Chicken Keepers

[luvschrist]

Could anyone post pictures of their coop? We tried to raise some chicks and our pen wasn't secure enough, and we lost them all. I was thinking of trying again but need ideas for a coop. I was thinking the cheapest route would be the triangle kind like the colonists used. Anyone tried this before? TIA ;)

[mamatogands]

my parents keep chickens, but my dad built them a beautiful and expensive house, so I don't know what would be cheap. I know they kept the chicks in the garage though until they were big enough to go out to the house...
:shrug

[akmyilee]

Their are a TON of chicken websites. Search for "Chricken Tractor" and see what you get............also the site "homesteading Today" has a great chicken board. We are going to get chickens soon. :)

[Lady TS]

I didn't see this before--don't frequent this area much I guess.

Don't to our route. We spent waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much money on our coop. We built on the existing chicken coop foundation from eons ago and it turned out waaaay too tall.

I second HomesteadingToday.com for info on coops.
Basically, keep it simple. And keep any and all critters out at night.(we learned that the hard way, too)

Think large doghouse with a closing door you can close at night to keep them safe. Add a nest box or two that is accesible to you from either outside or inside if the coop is big enough for you to get in.

And think easy to clean, too. :)

:nak

Gotta go!

[boonpnutsmom]

Here is our coop for Henni and Jenni, my DH designed it and the carpenter from his job built it for us.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/boonpnutsmom/THE%20CHICKENS/ChickenCoop042505.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/boonpnutsmom/THE%20CHICKENS/ChickenCoopa042505.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/boonpnutsmom/THE%20CHICKENS/DSC_0046.jpg

There are pull out drawers that the doodoo drops down on that we just pull out to clean. Their floors are sloped down hill so that the eggs roll into the front. The egg doors are held in place by pins that pull out so that the door drops down for retrieval. They have windows on the sides and big holes drilled in their central wall so that they can see and talk to each other.