----- --- 2586475 Building a chicken coop next weekend. Any tips lads? --- 2586477 throw two wheels on one end so you can roll it around. add a wind break under the coop area. Get some movable fencing so you can graze them in a controlled are and then move it all over every week or so (look up chickentractor). Make sure they are getting the right diet and supplements. --- 2586529 If you're in a fox area, fully enclosing with chicken wire is a must (they mustn't be able to dig under to get in. Make sure the lock isn't an easy mechanism to open. --- 2586564 >>2586475 (OP) chickens have coops? I knew they were filthy communists --- 2586572 >>2586475 (OP) The dimensions of my design are benign. Black lines are external walls, posts, the ramp, and the roof. Green lines are internal, consisting of nesting boxes along the left, and poles for roosting. Red lines are external access points; A hatch on the left for egg collection, and a half-door on the right. Blue lines outline chicken wire. Fabricated from pallets, chicken wire, and four hinges. (literally everything) as >>2586529 says, you have to dig your perimeter. In my design, the ramp hinges upwards to close, and the locks on the hatch and half-door can be as simple as a few bent nails. If you have a garden save that poop! --- 2586646 Use welded wire fencing or hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. Chicken wire is too weak to keep predators out, it is only for keeping chickens in. --- 2587070 >>2586475 (OP) goto backyardchickens.com which is amazing and answers all t.yardbird owner --- 2587084 >>2586477 This triangular bullshit sounded neat until I built it. Absolute dogshit. --- 2587087 >>2586646 Nah. the heavy gauge chicken wire does just fine. --- 2587093 >>2586475 (OP) Buddy of mine is building one. Remember to give them extra space to roost and to put nest boxes below the roosts so they don't sleep in them. --- 2587856 Also currently building a coop for my ducks. Due to their wetter state of living compared to chickens, a plain wood floor seems like it would rot quickly. I have some vinyl tiles to put on top of the OSB, but does anything need to go between them to further protect the wood? I know nothing about flooring. --- 2587926 >>2587856 >I have some vinyl tiles to put on top of the OSB, but does anything need to go between them to further protect the wood? You are not even on the right track. OSB cannot be put in a permanently moist condition. There is no ''layer'' to add. You need a material and/or design change. --- 2587927 >>2587093 These new-style compact designs are all bullshit. Chickens should have a full-featured old-fashioned coop. --- 2587996 >>2587084 Elaborate please --- 2588023 >>2586475 (OP) Its pretty simple, not much you can do wrong, just don't add more than two doors. [spoiler]You don't want a chicken sedan after all. --- 2588031 >>2586475 (OP) Use wire mesh, not chicken wire, faggot mink can fit though the hole in a CD so make sure everything is sealed. --- 2589847 >>2586475 (OP) Triangle coops are a waste of space, difficult to access the chickens, and you have to cut the mesh at an angle that is never as clean as you would like it to be. I had some aggravating situations where I cut the mesh with a ruler but I didn't have enough overlap with wood on the edges (only one complete square overlap) so I had to wrap some corners with wire. I tried to be clever with my chicken tractor (mostly finished pic of it last year below). It does look cool and works but it has flaws: >On flat ground I pulled it with a truck, or put wheels onto back studs if I had to pull it by hand. This was not enough when I moved to somewhere with uneven terrain. I need multiple roommates to move it or I hurt my back. >My chickens come to me automatically but when they were younger they would hide under the coop when I needed to lock them up before it got dark. >If you leave open mesh over the run expect the chickens to be dumb and get soaked when it rains. I permanently put a tarp over the mesh roof you see here. --- 2589888 I would get a dog and train it to ignore chickens. It’s fairly easy to and they will scare off predators and prowlers for them. No need to get a tractor after that, just a place for the birds to perch safely at night. --- 2589890 >>2586475 (OP) >>2586572 >>2586477 >>2589847 What the fuck are you doing, guys? Do you just lock chickens inside these tiny cages for the whole their life? That's disgusting. --- 2589898 Look in the "free" section on fb marketplace or Craigslist. I found an ice-fishing house someone was giving away, my ducks loved it. --- 2590045 These tiny designs are impossible to keep clean and are not enough space for the birds. It would be simular to you trying to live in a space the size of your bathroom. --- 2590423 Git on my level and build it like a white man. Getting 7-8 eggies a day from 9 hens an 1 rosster --- 2590433 I am a contractor by trade, but anybody can do this. I made a shallow footing all the way around- PREDATOR PROOF. It was expensive, but it doesnt look like a ramshackle POS lean to where you will always be losing chickens to predators and you will just give up and haul it out to the dump. I have a cleverly designed poop shelf that makes cleaning a breeze. I followed a basic design of some you tuber and scaled it up. I have 9 hens and 1 rooster by accident (sexing chicks is an art) and am adding 4 more hens to the group soon. Eggs are fantastic BTW --- 2591982 >>2590433 It's good I don't like the lattice at the front --- 2591986 >>2586475 (OP) these chicken tractors are great for the birds, but you need a separate fully enclosed wooden coop for the birds sleeping at night. fox, raccoon, mink, snake, possom can all get under the tractor. last fall i went outside to feed my birds and saw them all ravaged and a big fat raccoon passed out with a chicken head in his paw. --- 2592016 >>2590433 so what's cost of that? $2 or $3 dollars per egg? --- 2592101 >>2589890 You lock them in at night or in bad weather, they roam openly during the day --- 2592307 >>2592016 this, it looks good but is far from cost effective. --- 2592310 >>2590045 They are intended to be moved regularly --- 2592644 >>2592016 ROI is 3 years Doll…(less if eggs continue their moonshot, even less if i start selling surplus at 5/dozen.) Side benefits to consider: -Pure organic eggs, taste better -much higher nutrient content -no anti biotics -no pesticides when you proles are starving and waiting in FEMA food lines with “dazzling urban yoots” I’ll be makin omelettes with bell peppers an ham…. --- 2592647 >>2591982 waifu said same thing… i had that laying around, it helps keep them cool in our very hot summers. I need to get bigger pieces to make it look better. Chickens hate heat (their body temp is like 102, if it getts hotter their fuxored). They LOVE to hang out under the coop, its much cooler. baby chicks are selling for 5 bucks each now.. a rotiissery whole chicken is 5.99 at costco, dunno how they do that. --- 2592648 >>2592307 it is eminently cost effective Doll. Longer term than most Americans can grok, but as i stated, ROI ar CURRENT prices is 3 years including feed cost which even that is coming down as I’m feeding them larva from the compost bin. --- 2593085 >>2589890 --- 2593169 How big is your property? Just a residential house on a typical 1/4 acre or something larger? Want something stationary? A tractor? How many chickens? Give us something to go with here.... --- 2593657 >>2586564 I feel like you try this joke every opportunity you can and it never gets you the laugh and praise you want in your life --- 2593667 >>2593169 If anon knew why any of that information would be helpful, he would've just found out on his own instead. --- 2593694 >>2592310 >intended Yeah, it gets to be a real pain after a very short time. --- 2593728 >>2587087 Until a hen gets her head ripped off through the wire by a racoon --- 2593735 >>2586475 (OP) https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension-aben/buildingplans/poultry This has some good plans. --- 2593742 >>2586475 (OP) For the love of God, don't be one of those Millennial frugalist dweebs who thinks you can use "repurposed pallet wood" for any DIY job. You really don't know where that shit has been, and you don't want it anywhere near your chickens. --- 2594410 >>2587996 Triangle shapes are too edgy. I felt like I was in high-school again. --- 2594412 >>2593728 Then the strength of the wire wasn't the issue. --- 2594427 >>2594410 so... no actual reason? --- 2594428 >>2590423 >rosster nigga u black --- 2594436 >>2589890 You will die of a vegan heart attack in your 40s --- 2594838 >>2593742 It's ok anon. I bought all my wood from the big box store because I don't have time for pallet wood shit --- 2597152 >>2590423 >>2590433 chicken sedan --- 2598864 >>2592644 you know anon first people they come after are people like you, look at the Ukrainians in the Soviet Union, or the fact that UK may be requiring people to "register" their hens soon --- 2600620 >>2586475 (OP) Make sure you add the chickens after the coop is finished and not before --- 2600621 >>2590423 badass. the fact that the whole thing is accessible while standing up is nice. fuck bending over