CHICKEN COUPE

chili · Mar 3, 2005

I am planing on raising some chickens to have some fresh eggs and fried chicken. Never have raised any before. I plan on building a coupe soon and wondered if anyone had any advise on building a walkin coupe. Thanks in advance and feel free to share any chicken psychology. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

texbaylea · Mar 3, 2005

Mother Earth News usually has information like that or DIY books for sale that would cover it. I don't totally agree with their philosphy but it has interesting articles. Within about the last year they had a chicken coop that was not walkin but could be moved around to clean areas of the yard.

BigAl · Mar 3, 2005

Chili ,
This site has a great looking chicken house that can be downloaded . It is the one I am putting up this coming year at my ranch .

http://tartergate.com/new.php

enjoy.
Big Al

GerardC · Mar 3, 2005

I thought by the title that they were referring to Fords Thunderchicken. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Gerard

dlabrie · Mar 4, 2005

I have been raising chickens now for about 3 years. It is very enjoyable and the fresh eggs and meat can't be beat! I knew nothing about it before I started. Get the book, Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. There is a wealth of info in it. Also, Sign on to the Backyard Chickens.com forum. One of the discussion forums is -Coop Design and Construction -
Everything you ever wanted to know about chickens is there. The folks at that forum are very knowledgeable and helpful.

Have you decided on breeds yet? I have RIRs, Buff Orpingtons, White Orpingtons, Blk Austrolorpes, Dominiques and speckled Sussex. These are all dual purpose, brown egg layers.

I have bought chicks from Ideal Poultry and Mcmurrary Hatcheries With good luck.

rfawkes · Mar 4, 2005

I have been raising poultry for 3 years as well. Unless you are good at building things, which I am not, I recommend buying a shed kit from a big box store. The price of lumber is so high that you really can't save any money on constructing a coop over a shed kit, and they go up real quick. There are many sites on the web on raising chickens, with state government sites probably the best. I too have those brown egg layers. I free range mine, and just close the coop door each night to keep them safe.

anojones · Mar 4, 2005

You could try a "chicken tractor"- which is a movable coop so that you don't destroy the ground in a particular area. Most are not walk in size, but they can be- usually a structure with wire on a couple of wheels that can be moved like a wheelbarrow. Here's a link to some pictures but you can also just do a google search.

ALBALD1 · Mar 4, 2005

I just bought 6 chickens last year. Definately, do your research before you get the birds. Once you get them everything is in a hurry. Once you get the shelter though, they are pretty easy to take care of. By the way backyard chickens.com is a great site, but it appears to be gone. Haven't been able to acces it for 3-4 weeks now. Another good one is the www.thepoultrysite.com or poultryconnection.com. one is better than the other, but i don't remember which is best. I also just bought a book called storey's guide to raising chickens. they're a series of books for different animals. i recommend it or some book to learn the basics. the keys to the building is that you probly will want more chickens once you start enjoying them. most of what i've read says you need 3-4 sqare ft per bird. there are times when, due to weather,etc, they will be in all day. they need a little room to move or they pick on each other. another mistake i made was buying straight run. i'm assuming you are as ignorant as i was about them when i started, but that means you get them as hatched. i bought 6 & took 2 more someone was giving away. next thing you know i had 5 roosters & 3 hens. egg output sucked & the roosters terrorized the roosters. chicken sex is not romantic, its more like rape. i traded 2 roosters for 2 more hens & killed one hen. now i have5 hens & 1 rooster. everyone is much happier. i get 3-4 eggs per day & the hens arent so skittish. even the rooster is friendlier not have to defend his flock so much. I'm getting another 10 -15 soon & will get only pullets, which are females. you pay a few pennies more, but know what you are getting. another trick to add room in the shelter that i just implented is mounting the next boxes on the outside of the building & then i cut holes in the building wall for them to go in to the nest from inside. i hinged the outside part of the nest boxes, so i can retrieve eggs w/out going inside. all this i've learned online & in that book. i'm no expert by far, but i've learned a lot over the last 9 mnths. sorry this is so long, but these are just a few of the things i wish i knew when i started. they are a lot of fun though. i fool w/ them everyday. You'll find that most people who have chickens(just like people who have tractors) like to talk about them. I ask a lot of questions on the countrybynet site too & always get answers pretty quickly. good luck.

jimg · Mar 4, 2005

I built my chick house on 3' piers (dry layed block) to keep it off the ground and away from predators. The bottom is heavy wire mesh so the thing is self cleaning in the warm months. In the winter I put boards in the floor to keep the drafts and what not out. Otherwise its a really simple sort of shed roof design 12'lLx 4'D x 3+' - 2'H. I have doors front and back on both ends which gives pretty good access for cleaning and catching. The front and south end is wire mesh which I cover in the winter w/ semi-transparent corregated roofing. I located all this right next to the garden...waste went into the garden and field trash went into the house...all very quick work.

My first batch was a straight run of Barred Rocks I bought locally. That one didnt work out well and I had lots of fried chick at the end of the summer. The Rocks I thought were NOT quiet birds in temperment. Also having so many cocks wasnt that great either...very noisey and rough on the house and hens. The hens were pretty fair layers though...very good even thru an abnormally cold winter.

I hung wooden nest boxes from the end wall. I wound up hanging the feeder from the ceiling instead of letting it on the floor. Less feed was wasted this way. If it were in the floor they tryed to scratch it. Being hung they had feed at about beak level. The waterer I put in a corner set up a bit off the floor. If I had had the room Id have hung it from teh ceiling too. I found anything on the floor got dirty really quick.

My second batch was a run of all hens I ordered thru the mail. I ordered about half NH Reds and Buff Orpingtons. The Orpingtons were awesome birds and very quiet, good sitters and layers. The Reds were just OK. When I do another run I'm going all Orpintons. Theyre also a very pleasant bird to look at....very large and stately. Oh, as a bonus the producer sent a Naked Neck Turken. Despite being dreadfully ugly it was adopted as the family pet. It was also a quiet bird.

I like chicks and when Im settled in here Im planning to have a another batch...all Orpingtons this time.