Chicken Folks... What kind of coop do you have?

[PONY751]

I am finally ready to become the proud owner of some laying hens and am debating on the best kind of coop to keep them in. What kind of coop do you have? Built from scratch? Recycled building? I have been doing some research on BackyardChickens.com, but would like ya'lls imput. Also, what are the most important things to keep in mind while predator proofing? I live in VA, so extra caution is a must. Also, is there any specific breed that tends to be friendlier than another? I would like to be quite interactive with my flock. Would love to hear from you. :)

[2DogsFarm]

I LOFF BYC!
And not just because they validated my rehab of an old garden shed for a coop. :winkgrin:

Actually the previous owners had kept chickens & turkeys, so the shed had been in use as a coop at one time. They left some homemade partitions that are working nicely once I figured them out.
About half the shed is floored with plywood, that's where my hens live on top of pine shavings. The other half is cinderblock that is easy to sweep clean of poop <they like to explore.
I added some 2-3" tree branches, stripped of bark - for roosts.
The girls use these like a jungle gym, but seem to prefer roosting on the partitions that are less than 1' wide at their widest!
Go
Figure
The shed also had a nice screened door leading from the coop into the henyard. It is double-screened with poultry wire and hardware cloth. It allows light & air into the coop while keeping varmints out. It is maybe 5' high and about 2' wide - so I can get in & out that way too. A regular people-sized door leads from the backyard into the shed.
I'm having a window added for more light/air - home supply stores sell stock windows for sheds.

So far the friendliest birds of the 5 I have are the 2 Delawares. They are very curious and make the least fuss about being treated like pets.
But they are all learning to tolerate me & being handled. I've only had them 3 weeks - they just turned 12wks old - so a lot of progress has been made & will continue. They all recognize me as TreatLady!!! (with much chicken excitement) & I expect I'll have lapchickens soon.

[ReSomething]

Coop-wise we have the v.1 Hoop coop, which the DH built by copying something he had seen in a book and improving it, unfortunately the improvements may have been what did in one hen. The hoop coop is a tow-able 2x6 frame with PVC pipes bent over the top and plywood ends. It has aviary wire floor and hoop, ond one half has a blue tarp over the aviary wire with turkey wire over that. For all the work that went into it he isn't too pleased with the ease of use, there is one door big enough for the chickens and we can't get into it at all. It has two buckets let into the end for laying, but they aren't ready yet so . . . . .
Currently under construction is the Mark 1 Range house, which is about 3/4 done and not doing the poor roos any good at all, they are still stuck in a big box and honestly I can't bear to look at them, it is making me too angry. He got the pattern from that out of a different book from Storey books, How to build Animal Housing. Of course it is the fanciest Summer Range House and big enough for a guest room. According to the credits that pattern was redrawn from Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics and USDA (sic), Summer Range Poultry Shelter, plan Ex. 5400, n.d.. The Storey book also has lots of patterns for smaller, simpler coops. Or you may be able to find them at a Cooperative extension office. If I had any clue where the power tools are I'd build one of the simple ones and have done with it.
Our chickens are barred Plymouth rocks, 7 hens and 15 or so future fryer roos, (stuck in a refrigerator sized box for the moment), the hens are easy enough to catch but I am not sure they will be jumping on my lap of their own accord. Right now they are just a little skittish and I worry about predators so I am OK with that. They love to share my cooked oatmeal, bananas (sort of, they're a little messy) and bread, but you get all seven of them and it can get a little freaky if they start jumping and fighting amongst each other. The hens are free ranging up to the Edge of the Chicken World (the driveway) and go to roost on top of the coop by themselves, if you catch them in time they'll go inside easily but if it is just a little too dark they grumble and fuss. I can't tell them apart enough to name them, except for Seven, who is always off wandering by herself and shows up late to every party.

[chancy deal]

Chickens will want to roost at night, so providing them with a high place to roost is preferable, over letting them sit on the floor.
A coop of some sort is needed that can be securely closed-up at night. Or you will find 1/2 of them missing come morning. And after night #2, the rest will be gone. Coyotes, foxes, coons, weasles are VERY clever.
It needs to have good ventilation too. Chickens get hot. I have a plain box fan that I turn on for them, on hot nights.

I currently have Rhode Island Reds and they are great hens! They are egg laying machines. They lay a large brown egg. They are sociable too. I can just walk up to one & pick it up. They follow me around. And if they get in an area of the farm I dont want them to be (like down near the road) I can just call "chickie chickie chickie" for them and they come running. Great chickens.
Of course, the calling for them took just a little training by rewarding them with a "treat" when they listened.

[deltawave]

I found a local builder on Craigslist who made me a gorgeous knockoff of the really nice "Amish mini coop" you see advertised by Horizon structures. I just sent him the photo and he did the rest at 1/3 the cost AND while supporting a local business.

For predator security I think you really have to lock them up tight in their coop at night.

[oldenmare]

I don't know how close you are to the CFC Farm Center in Bowling Green, but they have a couple of cool coops there. My sister took note and had her hubby build one along same lines. I like the easy access to eggs provided with same.

Just an FYI - might be worth a quick road trip to check 'em out - right on Rt 1 just north of stoplight at 208 (or just around corner off I-95).

I have Americana mixes for eggs and a pair of Silkies 'cause they're so dang cute. I actually got them b/c my nieces begged for them (and since getting them, the nieces could care less) - but they're cute.

Nothing beats fresh eggs, either.

[foggybok]

and it's better than out house! :)

4 x 8 on the floor, 4 foot walls with a peaked roof. He insulated it and but a ladder roost system on one half, open floor on the other, than made 4 nesting boxes up high. At night all 12 cram into one nesting box....figures.....

here's a few pics of the building process..

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn304/foggybok/HJGJ.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn304/foggybok/D-1.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn304/foggybok/H-1.jpg

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn304/foggybok/DFH.jpg

[Eventaholic]

Made from scratch, but from all recycled materials. A big old barn near my property blew down, and we were able to get a lot of nice wood out of it... not to mention the obscene amount of wood we have in the barn... for no good reason... because anytime we have any repairs we buy new material... :rolleyes: . Anyway, coop is entirely reused materials, 4x8 for the ten girls with an attatched run of about the same size, plus the space under the coop itself, which is raised. My mom was in charge of the aesthetics committee, so the finished coop is going to have clapboards and wooden shingles to match the house :lol: .

My girls must be the most non conformist chicks out there- because they do NONE of the things everyone else always talks about. Roosting at night? Nahhhh, let's sit in the 2" between the door and the kickboard holding the shavings inside the coop.... all ten of us!

They're all kittens really, the cuddle one second and two minutes later a little peck to ask to be let down. All in all I've found all of my girls to be equally sweet. And FUNNY. I'm am forever being entertained by their antics. I've got a golden laced wyandotte, easter eggers, black australorp, barred rock (she's in charge!), leghorn (super inquisitive), and a mystery feathery footed gal who is my pride and joy and just the cutest thing on the face of the planet. Don't tell the horses.

[VWBug]

My dh built an awesome chicken tractor - it's a movable fully enclosed pen and the coop sits inside it. It has wheels so it's pretty easy, though heavy, for one person to move to a fresh piece of grass.

BTW- my peepers came home two nights ago and I'm just smitten!

[meaty ogre]

I am following this thread with interest - perfect timing!

My chickies have outgrown their temporary tupperware home and are currently living in my mini horse's stall (I rarely stall my horses and they have run-ins so it was available). It's fine temporarily (no rats or other predators can access them) but we need to decide on a coop. I plan on free ranging them once they are big enough. Hubby wants to use the stall indefinitely (I think to deter me from adding to my equine herd!) but I just don't think it's secure enough. Plus we've got to figure out nesting boxes and roosting areas too, which would require modifying the stall anyway.

I'm considering the moveable coops (the ones with wheels so you can move them around your farm and thus fertilize and avoid over-damage to any one spot). Any thoughts on them? Do they get confused if you move their house around?

[PONY751]

Thanks for sharing your coop stories! And thanks oldenmare. I am close to Bowling Green, I am going to go and check it out.

[MaresNest]

I've always wanted to convert an old, non-horse-worthy horse trailer into a chicken coop. Thought I had one lined up recently, but looks like I'm going to lose it. Oh well. Someday.

[LaBonnieBon]

I got a chicken tractor from a guy in Warrenton.... I can give you contact info if you are interested...

[MSP]

My chicken coop build! http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=9745

ad nauseum! ;)

[deltawave]

This is my coop, before I built the pen/enclosure around it. I used a dog kennel from Lowe's, and added a couple of panels from another portable dog kennel to make it bigger and to "roof" a portion. I wish it didn't look so half-assed but am not sure I want to build a huge, elaborate, permanent enclosure yet.