Show me your open coop!

[SunnyDayz]

Title says it... looking for hot climate coop ideas!

 

[tommboy1973]

First time posting pics so not sure if I am doing it right. Anyways, here is our first coop. We are near Phoenix, AZ so boy does it get hot here! We built this out of a large shipping crate from my hubby's work. I decided on sand for the floor as it is plentiful and free here.

I also installed a rabbit water bottle in addition to their regular waterer, just in case. It only took them less than 30 sec to figure it out!! I couldn't find chicken nipples out here so thought I would give this a try for now.

First day in the new coop! They are only 3 weeks old but it is pretty warm here already.

 

[Chicken Jack]

Here's a link to the nipples you may consider:

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplie...ering_systems-ft1_hoses_nipples;pgwc1030.html

Nice coop.

CJ

 

[Intheswamp]

Here's a link to QC Supply's screw-in nipple drinker...a bit cheaper than Farmtek... http://www.qcsupply.com/qcsupply/browse/productDetailWithPicker.jsp?productId=420006&categoryId=12185&fromPage=subcategory

I agree with Chicken Jack...nice coop, tommyboy!

SunnyDayz, in case you haven't already, check out the "Coop Designs" section here on BYC....there's a link at the top of the page.

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[WestKnollAmy]

We take the tarps off from all but the west side during the summer. Winter we only leave the east side open. But this is a moveable pen. You can see my website for more info on how we built them and move them, look at the bottom of the "Housing" page. This is in our front horse pasture.

This one below is till too hot in the summer. When the free rangers go to bed at 9 pm they are wings out and panting even with a fan going. Humidity even now the first of May is about 100% here and 80 during the day. The top around the roof is open for air but with 3 sides closed in there just isn't much way to catch a breeze and this sits down the hill. However, it is perfect for our cold winters.

 

[elmo]

Take a look at my BYC page. I'm in North Texas, and I built for our sweltering summers. I have removeable polycarbonate panels on the sides of my coop that come off in the summer.

A friend of mine here has been keeping chickens for more than 20 years. He uses big chain link dog kennels with flat metal roofs, then tarps the sides in the winters. Works wonderfully.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Like this?

I cover them for winter, as you can see but take all but the west side tarp off for summer and they have little coops inside that I can move as I move the dog pen around the field. Easy for this old woman to move but slower than with wheels. We have 12' boards across the top to keep the fence on top from sagging but I have seen people buy an extra panel to go across the top and that works great, too.

 

[elmo]

Yes, very similar to that setup, only my friend roofs his whole run. The thing I found about having a partial roof is that the actual dry area of ground underneath it is less than the area of the roof because rain gets blown in all around the perimeter. If you have your roost up high, under the roof, this helps, too. Birds need a place to roost where they won't get wet, that's for sure.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

The reason I did not roof these is to keep down the weight for moving. Those 2x4x12 boards added a lot of weight when I had 3 across the top so I had to cut back on those. With the coops being free standing inside the pens I can move those separately. You can't see the coop behind the green roofing panel but it is like the other one except more open to the front. Those are light enough for me to move by myself and the coop is easy to move as well. If I were a strong man I would have probably put a better roof over these like I do my wood 10x10 pens but being an old woman I have only so much strength.

 

[elmo]

Oh, I see! You move those. Of course a complete roof would make that way too heavy. My friend's coops are stationary.