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 stanton3 
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Joined: Jan 2012  GA, USA
 Posts: 24 Feedback: 0% (0) |
Posted: 5/1/2012 10:07:48 PM
[Last Edit: 5/6/2012 10:06:45 AM by stanton3]
THE IMAGE ABOVE IS A PAID ADVERTISEMENT 
Started off with 2 chicks. A r.i. red and a buff orpington. 
Decided that 2 wasn't enough and picked up a brahma and a wyandotte  .
We looked at pics of other coops on the internet, got some ideas and started our own. The entire coop and run is 16'x8'. Their roost is raised about 2.5 feet off the ground and is 5.5'x8'. Roof is 8' in the front, 7' in the back. Yes, we realize this is big for four chickens and we have plans for more in the future. They will have access to 16 feet of run and also have a few hours during the day to free range. Getting an idea of size.. 
First wall built 
First 3 sections built.. 
Standing.. 
Next 3 sections built and standing 
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Posted: 5/1/2012 10:08:51 PM
[Last Edit: 5/1/2012 10:14:26 PM by stanton3]
Chicks continue to grow
Will continue to update this thread, did some more work this afternoon but forget to take pics. Should start getting the roof on and attach the wire in the next few days! The chicks are ready to get in their new home! |
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BlueJames
Ron Paul 2012
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Joined: Nov 2005  TWN
Posts: 4129 Feedback: 100% (1) Link To This Post |
Posted: 5/2/2012 12:43:34 AM
Cool
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navvet89
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Joined: Apr 2006 GA, USA
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Posted: 5/2/2012 11:32:13 AM
My wife came home with two laying hens about 3 weeks ago, I'm going to be building a basic coup this weekend. Looks like I'm going to be in the verminator business as well, I'm already killing ground hogs with extreme prejudice but with the addition of chickens I'm going to be adding yotes, foxes, possums, raccoons and feral cats to my list.
 I live in the sticks, we have two wild cats in the area and I saw a whopper of a possum in the yard the day before yesterday. |
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TheRedGoat
The bad influence...
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Joined: Jan 2001 TX, USA
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Posted: 5/2/2012 7:32:04 PM
tag
TRG |
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Posted: 5/2/2012 7:34:22 PM
You are going to regret it being that close the the house from the smell and the insects they attract.
I suggest moving it further away. |
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Posted: 5/2/2012 8:32:32 PM
Did some more work on the coop today.
Got the roof frame rails on and a few other things tightened up.  |
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Posted: 5/2/2012 8:47:04 PM
Originally Posted By navvet89:
My wife came home with two laying hens about 3 weeks ago, I'm going to be building a basic coup this weekend. Looks like I'm going to be in the verminator business as well, I'm already killing ground hogs with extreme prejudice but with the addition of chickens I'm going to be adding yotes, foxes, possums, raccoons and feral cats to my list.
I live in the sticks, we have two wild cats in the area and I saw a whopper of a possum in the yard the day before yesterday. I know what you mean, I'm mostly worried about a coyote or cat getting them. |
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Posted: 5/2/2012 8:49:03 PM
Originally Posted By Baldmonk:
You are going to regret it being that close the the house from the smell and the insects they attract. I suggest moving it further away. Haven't thought much about that. Thanks for the suggestion. I'm hoping since its a less used side of the house it won't be too bad, but we'll see. |
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TheRedGoat
The bad influence...
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Joined: Jan 2001 TX, USA
Posts: 38314 Feedback: 100% (13) Link To This Post |
Posted: 5/2/2012 9:13:34 PM
Originally Posted By stanton3:
Originally Posted By Baldmonk:
You are going to regret it being that close the the house from the smell and the insects they attract. I suggest moving it further away. Haven't thought much about that. Thanks for the suggestion. I'm hoping since its a less used side of the house it won't be too bad, but we'll see. Direction of the prevailing winds? I feed my hens carcasses. From snakes and squirrels to feral cats and hogs. It can get rank. Very rank. For the more basic odors, you can cover the smell with wood ash from the fireplace. TRG |
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hero2three
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Joined: Dec 2008 AR, USA
Posts: 608 Feedback: 100% (3) Link To This Post |
Posted: 5/3/2012 8:53:10 PM
That coop is HUGE! I have never seen framing like that but if it works, it works. Interested in seeing the outcome. Chickens are fun. We are waiting for the first egg.
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Posted: 5/3/2012 10:33:10 PM
[Last Edit: 5/3/2012 10:48:25 PM by stanton3]
Originally Posted By TheRedGoat:
Direction of the prevailing winds? I feed my hens carcasses. From snakes and squirrels to feral cats and hogs. It can get rank. Very rank. For the more basic odors, you can cover the smell with wood ash from the fireplace. TRG West. Toward the direction of the car in my previous post. That side of the house doesn't get much wind though. 
We're hoping it doesn't get too bad. We'll see, really don't want to move it but we just might have to. Did some more work today, got the floor support for the roost done and a few misc. things. |
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Posted: 5/3/2012 10:37:15 PM
Originally Posted By hero2three:
That coop is HUGE! I have never seen framing like that but if it works, it works. Interested in seeing the outcome. Chickens are fun. We are waiting for the first egg. We still have to add a pretty good bit more to the framing, but it is actually very stable right now. We can wait to get them out there! |
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Posted: 5/4/2012 5:22:08 AM
That is exactly what I thought when I saw that picture.
Drag that coop at least 100 feet from your home at the least. |
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Posted: 5/4/2012 7:06:27 PM
Originally Posted By stanton3:
Originally Posted By Baldmonk:
You are going to regret it being that close the the house from the smell and the insects they attract. I suggest moving it further away. Haven't thought much about that. Thanks for the suggestion. I'm hoping since its a less used side of the house it won't be too bad, but we'll see. Raised chickens my whole life. Keep them downwind and as far away from the house as possible. You will thank me later. |
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Posted: 5/5/2012 4:03:58 AM
my family has raised chickens for at least five generations, my great grand fathers chicken coupe is still standing, has a nice concrete slab to keep out the critters.
this thread is full of win. chickens are my favorite farm animal |
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Posted: 5/5/2012 9:15:37 PM
[Last Edit: 5/5/2012 9:25:17 PM by stanton3]
Got some more work today.
Back side view of the coop. The inside framing is for the floor of the roost. The back wall 2x4's are spaced closer together because that will be where the nesting boxes will go. Also if you look to the right of the ladder at the bottom you can barely see the start of our chicken wire. 
Another view facing the roost. 
Got the chicken wire below the roost on. 
Another view. The wire is 1/2" hardware cloth if I haven't mentioned it already. 
View facing the back of the roost, where the nesting boxes will be. 
First part of the wall of the roost. 
Outside view 
1st part of the back wall up. 
Sorry for that last crappy pic, it was getting dark. I will get some better ones tomorrow. |
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Posted: 5/5/2012 9:23:49 PM
After paying attention to the wind some, that side does get more than I thought. Obviously we should have moved it further from the house off the start, but you live and learn. If its unbearable we'll figure out a way to move it some day.
Originally Posted By ZombieJefferson:
my family has raised chickens for at least five generations, my great grand fathers chicken coupe is still standing, has a nice concrete slab to keep out the critters. this thread is full of win. chickens are my favorite farm animal Thank you! We love them so far. Which breeds do you prefer? |
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Posted: 5/6/2012 10:22:47 AM
[Last Edit: 5/6/2012 10:25:35 AM by stanton3]
Did some more work this morning.
Put up some more chicken wire. 
Also figured I'd add some of the garden pics into this thread as well. We have 9 13x5 raised beds. Tomatoes 
Squash 
Blackberries, 13 total. They are in their second year and doing good. Their first 2 summers have been pretty brutal, hot and almost no rain. Not expecting too much fruit this year. These are some of the smaller ones in the pic, they are bigger down the line. 
Blueberries, 15 total and also in their second year. 
You can see some fruit in this pic: 
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TheRedGoat
The bad influence...
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Joined: Jan 2001 TX, USA
Posts: 38337 Feedback: 100% (13) Link To This Post |
Posted: 5/6/2012 1:19:37 PM
FWIW, since you will probably move that coop in the future, why not add in two eye bolts and some low corner braces now, before it is covered in chicken manure on the bottom.
It will make it simple to attach to a vehicle or tractor when you decide to drag it. 3.00 worth of bolts, five minutes with a drill...done. TRG |
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Posted: 5/6/2012 8:25:34 PM
More work on the coop this afternoon.
Got all the wire finished!!! Now that its done I can officially say that it was a major PITA! 
The open space to the left is where the door will be. 
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Posted: 5/6/2012 8:29:38 PM
Originally Posted By TheRedGoat:
FWIW, since you will probably move that coop in the future, why not add in two eye bolts and some low corner braces now, before it is covered in chicken manure on the bottom. It will make it simple to attach to a vehicle or tractor when you decide to drag it. 3.00 worth of bolts, five minutes with a drill...done. TRG Good idea, thanks! |
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navvet89
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Joined: Apr 2006 GA, USA
Posts: 10999 Feedback: 0% (0) Link To This Post |
Posted: 5/7/2012 10:24:55 AM
[Last Edit: 5/7/2012 10:29:41 AM by navvet89]
Since we are all loving the chickens in here I'll throw in an update myself :)
Built a coop myself yesterday, I have an old 4x8 trailer that I use to haul limbs etc around the yard so I made my coop small and light enough to fit on it so I could move it around as needed. I'll probably leave it on the trailer for the foreseeable future and just keep a good layer of straw in the bottom. I'm going to add some wire, a hanging feeder/waterer, laying boxes, ramp, metal roofing and a good layer of paint to it this week but here's the pics so far. The box is approx 3' tall x 4' wide x 3' deep, I have two chicks so far, planning on a total of 4 or 5. Going to keep them penned until we get home for supervised free range time and then box them up after dark ao they dont get eaten.     |
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Posted: 5/10/2012 9:01:12 PM
Looks good man!
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Posted: 5/10/2012 9:07:21 PM
Got some more work done in the past few days. We are planning on finishing everything but the roof this weekend!
3rd wall up 
Coop door cut out 
They love flying up and sitting up on the rail 
Also saw this in the yard 
Gray fox. I believe it had rabies, it was stumbling and out early. By the time I grabbed a gun it was gone. |
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Corporal_Chaos
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Joined: Jun 2002 AZ, USA
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Posted: 5/10/2012 9:57:02 PM
The coop looks nice. What's the projected cost, if you don't mind my asking?
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