chicken coops

[Gypsi]

The first photo is my back yard coop and run when it was a year old, paint still looked pretty good then



When it was really hot I added a roost in the run and they just loved it, especially that big ornery roo (gave him away, visiting toddlers were at risk. )



Somewhere I have a photo of the coop on the lot. It is really plain jane but it has good solid walls and is relatively easy to weasel proof and lock birds in, very easy to overwinter them in, solid walls, in roof ventilation, and an open east wall, sits under my big elm so it is cooler in summer but almost not enough light to keep them laying.  It is the old girl retirement coop because the run is not as predator secure, fencing not tight enough to keep out rats weasels, and thieving squirrels.

  My younger layers are generally in the one pictured above, but I do want to repair some of the fencing between the shed and the run, and tighten up some gaps before I move the young girls in.  Currently it is empty and I have the chicks in the greenhouse for the 5 week old, and in the fish room for the 2 week old.

[Gypsi]

The Run is 8 foot wide and 12 ft long, about 8 ft tall. when I get out there to fence and tidy I will take a pic. There are roosts in the run, a 5 ft wide roost in the coop, which can be locked down to protect birds if necessary but doesn't do a great job in winter because it was built to shed heat, not hold it. and little roosts under the coop, so they can hang out and have room and not fight. I use a nipple watering system under the 5 gallon bucket in the run, and that bucket is what freezes if I don't plastic off the north wall, or I have to drop an aquarium heater in it, which I have done in the past. But it is much easier to keep the water thawed in the greenhouse or my other coop, so leaving this one empty in winter makes sense.

[Perry]

Man, if I see too many pictures like this I will end up with a few in the backyard. I would in a heartbeat but I have one neighbour who would probably not be thrilled.

[Gypsi]

these are the tastiest Perry!

[blueblood]

I'm trying to talk Miss Blueblood into having chickens. May have to study your coop for my own.

[Perry]

We buy our eggs from a local farm that has dairy cows, sheep, chickens, you name it. They have an honour system barn where you walk in, go through the freezers to pick out what you want, write it down in a book and leave you money in a can. It is a cool place with windows into the barn where you can see all the sheep laying around (at this time of year) and chickens are all standing or laying on the sheep!
We buy our pork from another vendor at the farm market, the tastiest pork I've had in years. The only problem I have with pork is that the last few years I seem to suffer a bit after a meal of it.

[Gypsi]

We buy our eggs from a local farm that has dairy cows, sheep, chickens, you name it. They have an honour system barn where you walk in, go through the freezers to pick out what you want, write it down in a book and leave you money in a can. It is a cool place with windows into the barn where you can see all the sheep laying around (at this time of year) and chickens are all standing or laying on the sheep!
We buy our pork from another vendor at the farm market, the tastiest pork I've had in years. The only problem I have with pork is that the last few years I seem to suffer a bit after a meal of it.

I bought a pig from a local farmer last year, as I couldn't find anywhere to just buy good meat.  Best ham I have ever had I cured, wasn't as salty as the stuff from the store.  But it is hard to find local here, found a butcher shop in Alvarado with "hormone free" beef but I think it all came from the northwest, he really didn't know, and it was good but maybe not as good as that price tag was high

[Gypsi]

I'm trying to talk Miss Blueblood into having chickens. May have to study your coop for my own.

I thank you for the compliment Mr. BlueBlood but it seems to me that Indiana gets a lot colder than Texas.  This is the coop I leave empty in the winter and move the birds to one without windows on the north and west sides.  I can't keep the water thawed in this one.

The birds made it through 2 winters before I had the coop on the lot built.  I'd go to backyard chickens forum and poke through design ideas there.  That is what I did. Then I modified to suit my conditions and budget and the scrap lumber in the shed.

[Gypsi]

had to process some pond images and found these.
The backyard coop in snow Dec 6 2013.  I had to cover the front wall with plastic to keep the water thawed even with a heater in the bucket.  But the hens stayed warm and dry.