# CHICKEN COOP



## jpos34

My wife has picked up the hobby of "Chicken Farming" during the pandemic. Started off with 1 chicken, now at 10. I built her a coop while the grass wasn't growing. Now waiting for the eggs to start coming.


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## BobLovesGrass

That is pretty nice.
I have had a couple pretty rough movable coops for a few years. Debating building something like what you have adjacent to the garden and seasonally letting them into the gargen.


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## FranksATX

Nice Coop! Is that a storage area on the bottom?

My Wife also got into "chicken farming" last year. We left the house to get 8 chicks and came home with 12!

She wanted a "farmhouse" style coop so I did my duties and made it happen. It turned out nice. 


There is a member on here with a really nice red and white coop in their backyard and a really nice lawn.


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## Ren

Thats a pretty nice! i put this together in the front yard a couple years ago. I have 20 in there right now, i give about 12 dozen eggs away each month.


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## FranksATX

Ren said:


> Thats a pretty nice! I put this together in the front yard a couple years ago. I have 20 in there right now, i give about 12 dozen eggs away each month.


This is the coop I was thinking about! Yours looks great with your lawn/landscaping.


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## Ren

FranksATX said:


> Ren said:
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> Thats a pretty nice! I put this together in the front yard a couple years ago. I have 20 in there right now, i give about 12 dozen eggs away each month.
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> This is the coop I was thinking about! Yours looks great with your lawn/landscaping.
Click to expand...

Thank you, that means a lot to me! This summer i want to run a water line and power out to it so i can go to an automatic water trough system and add lights and fans (it gets toasty here in the summer). The last couple years i have just been running a hose out through the planter and using a coil mister when its hits the triple digits, but you need to be careful with misters as chickens can get respiratory infections from them rather easily (but still easier to deal with than heat induced death...). I also added some cheap solar panels to the roof which runs a large 12v PC fan in the coop gable and another one that operates the automatic coop door.


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## BobLovesGrass

I went mobile with our coops, nowhere near as nice as what you folks have posted.

I use horizonal nipple waterers in a 5 gallon bucket, by the time that runs out it is time to dump and refill anyway.
Here in WI I only run power to the coops in winter to keep water defrosted and in warmer times I might supliment light but Jan/Feb it is so cold we lose eggs to freeze and cracking so I let the naturally short days shut down egg production


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## Carlson

Just joined the "my wife wanted chickens" club myself... finished my coop yesterday by finally getting the roof shingled.




We only have four pullets at the moment but will probably have four more pretty soon.


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## LegionLawn

Do you all let them free range? My wife also wants chickens but I'm concerned that we shouldn't eat the eggs with the lawn chemicals that I use so I don't see the point in owning them in that case.


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## Rolling Hills

I am embarking on the chicken husbandry journey as well. TBH it was mainly driven by my wife's lifelong dream of raising chickens and having fresh eggs everyday...plus I like building things.

We've been working on this build since January, chipping away at it bit by bit when we have rare free time. It's about 90% there, just need to put some plexiglass on the window vents and install a functional cupola I built. I was inspired by the Carolina Coops design and used that concept for the majority of it. A Carolina Coop like this would run you $7,000+. Looking to get 6 pullets by the end of September and possibly a handful of chicks the following spring.


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## BobLovesGrass

I would space additions a year. If you get all you want all at once you will face a decline in laying after a couple years.
If you stagger your additions your egg supply will be steadier.


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## Rolling Hills

BobLovesGrass said:


> I would space additions a year. If you get all you want all at once you will face a decline in laying after a couple years.
> If you stagger your additions your egg supply will be steadier.


That's kind of my planned approach. My coop can accommodate up to 10 medium sized birds comfortably. I figure start with 6. Might have 5 left going into next spring (I've heard that expected chicken loss is just a part of life with raising fowl), add 2-3 more. Come the following year, maybe have 7-8 and I add 1-2 more. And basically follow that topping off methodology every year.


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## Rolling Hills

Finally finished the coop! Have had 6 pullets for the past week and a half and they are a riot. No laying yet, but I predict in a few weeks we'll have something.


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## MasterMech

Rolling Hills said:


> .... I've heard that expected chicken loss is just a part of life with raising fowl...


You heard right. They poop. They stink. They die. (for no apparent reason) Then there's all the good stuff. Enjoy, that's one heck of a chicken coop!


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## Rolling Hills

MasterMech said:


> Rolling Hills said:
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> 
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> .... I've heard that expected chicken loss is just a part of life with raising fowl...
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> You heard right. They poop. They stink. They die. (for no apparent reason) Then there's all the good stuff. Enjoy, that's one heck of a chicken coop!
Click to expand...

Thank you! We're having fun with it so far. It'll start to feel more worthwhile once the eggs start rolling in.


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## jayhawk

@Rolling Hills that is the chicken taj

Those are all nice .....I kinda want, need to see if allowed


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## bernstem

Those are all really impressive chicken coops. I'm used to ones that look like drab, brown sheds.


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## Tmank87

Out of curiosity how much do these pullets cost to acquire? Looks like a fun hobby.


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## BobLovesGrass

If you buy chicks just a few bucks apiece $2-5+ depending on what you want. There are about as many chicken breeds as heirloom tomato varieties. Blue eggs, green, pink, chocolate brown, regular grocery store brown, white, chickens that.confine well, chickens the freerange well. Breeds that are dual purpose good for meat or eggs. Some older varieties might only lay 170 a year where the "production" breeds might be 300eggs per bird per year.


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## nigelfoster801

Wow! All these coops have put my chicken house to shame. I've always aspired to those that DIY it, something I'd like to do in the future. I currently have 6 chickens and they live in the portable chicken house, so we can move it around the garden to stop certain areas of grass from getting too bad. I think if my memory serves me well its from this company Chicken Coops And Chicken Houses For Sale | Free Delivery. I couldn't find the email to say which one we have but I'm 99% sure it is.

Where do you come up with these great designs for coops? Is there a website with blueprints? I'd love to have a look tonight, hopefully, I can get the other half on board and we can start the process of building our own coop.

Thanks,
Nigel F


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