Taj Mahal of Chicken Coops

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

That is awesome! i just love seeing the wonderfully creative ways folks reuse other things for their chicken coops and runs. Those are some lucky chickens.

 

[JimWWhite]

OK. Here's some more pics of the Taj Mahal of Chicken Coops located near Statesville, NC:

This is a shot from inside the run of the coop. The gals have all been lured to the front of the run with a some lettuce that has been put out for them. They're just pigs with feathers...

This one shows most of the inside. I sat this hen up on the roost and immediately she was joined by five or six others because they thought she would get something to eat they wouldn't... Pigs with feathers, I tell you! I've not built any real nesting boxes yet. Right now they lay over on the left side in this big concrete thing Teresa built called a Hypertufa or something like that. There's two of them in there but they all lay their eggs in the big one. All but one that is. It's funny to come out and find 17 or 18 eggs in one of them and then see a single egg in the one right next to it. I've seen them two or three at a time on the nest with others waiting. And the other nests are empty. Go figure...

And finally, our little gals. Pigs with Feathers!

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

So it looks like the front is two big doors that open up, is that right? Very nice simple design. i might be able to build something like that. i'm needing just one more chicken coop (for now)

Those look like Red Stars. We have some of those. i call them my Red Star Hoodlums as they go ga-ga over treats. i've had them fly up in my face to try to be first to nab something to eat. i take theirs out in two pie pans. The first one that goes down gets four open beaks diving in and gulping at breakneck speed. Then i set a second pan down for my EE and BO, so they have a small chance at getting a bite. i swear, if there was an alligator in that pie pan, they would have it gobbled up before it had a chance to fight back.

Pigs with feathers, very true.

 

[JimWWhite]

I built the coop from OSB that I sealed, primered, and painted with two coats. As you say, a simple design but it works. My next task is to build a nesting box on the back end with a hinged top. Then I can extend the roost rails to the other side. I think I may change out the round dowels with 2x2's that I can drop into cleats on the sides and middle bars. I've been told that smooth round roosting rails are hard on their feet and they prefer something flatter, hence the 2x2's.

No, they're Gold Comets which I believe may be a hybrid of the RIR and something else. Great, Great layers. I get 17-19 eggs each day and they're all large to jumbo size. There's 19 of them I bought as 'started pullets' at 17 or 18 weeks old. We started last spring with six, then another six, and then seven. There was supposed to be six but somehow seven got in the crate when I picked them up. The last group, the 'Youngsters' all just started laying in the last week or so. We'll probably make it an even thirty or maybe even thirty-six next spring. My coworkers are all lining up outside my door in the morning to buy free-range organic eggs.

My favorite thing is to hang a head of lettuce from a string in the middle of the run and they make a lettuce pinata out of it. It's not a pretty sight when they go at it.

Pigs with feathers!

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

I really like your design. I too think I might be a able to build something like that. If you have any additional tips for building I would be interested. We live in Phoenix, so I would probably put screen up for one of the walls and possibly the floor.

 

[alycoop]

Way cool. I think I'll have to start checking craigslist for carports in addition to everything else I look for.

"Chicken TV"...I like that. I'm gonna steal that from ya!

 

[gsim]

Great find and great job As time goes on, watch them for any signs of fighting, etc. It can come from overcrowding in coop or run. I would do some 2x4 welded wire around bottom 36" of fence all the way around. Coons, dogs, and coyotes can tear chicken wire to pieces. Coons definitely and foxes sometimes too can climb in, so without a fence charger, you will want to close it up all the way to the top. I like a fence charger because after the first time a pred touches it, they will seldom get near enough even to dig under the fence. If you have a sizeable dog that stays outside in vicinity overnight, then not likely a pred will dig their way in. Otherwise, you are vulnerable to a pred digging their way in as it now stands.

 

[posey]

Great job and we watch 'chicken TV' too. It's the only station we get.

 

[Country Heart]

Love your carport conversion and your big gentle giant of a watch dog.

 

[Opa]

nice setup