post your chicken coop pictures here!

[cmccullough1390]

That is my best buddy Hank he is half poodle & half sheep dog. He is almost always by my side and when he is not he is looking for me.

Lol what a faithful buddy I didn't see him when I first looked he is cute

 

[cmccullough1390]

This is the newest coop I've built. I started with the chicken tractor in the middle, it now houses my 4 juvenile (4 month old) Black Sex Links. The smaller one on the left holds 3 little Buff Orpingtons less than 3 months old and the bigger newest coop houses the 2 laying hens, a 2 year old black sex link, Ginger, and a 1 year old Buff Orpington, Blondie.

Very nice you're lucky around here we can't get away with chicken wire it just isn't strong enough our raccoons are terrible little things as are the foxes and our dachshund

 

[bruceha2000]

Very nice you're lucky around here we can't get away with chicken wire it just isn't strong enough our raccoons are terrible little things as are the foxes and our dachshund

That last point is very important and often overlooked. One of the predators MOST likely to do in one's chickens is their own dog, until it is trained to leave them alone.

 

[cmccullough1390]

That last point is very important and often overlooked. One of the predators MOST likely to do in one's chickens is their own dog, until it is trained to leave them alone.

Oh trust me I know I'm working with them but my dogs are so stubborn I have to keep them apart for now

 

[FarmerPhronc]

That last point is very important and often overlooked. One of the predators MOST likely to do in one's chickens is their own dog, until it is trained to leave them alone.

I haven't made an effort to train my 2 dogs. They don't bark at my hens or chase them up and down the run. I have seen 1 of my dogs snatch a wild bird and devour it in 2 bites. The other one the previous owners allowed to go feral and was know for killing sheep, thus us rescuing it from a shelter. They were given the option, up for adoption or having it put down. When that kinda thing is allowed it's kinda hard to retrain and break the habit. I just make sure the chickens and dogs don't get a chance to mingle. Everybody has different circumstances.I love my dogs and my hens, I just know for me and my circumstances it's best not to let them mingle.

 

[Sylvester017]

I posted this earlier this summer.

I had two roosters in a temporary pen in our back yard where I was sure they would be safe. Then one morning I woke up to find both roosters loose and one had half of his tail missing. That night I reinforced their pen and set out the game camera. This is what I saw.


Three days later I had caught two possums and the smaller raccoon. I never caught the larger of the two. We have dogs running in our back yard off and on all night. Never assume there isn't anything out there that is going to try to get your birds.

Good post! It let's us know 1) raccoons and possums are clever, and 2) that having dog(s) is not a sure-fire predator deterrent!

Glad your roosters were running around and not dead!!!!

 

[cmccullough1390]

I haven't made an effort to train my 2 dogs. They don't bark at my hens or chase them up and down the run. I have seen 1 of my dogs snatch a wild bird and devour it in 2 bites. The other one the previous owners allowed to go feral and was know for killing sheep, thus us rescuing it from a shelter. They were given the option, up for adoption or having it put down. When that kinda thing is allowed it's kinda hard to retrain and break the habit. I just make sure the chickens and dogs don't get a chance to mingle. Everybody has different circumstances.I love my dogs and my hens, I just know for me and my circumstances it's best not to let them mingle.

Yeah it sucks but I knew when I got chickens the dogs had killed our neighbors chicken a few years a go. I figure if they don't get close or bark at the girls it shouldn't be an issue

 

[microchick]

Me too. I really felt bad for them. They were locked up in the hutch. There was a small window on the right side that was covered with chicken wire. My mistake. Just because the window was almost thigh high on me didn't mean that a raccoon couldn't reach in and grab for the rooster. Luckily it came away with tail feathers instead of his neck. First think I did was hunt up some hardware cloth and cover over the chicken wire on that window. I left the chicken tractor as it was and as you can see the big raccoon didn't have any trouble LIFTING the whole tractor at one corner and slide under where there was a little gap between the metal frame and ground.

The day I woke up to find them running around the yard and a corner torn out of the tractor, I had left the hutch open as it was super hot outside and I wanted them to have a little more air circulation. They were so frightened by the varmints that they burst out from the inside in order to get away from them. The second attack came when I had locked them up the next night and the raccoon tried to reach in and grab one of them. They are brazen, they are evil and they are ruthless. I felt no remorse over catching the one raccoon and the two possums in the live trap and ending their reign of terror with a well placed .223 bullet.

I'm in the midst of finishing construction on our new coop which is a recycled shed that is being covered in corrugated tin siding with security the number one concern. We have one hot wire around the main coop and the rooster coop and before winter, we will be adding a second hot wire. The big question right now is where do we position it? The first wire is anywhere from 6 inches to 4 inches above the ground. We made it variable for a reason. But do we put the second wire a foot above the first wire or do we put it around the top? My husband says do both but that might be overkill, LOL.

The floor is concrete. The only way something will get through the walls is with a can opener and the open ventilation windows near the roof are covered with welded steel bars.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Wow, nothing is getting through that new coop! Lol

 

[ShrekDawg]

Making slow progress lol finally got the coop swept out and vinyl/linoleum put down today