Our chicken coop

[chp]

Amazing work. Looks like a well thought out setup. I just finished up a combination greenhouse and chicken coop. The hope is to have about 6 chickens and fresh herbs / greens. It looks tiny compared to your setup. Hope we both get good use out of these projects.

 

[pineywoods]

Amazing work. Looks like a well thought out setup. I just finished up a combination greenhouse and chicken coop. The hope is to have about 6 chickens and fresh herbs / greens. It looks tiny compared to your setup. Hope we both get good use out of these projects.

Very cool post up more pics and let's see what it looks like.
greenhouse/ high tunnel renovations and rebuilding is on the short list now that the coop is done. I have several to get back up and running along with a decent size shade structure. Most if not all of it will be hydroponic

 

[chp]

Very cool post up more pics and let's see what it looks like.
greenhouse/ high tunnel renovations and rebuilding is on the short list now that the coop is done. I have several to get back up and running along with a decent size shade structure. Most if not all of it will be hydroponic

It’s a 8x10 structure with a 4x4x8 coop with 3 nesting boxes. We used up a bunch of repurposed materials. Here’s a few pictures:

 

[Winterrider]

Very very impressive.
I would love to have some chickens but our bylaws say absolutely no livestock or such in our little culdesac

 

[Brokenhandle]

By the way...I'm not showing any of these pics to my wife lol!

Ryan

 

[pc farmer]

Dang. Can't show my chicken's this. They would quit laying

 

[pineywoods]

CHP it looks good nice job

 

[gmc2003]

None coup related question Jerry. Why are brown eggs more expensive then white? They taste the same to me.

Chris

 

[pineywoods]

No real reason Chris other than people like the colors I have some that should lay blue eggs, some green, and some about the color of chocolate but they are not laying yet. Funny th majority of chickens people have in their yards lay the light brown eggs they are much more common than white egg layers

 

[Fueling Around]

Why are brown eggs more expensive then white? They taste the same to me.

A true farm egg will have the most glorious colored and flavored yolk.

No real reason Chris other than people like the colors I have some that should lay blue eggs, some green, and some about the color of chocolate but they are not laying yet. Funny th majority of chickens people have in their yards lay the light brown eggs they are much more common than white egg layers

Our supplier has Easter egg chickens.

White egged chickens in the ranches are a selective breed. Created to lay white eggs and lots of them. Somewhere over the years the city folks got led to believe white eggs are better?
Once the hen's egg layer blows out, they end up in pet food, poultry feed, and your favorite canned soup.

 

[pineywoods]

A true farm egg will have the most glorious colored and flavored yolk.

View attachment 630087
Our supplier has Easter egg chickens.

White egged chickens in the ranches are a selective breed. Created to lay white eggs and lots of them. Somewhere over the years the city folks got led to believe white eggs are better?
Once the hen's egg layer blows out, they end up in pet food, poultry feed, and your favorite canned soup.

So far we have Easter Eggers, Olive Eggers, Ameraucanas, Cuckoo Marans, and a couple I can't think of right now. Guess I'm going to have to order Cream Legbars since I haven't been able to source them around here. There are several other varieties I want I think but will wait till some of these others start laying before getting them

 

[one eyed jack]

Back to the predator topic and a short story;

Way back in my West Va. years I worked with a guy who decided he wanted to try egg selling as a side gig. (We worked as carpenters for a local home builder).

Clarence kept detailed records of his cash outlay and income, Coop expenses, wire, biddies, and feed, balanced against income produced from his egg sales.

At some point his usually dependable hens quit laying. Clarence went into detective mode and eventually found the cause to be a fair sized snake lurking in the rafters of the coop. After a bit of thought; Clarence retrieved his shotgun from the house and blasted the snake.

Solved one problem but, of coarse, blew a hole in his coop roof that needed a cash outlay, and some labor, to repair, and the hens, (in the coop at the time), never laid another egg.

Clarence had yet another side gig as a preacher and he told this story on himself; so I believe it to be true.

And if it ain't the truth, it oughta be.

 

[pineywoods]

Back to the predator topic and a short story;

Way back in my West Va. years I worked with a guy who decided he wanted to try egg selling as a side gig. (We worked as carpenters for a local home builder).

Clarence kept detailed records of his cash outlay and income, Coop expenses, wire, biddies, and feed, balanced against income produced from his egg sales.

At some point his usually dependable hens quit laying. Clarence went into detective mode and eventually found the cause to be a fair sized snake lurking in the rafters of the coop. After a bit of thought; Clarence retrieved his shotgun from the house and blasted the snake.

Solved one problem but, of coarse, blew a hole in his coop roof that needed a cash outlay, and some labor, to repair, and the hens, (in the coop at the time), never laid another egg.

Clarence had yet another side gig as a preacher and he told this story on himself; so I believe it to be true.

And if it ain't the truth, it oughta be.

This project wasn't about making money thank goodness because with the cost of lumber and other materials I can pretty much assure you the wife couldn't sell enough eggs to make it profitable in my lifetime

 

[indaswamp]

I have heard that if you replace an egg in the nest with a golf ball that hens will keep laying. Don't know it to be try, just something I overheard at the Co-op buying seed...

 

[SmokinAl]

That’s awesome Jerry!
You have been to my house, so you know that a chicken coop is not in the cards for me. However there is a farm about 1 mi from my house that sells fresh eggs for $3 a dozen, and they are real good!
Al

 

[pineywoods]

That’s awesome Jerry!
You have been to my house, so you know that a chicken coop is not in the cards for me. However there is a farm about 1 mi from my house that sells fresh eggs for $3 a dozen, and they are real good!
Al

Al awhile back there was a push to pass Federal legislation barring any rules or laws against having chickens on property you own. I laughed thinking about neighborhoods where chickens might show up I can't remember who was pushing it or what happened with it but that sure could have been funny.
$3 a dozen is a pretty good price considering the current feed prices. When you start getting those blue, green, pink, chocolate, and speckled colored eggs the prices go up way up if you have lots of yuppies that want them lol

 

[Fueling Around]

there was a push to pass Federal legislation barring any rules or laws against having chickens on property you own

And they are slapping each on the backs for NOT passing that legislation owing to the Asian Bird Flu. First time they actually got something right?

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Wow Jerry, that is one phenomenal coop! Man, nice job!

 

[pineywoods]

Wow Jerry, that is one phenomenal coop! Man, nice job!

Thank you kind sir

 

[daveomak]

BEAUTIFUL coop Gerald...

Freezing weather and snow 3-4 months of the year I chose this build...
Also, my neighbor has 1500+/- head of Angus... During calving season, December to April or so, our place is surrounded by coyotes and stray dogs... What I paid for mature birds, I figured the cost of construction was worth the effort...

The coop I built for 8 chickens about 8 years ago... About 80% used materials...
The run is about 12 X 20 X 6' high...
Metal roof to keep the sun off of the birds and snow out...
Metal roof panels around the bottom of the walls so the wandering predators could not see in...
The open space at the far end has a swing up panel for access...
Electric wire is standoff around every opening... If a predator came up to the run and peered in or put their feet on the panel, they got zapped... I heard a few yips that let me know the wire worked...
Man door on the left, far end...
The perimeter had 12 X 12 concrete stepping pads to discourage digging...

In the winter, the hen house had lights on a timer so they had 14 hours of "daylight" so they would lay eggs... Some folks say that is hard on the birds... BS... If they live near the equator, they lay 365... The light also focused on their feed and water in the run...

I put weed barrier cloth on the ceiling because the birds did not like the roof... It worked...
Bottom right entry to nest boxes... Access is from outside...

Waterer... The ABS is coupled to the insulated water jug... Drip nipples installed in the ABS down tube... I slipped a fish tank heater into the ABS down tube and set the temperature for about 65 F... The warm water rose up to heat the water jug to keep it from freezing... A bulkhead fitting connected the ABS to the jug...

Big cut out from the outside to keep the inner liner intact... If the inner liner is not uniform thickness, it will leak... Use silicone sealer and secure the top flange with SS bolts and washers...

ABS pipe has thicker walls and the drip emitters seal mo-betta...
Drop fish tank heater down the tube... notch part of the ice chest or whatever insulated container you choose for the heater cord... Plug the heater into a ground-fault-circuit interrupter so you won't electrocute the chickens in the event of a fault...

I changed out the thin wall PVC for ABS.. Different levels for the nipples allow for the birds to choose their level for drinking...

Grit, Oyster shells and Egg shells...

I simplified the supplement feeders...

Filling the feeders from outside the run...

Earth ground to wire netting...

Hot wire to man door...

Hot wire for deterring predators...

Supply storage and nest box access...

Sidewalk and digging prevention...

Hot wire to far side of run... Installed under the coop... More digging prevention...