top idea to prevent chicken scratching. Most all of the herbs are safe around chickens -- I've had different varieties of sages, thymes, oreganos, dill, and rosemary is my favorite because it grows a nice bushy plant that looks like a regular garden evergreen and it is sturdy enough to weather through our mild winters year after year and has sturdy roots. Some rosemary's get tall enough for chickens to hide in them. Mint, lavender, certain marigolds, etc are good rat/mice/bug deterrents but still feed the bees, hummies, and butterflies. Youtube has several plant/herb ideas to have around the yard for certain insect or pest controls that I had fun watching to get ideas. Most vegetation requires a 1 or 2-foot tall screened protection to keep chickens out until the planting grows strength to withstand chicken invasions. I utilize bird netting over the top of young seedlings to keep out chickens or wild birds. I thought about using cinder blocks as planters but I've been using paver stones to make my roomy raised garden beds instead. The bottom photo shows how tall one of my raised bed vegetation gets before I remove the screen to allow the chickens to go into the bed to hunt for crickets, horned worms, spiders, grasshoppers, etc. Well-established vegetation roots can withstand chicken scratching but young seedlings need protective fencing/netting.

Building a new garden bed with paver stones


Rabbit fencing around a newly-planted raised garden bed


Netting a raised garden bed to protect from chickens/wild birds


Young seedlings establishing good roots under net protection


Tall garden bed vegetation no longer requires rabbit fence or net protection from birds

 

[TJordan]

I like your screened top idea to prevent chicken scratching. Most all of the herbs are safe around chickens -- I've had different varieties of sages, thymes, oreganos, dill, and rosemary is my favorite because it grows a nice bushy plant that looks like a regular garden evergreen and it is sturdy enough to weather through our mild winters year after year and has sturdy roots. Some rosemary's get tall enough for chickens to hide in them. Mint, lavender, certain marigolds, etc are good rat/mice/bug deterrents but still feed the bees, hummies, and butterflies. Youtube has several plant/herb ideas to have around the yard for certain insect or pest controls that I had fun watching to get ideas. Most vegetation requires a 1 or 2-foot tall screened protection to keep chickens out until the planting grows strength to withstand chicken invasions. I utilize bird netting over the top of young seedlings to keep out chickens or wild birds. I thought about using cinder blocks as planters but I've been using paver stones to make my roomy raised garden beds instead. The bottom photo shows how tall one of my raised bed vegetation gets before I remove the screen to allow the chickens to go into the bed to hunt for crickets, horned worms, spiders, grasshoppers, etc. Well-established vegetation roots can withstand chicken scratching but young seedlings need protective fencing/netting. Building a new garden bed with paver stones Rabbit fencing around a newly-planted raised garden bed Netting a raised garden bed to protect from chickens/wild birds Young seedlings establishing good roots under net protection Tall garden bed vegetation no longer requires rabbit fence or net protection from birds

Thanks for the great ideas. We have a limited space while we build our privacy fence and clean the back yard "dump" areas from the previous resident. They messed up half the back yard with trash piles. Can't burn it because don't know what they tossed in there. We are planing a back yard clean up and coop build the week of the 24th. Husband's taking off that week. Cross fingers.

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks for the great ideas. We have a limited space while we build our privacy fence and clean the back yard "dump" areas from the previous resident. They messed up half the back yard with trash piles. Can't burn it because don't know what they tossed in there.
We are planing a back yard clean up and coop build the week of the 24th. Husband's taking off that week. Cross fingers.

We had to shave both front and back yard soil with a Bobcat tractor because the lawn and weeds had grown and raised the soil level higher than the driveway and sidewalks over 30+ years. St. Augustine grass is notorious for lifting soil levels over decades. So a lot of soil had to be hauled away by our contractor and now, still, after the new block wall and yard remodeling I'm still building mounds of dirt piles as I make new raised garden beds and lay paver stones to keep our feet from sinking in mud during our rainy season. We are in our 6th upcoming drought year in Calif so keeping lawns is now out of the question for us with water district restrictions. With no grass the yards will be a muddy mess so paver stones will keep ours and our chickens' feet from sinking in mud. I have to call the contractor to come back and haul away another truckload of surplus soil.

 

[lovechicks1293]

You're doing a good job planning for the safety of your flock. I love what you've done and plan to do! I do agree with someone else's suggestion about your towering cinder block foundation. I tried standing up blocks and found them too unstable for my waterers and ladder ramp and layed them flat instead for more stability. Standing up on end made them rock back and forth and rain mud caused them to sink/shift. You'll still be able to collect eggs or chickens from under the coop if the cinder blocks are on their long side and stacking them two bricks thick under each coop leg. My Silkies like to poke through the block openings to catch spiders that like to spin inside the holes. We use two sizes of blocks (there are nice big square hole blocks and thinner rectangular hole blocks to choose from):







Silly Silkie hairdo's after a romp through spider webs in the cinder block holes!

Hey sylvester017, do you ONLY have cement in your backyard? if so, what do your chicken do for free range?

 

[pennyJo1960]

Hey much lighter note here Bob Dylan has been give the Nobel peace price in literature