post your chicken coop pictures here!

[AbbyTravers]

Haha! But really our chickens are trained to eat mice. When the see one they go bonkers and chase it. It's really funny to watch!!

 

[Spartan22]

Are they free range? Or "run range"?

 

[bench1]

 

[AbbyTravers]

They are free range.

 

[adkhunter1590]

Well our coop arrived this morning!! Very exciting for everyone. The fun started when I had to figure out how to move it about 12 ft over from where they dropped it off the trailer. There is a few trees in the way but they got it as close as possible with the trailer. My God is this thing heavy!!!! After a little thinking and tinkering around in my workshop trying to figure out how to move it I came up with using some left over laminate flooring planks we had leftover from redoing out floors last summer. The planks are thin and smooth enough for the legs of the coop to easily slide on. With the contours in the ground we had to keep adjusting the planks so it took about 45 mins to move it 12 ft but we got it! Now I need to make a appointment with my chiropractor!

I have to work 12hr shifts this weekend so won't be doing anything with the run until Monday. We did pick up some wire and other materials today though. Can't wait to get started

Here's a few pics. The run with go out behind the coop. Plan on using some of the trees as posts to secure the wire to. Saves time and money! Looking to go about 16ft back and then 20 ft to the left and angle it back to the coop. Won't be a square run but I don't think the girls will mind

 

[Sylvester017]

That's great to know. Awesome information.Thank you so much. The coop is 4 feet wide and 5 feet long. So 20 square feet... I definitely have to add on! The area around the coop is 10 x 15 minus the 20sq feet the coop takes up. Sorry I'm doing the math here haha but it's kind of helping me figure that all out. I don't have the materials nor the money to secure a free range area for them yet, we have a lot of free rangin neighborhood dogs and from what I hear the husky down the road could take out all 5 of my chicks in one visit. so I hope the 15 x 10 will work, for now. I like the pop up canopy idea! Maybe I can find one of those and add it on to that if I can figure out how secure it. And I will definitely look into that feeder and waterer. I really appreciate you sharing your experience and the tips! I'm going to see if Craigslist has anything I could use!

I assume there is adequate ventilation near the roof line? Chickens for the most part are not that smelly but some poops can be just as smelly as large animal poops and you want good ventilation from the ammonia atmosphere inside the coop - all 4 seasons of the year.

We have strong Santa Ana winds here in SoCal so we buried our pop-up canopy legs about 6 to 8 inches into the soil so the canopy doesn't para-sail. When the canopy top finally gets shredded from UV and high winds, we buy a cheap tarp in our preferred color or camou and ball tie it down to the frame that is still in good condition and we have a new top for another year. Much cheaper than buying the expensive canopy top replacements and the tarps look nice if ball-tied securely to the frame. We got our Ozark Trail slant-leg pop-up canopy through Walmart for $49 - it's 9x9 with a 7x7 top but very adequate for a small flock to stay shaded during the day. We had no room for a 10x10 or 12x12 canopy in our small yard. A friend of ours picked up another large doghouse in someone's trash and we're adding it to the backyard for a total of 3 houses now. The Silkies love snoozing in them during the day.

Be aware that using poultry chicken hex wire is a waste of money. Large stray mutts broke down our gate and mangled our cheap hex chicken coop wire and we would've lost our flock if not for a good neighbor who heard the commotion. Everyone on this thread will probably recommend 1/2" hardwire for ultimate security for an enclosed outdoor pen.

GL and hope you love your chickies!

 

[Sylvester017]

Well our coop arrived this morning!! Very exciting for everyone. The fun started when I had to figure out how to move it about 12 ft over from where they dropped it off the trailer. There is a few trees in the way but they got it as close as possible with the trailer. My God is this thing heavy!!!! After a little thinking and tinkering around in my workshop trying to figure out how to move it I came up with using some left over laminate flooring planks we had leftover from redoing out floors last summer. The planks are thin and smooth enough for the legs of the coop to easily slide on. With the contours in the ground we had to keep adjusting the planks so it took about 45 mins to move it 12 ft but we got it! Now I need to make a appointment with my chiropractor!

I have to work 12hr shifts this weekend so won't be doing anything with the run until Monday. We did pick up some wire and other materials today though. Can't wait to get started

Here's a few pics. The run with go out behind the coop. Plan on using some of the trees as posts to secure the wire to. Saves time and money! Looking to go about 16ft back and then 20 ft to the left and angle it back to the coop. Won't be a square run but I don't think the girls will mind

This Board-N-Batton 5x6 Amish coop is one we absolutely loved except that its design was not suitable for our humid SoCal climate. Enjoy your nicely engineered Amish coop and lucky you for having the space to have it delivered assembled! I'm jealous. Enjoy!

 

[Sylvester017]

Hi! It is warming up here in Kansas and I was wondering if anyone has some good ideas for chickens to play and have tons of fun with. Thanks!

See the BYC thread titled "Anybody have any ideas for chicken entertainment?" There are 276 pages to read - GL!

 

[adkhunter1590]

This Board-N-Batton 5x6 Amish coop is one we absolutely loved except that its design was not suitable for our humid SoCal climate.  Enjoy your nicely engineered Amish coop and lucky you for having the space to have it delivered assembled!  I'm jealous.  Enjoy!

We also love it very much. Our house and my workshop shed is board and batten and was also built by the Amish . So it really matches the whole Amish theme we have going on here lol. We are in NY so we only see a few weeks of humid weather during the summer months. Having something that will hold up in our brutal winters is a must though. We are fortunate enough to have plenty of land. 18 acres to be exact. I could have a thousand chickens if I wanted but that's a bit much lol. The guy who delivered the coop thought he made a wrong turn at first because our driveway is a half mile long and it's up a steep hill and pretty rough (until we get a little over 300 tons of crusher run stone delivered and spread the end of this month). He thought he might of turned down a off-roading trail at first haha.

 

[gillisjordan]