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Barnyard Buddies:  What is your Dream Chicken Coop?  |
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Lady Woodworker
True Blue Farmgirl
259 Posts
Karen
Chamberlain
Maine
USA
259 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 29 2011 : 5:54:19 PM
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This may sound silly but I have been thinking a lot about building a chicken coop--even though I don't own chickens.
I'm a woodworker (thus the tag) and I have been dreaming about small house building but am starting even smaller.
I started with bird houses but I need to do something more substantial--but without it being an actual house. I think a chicken coop might be a great learning experience at this stage.
I have also built boats and tree houses so I have a pretty good idea about creating structures that need to hold together.
My friend has a mini chicken "house" (coop that has a pitched roof) that she picks up with her tractor and moves every once in awhile. Is moving a coop a common thing? She does it to provide fresh grassland for her chickens around her farm. I took care of these chickens one summer but that's about the extent of my chicken knowledge.
I would appreciate hearing what features you like best or what you would change about your own chicken coop.
I'd love hearing your ideas. My mind wanders--from the simplest forms to the chicken palace...
Thanks for your help!
Karen
Farmgirl Sister # 2419 |
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amomfly
True Blue Farmgirl
658 Posts
Angie
LaGrange
IN
USA
658 Posts |
Posted - Mar 29 2011 : 6:01:14 PM
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I guess mine would be large enough for 20ish hens and a rooster. It would have ten nesting boxes with a "trap door" to get eggs from. This way i could also clean them out easy. I would also want a place for a "ladder" to roost on at night. I owuld love to have some windows and even some flower boxes under them. I would like mine on wheels to move too! I think this would be nice. HMMMM, I would love a weather vein on top of a little coupla! I think that does it for me.
I would love to see pics once you finish one!
Come visit my blog
http://angieruralliving.blogspot.com/
God Bless
Angie-amomfly
#1038 |
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batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2011 : 12:10:31 AM
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I built my own coop & some of the things I did was make sure they had a window that was chicken wired on the inside...so they couldn't accidently go thur it or anything could get in if glass was broken. I put a power strip in mine for lights, heaters ect that can be shut off or if overloaded would shut its self off. I used a normal sized door because the bending over to get in was something I hated with my friends coops. I put a lip at the bottom of the wall that is with the door so that I have to step over it to get inside but a chicken can't just run out under my feet as quickly. I am adding on to my coop this summer & one of the things I will do is move the nesting boxes & put them so I can have a door to the back to open instead of going right in front of the hens to collect eggs...not that's its a big deal but they get so upset & I know it will be easier to clean out. I have two vents covered with chicken wire at the top of 2 sides so the air ventilates thur the coop but also pulls the warm air out from the top side where it gets the hottest ( they are near the ceiling)...the one thing I am so thankful I did was buy cheap tarps & tarped the floors & walls with it....the cleaning is so much easier than trying to chip out old dried poop & the dust & cobwebs come down without snagging on the walls....also less area for mites to roam inside the coop. It also helps keep the wind from coming thur & really cold air...I also have a small plastic fan that I have for the summer months when the heat is so bad...its also up near the vents so it doesn't blow on the hens & helps move the air...its set on the lowest setting so not to stir up dust ect....to be honest the chickens don't care what they live in as long as they are safe, have a place to lay an egg & something to purch on....I think a good chicken house should be for the ease of the person tending to the chickens. If you have to crawl in day in & day out.....its hard on the back....if you have to bend under perches to get to anything you cause more problems for yourself in the long run....oh & another thing I have my perches removable so that I can take them outside to clean off the poop when it gets bad.......so when you build thing about what your movements will be inside the coop with the feeding, watering, gathering eggs & cleaning....plus think about what it will feel like in there in the colder months & the hotter months for the chickens.....the outside design can be anything you like but remember they may want to climb up on it so don't have anything that can tangle them up, snag them or enclose them by accident....I hope this has helped you in some way....:) Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622 |
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sherrye
True Blue Farmgirl
3775 Posts
sherry
bend in the high desert
oregon
USA
3775 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2011 : 07:33:21 AM
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what great ideas. for me i really like that collecting eggs is done through a flap on the nest boxes on the outside. i collect eggs with out going in coop. i also have a wire floor in my portable coop. i can hose the inside of the chicken tractor and wash all poop out and away. we move it with the tractor. they are waiting for spring before we move them into it. sherrye
the learn as we go silk purse farm
farm girl #1014
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karla
True Blue Farmgirl
1308 Posts
karla
Pella
Iowa
USA
1308 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2011 : 07:43:27 AM
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This time of year my favorite would e a CLEAN ONE!! When things start to thaw it reeks!
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
http://rua2j-grammysheirlooms.blogspot.com/ |
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CMac
True Blue Farmgirl
1074 Posts
Connie
Ashland City
TN
USA
1074 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2011 : 08:05:47 AM
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Be still my heart. We are planning a larger coop right now. Power is a must. Windows with wire too. The girls need all the natural light they can get. I want running water for automatic waterers (and a sink) but not sure that one will happen but a girl can dream. I love the tarp on the walls idea! I'm really interested in what makes it easier to clean. I plan to put glassboard on the floor and to make a slide out "tray" (to the outside) of glassboard under the roost area. I want an outside egg collection door too. My biggest wish is for an attached egg room. I want a sink for washing everything from waterers to eggs. (Only if needed of course for the eggs) I would use it to store all chicken supplies. I'm trying to sell my sweetheart on this since we won't have to have a huge honey house when we change to top bar bee hives. (Won't need an extractor) We free range but I also want an area large enough for them fenced and roofed if we are going to be away and for bad weather. I love the look of chicken wire but it really does not hold up well and some of the smaller chicks can wiggle out so I like the wire that is small rectangles at the bottom and larger ones at the top. Can't remember what it is called... An automatic door to the chicken yard would be nice but I want control of when they go out to free range.
All that said Newbies to chickens need to know it does not have to be this complicated! My first 5 years were with 5 chickens in a very low tech coop. I loved them so much I'm moving up to 25 girls and need to make the associated increase in work easier.
Karen, wish you lived closer I'd love to work with you to build my dream coop!
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
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amomfly
True Blue Farmgirl
658 Posts
Angie
LaGrange
IN
USA
658 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2011 : 12:34:59 PM
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Hey instead of running water... we have been thinking of doing a gravity flow system with rain water buckets! NO COST!!!
Come visit my blog
http://angieruralliving.blogspot.com/
God Bless
Angie-amomfly
#1038 |
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walkinwalkoutcattle
True Blue Farmgirl
1675 Posts
Megan
Paint Lick
KY
USA
1675 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2011 : 1:53:03 PM
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Angie, my friend does a gravity flow system with buckets and nipples. He loves it! He did have to buy a bucket waterer for winter, as we get freezing temps here, but he loves it 3 out of the 4 seasons!
Farmgirl #2879 :)
Starbucks and sushi to green fried tomatoes and corn pudding-I wouldn't change it for the world.
www.cattleandcupcakes.blogspot.com
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Lady Woodworker
True Blue Farmgirl
259 Posts
Karen
Chamberlain
Maine
USA
259 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2011 : 3:21:42 PM
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WOW!!!
What wonderful ideas all over the place!
I love everything from the very practical idea of having water on site to the very cute,
whimsical cupola --- with a chicken weathervane, of course!
This is all a delight and a huge help.
Thank you thank you! (and please feel free to keep the ideas coming...)
Connie, I wish we lived closer too...
HUGs to everyone
Karen
Farmgirl Sister # 2419 |
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batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2011 : 06:10:20 AM
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Connie most inside chicken coops aren't finished...ie painted walls ect so when they get dusty the walls hold onto the dust & cobwebs....the tarps can be sweep down so that there is no more dust/cobwebs & the surface stays cleaner....plus the chickens don't peck at the wood. I did this because I have a friend I help with her 2 coops, they are unfinished wood inside & its amazing how much dust/cobwebs/poo get on the walls & trying to clean them is almost impossible. & the cobwebs get so heavy with the dust so that when there is an breeze the dust is in the air that the chickens brathe....I do this with the floor as well so that the poo isn't like cement to get up...I have a 6 ft by 10 ft coop & I can clean it ceiling to floor in less than an hour...whereas when I help my friend I am in each coop for hours trying to get them clean. I have a thin piece of wood boarding....like malimine that is about 12 inches by 14 inc that I can scrap the floors with & then use it as a small shovel to dump the poo/bedding into old feed bags. the walls I just use an old broom to sweep down as well as the ceiling...the only place that takes time is the windows covered in chicken wire...those I sweep down & then use a shop vac to get the dust that settles at the bottom of the window sill (which is also tarped) I am a stay at home wife but as I age I notice that somethings are just harder to do so I try to figure out ways to make it better for me...if its too hard I tend to delay it...well with the coops I don;t delay cleaning them cause I know its not as bad as it could be on me. sometimes doing things a different way saves time or for me my back!....Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622 |
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Barnyard Buddies: What is your Dream Chicken Coop? |
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What is your Dream Chicken Coop?
