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nikko_gw

chicken housing...

nikko
17 years ago

i would love to see pictures of everyones coops and housing. want to get into chickens and figure actually seeing what everyone is doing for housing would help.

Comments (18)

  • KellyFG
    17 years ago

    here is mine, while we were still working on it
    The pine is painted barn red now & the run is taller & more secure. It is all reclaimed aka used materials my DH got from work.
    {{gwi:49018}}
    It is fully insulated, has three double pane windows, an asphalt roof & is 2' off the ground
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    Here's a pic after we did more
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    This is taken from the edge of my deck, its only about 60ft away from my house-you can see my unfinished greenhouse too & my garden that is fenced, but I always let them in for a few minutes at dusk to eat bugs.
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    My nest boxes-they have a locking hinged roof to get the eggs from outside the coop
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    This was their starter roost, now its taller & has a wall seperating this area from the nests. Under the roost is a "poop pit", it drops down on a hinge for easy cleaning.
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    I have 8 standard laying hens in this coop, they only lay & sleep in it. They freerange my back yard during all daylight hours. They have a small waterer & feeder inside but always have access to both outside as well.

  • jillylam
    17 years ago

    Nikko,
    I love to see other coops/runs too. I'm getting a new camera tomorrow so I'll be out there taking pictures to put here.
    Kellyfg,
    I love your pictures. What a nice home for your flock!
    Jill

  • nikko
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    thats an incredible house.....thanks. i am still looking into what i want to do. all this info is great.

  • Jonathan
    17 years ago

    This is nicer than most apartments I've lived in. :)

    Really nice job. I'm reading up on chicken tractors, at the moment, and trying to figure out a design that will work for me.

    --Jonathan

  • KellyFG
    17 years ago

    Thanks all, I'm sure other people have pics they can post so everyone can get ideas. Show us your chicken coops PLEASE! :)

  • renita_wa
    17 years ago

    Here's the coop that my husband and I built over the summer. It's 8 X12, stained board and batten cedar with a cedar shake roof. I was lucky to get most of the materials free or very cheap. We brought water and electric to the site. Our climate really doesn't require insulation. Inside, 8X8 is for the hens and 4 X 8 is for storage, the next boxes open to the storage area. So there are two doors, inside and outside. We got the nest boxes and feeding trough from a cousin who bought a property with tons of these things in his barn. Several hens have been sleeping in the nest boxes since I introduced some older chickens, so I have to rethink the roosting in there. And I took some windows from my grandma's old barn and installed them the same way they were installed at the barn. I wish I would have added more windows.

    [IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y276/Renita_WA/DSCN1486.jpg[/IMG]

    [IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y276/Renita_WA/DSCN1485.jpg[/IMG]

    [IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y276/Renita_WA/DSCN1489.jpg[/IMG]
    Feeding trough.

    [IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y276/Renita_WA/DSCN1488.jpg[/IMG]

    [IMG]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y276/Renita_WA/DSCN1487.jpg[/IMG]
    Easy access to eggs!

    Renita

  • renita_wa
    17 years ago

    Looks like I copied the wrong code. Let's try again.......
    {{gwi:49024}}

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    {{gwi:49028}}

    Renita

  • undercover_owl
    17 years ago

    renita_wa: on the last photo: what is the purpose of the metal grid/grate over the chicken feed tray, and the board in front of the feed tray?

    I think both chicken coops look terrific! Congratulations on your good poultry housing!

  • renita_wa
    17 years ago

    We got the feeding tray and nest boxes from a cousin. Before he moved there, his farm used to house a pretty large chicken operation. I installed the feeding tray about 8 inches off the floor, so I put a little roost in front of it. And the grate in front of it is so the birds don't hang out in the tray. It was installed a lot higher in the barn we took it out of.

  • mailman22
    17 years ago

    Nice coops!

    Kelly, yours is the style I would love to build. Did you use a plan? I have been looking for a plan online but have not found "the one".

    Renita,
    You are very fortunate to get the cedar material for free or cheap. Great stuff to build with.

    C'mon, people! Let's see your coops. Don't be shy. Us newbies need ideas and most of all, PLANS!

  • songbirdmommy
    17 years ago

    Beautiful coops!

    Makes me think my chickens lived in the ghettos! LOL

    I have something to aspire to this year!

  • KellyFG
    17 years ago

    mailman-thanks! DH & I designed it ourselves after I read several books with chicken coop designs. I think we combined a lot of ideas and then we used free materials like the windows so we worked with those predetermined dimensions. We only spent about $75 on everything.
    I think the "storey chicken coop" book/pamphlet was most helpful to us.

  • jillylam
    17 years ago

    Here are some pictures of my chicken coop, run & yard. It is a 14'x14' shed that was falling down when I bought the house a few years ago. This past year I jacked it up to repair the cinder block foundation, re-roofed it, replaced the soffets, painted, cleaned it up and kicked out some furry squatters. It makes a great, roomy coop for my 3 RIR's and 4 Ameraucanas. Since taking these pictures I have put foil/foam/foil insulation in the ceiling. This preserves a little bit of heat and also reflects the light coming in from the windows. It is so much brighter inside now. Also, my test with an electric heat panel from EconoHeat is going great. It doesn't get too hot and it's so low-profile the girls don't even know it's there. It's mounted about an inch from the wall and 2 feet from the floor but the wall doesn't get hot. It's a pretty neat heater. It will be interesting to see what I'll need to add/change for the summertime.

    {{gwi:49029}}

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    Jill

  • Dibbit
    17 years ago

    Jill, I'm not getting any pictures.....

  • songbirdmommy
    17 years ago

    Jillylam,
    You have an impressive coop too!
    You have done ALOT of work it it was almost falling down.... It looks brand new to me... except for the water stains!

  • beeliz
    17 years ago

    oh my god...I have alot of building to do this spring!! Anyone care to help? :)

  • davidgreen
    14 years ago

    Jillylam, you have a great looking coop =D!

  • runningtrails
    14 years ago

    Great chicken coops! I'd like to see pics of everyone's coops too.

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