For some time, we've experimented with different types of housing for our animals.  We started out as completely clueless owners of 6 chicks.  Since that time, our layer flock has expanded to 60, and we have over 250 broilers on site right now.  Needless to say, there have been some growing pains and some difficult lessons learned.  We have just started this page so we can share with you some of our experiences (both successes and failures).  This page will be under construction for some time, but at least it is a place to start!

Chicken Coops

6 chickens fit nicely in this house - our first attempt at a chicken coop.  The double doors do make cleanup a breeze, however, the self locking door mechanism is NOT a good idea.  I've had the door swing shut on me while in there and my children thought it was the most hysterical thing in the world (though I'm glad they let me out without too much grief). 

We use this house, along with the other coop, to overwinter 10 birds.  Though perch space is at a premium, they do all fit up there and keep one another warm.  Clean up is a breeze as all their droppings are in a neat row.  During the spring time, it serves as a brooder for the younger chicks (3-4 weeks old).  The single perch makes hanging lights a breeze.  Originally, we had a wire mesh floor with pallets on top as a floor.  Sadly, we had a rat problem we were unaware of and we lost 30 chicks in a night.  Occasionally, we will get chickens from folks who find they can't keep theirs any longer - we'll put them in here to isolate them from the flock until they have been tested and shown to be disease free.

This building is our second attempt at a chicken coop.  Again, we only had a dozen girls at the time, so it was built to size.  The floor is made of double mesh, to let droppings fall through while keeping predators out.  We have put the house up on landscape timbers so we can easily rake out the collected droppings.  There's only one pophole to the fenced in area.  Not ideal, as certain chickens are prone to cause traffic jams at the door.

Now that we have more chickens, we have decided to employ hoophouses - based on Robert Plammondon's great idea.  We've made a few modifications to suit our needs.

The hoophouse shown here is still under construction, but it allows you to see the basic design.  We opted for 2x4 pressure treated boards for the runners.  The crosspieces are 2x4 pine, and all other is scrap lumber we've picked up along the way.

This hoophouse shows a tarp covering it.  We put 3' chicken wire along the base of each side, just to prevent the eager chickens from trying to escape.  The doors are lift out, meaning we don't need to worry about any twisting that inevitably occurs.  Fortunately, we don't have many rocks so we opted for a minimal clearance at the bottom.  We plan to nail carpet reminants to help prevent critters from getting in (or out).

Here's a picture of the hoophouse in use.  The broilers are about 2.5 weeks old and we had just moved them out in the late spring when the grass was just starting to green up.  You'll notice a piece of plywood on the left hand side of the photo.  We had just propped that up on the side and put a heat lamp under it so the chicks could keep from getting chilled at night.  We put a little bit of hay under there and it really seemed to do the job well. 

This last hoophouse is a bit bigger.  We used 3 panels instead of 2.  It is definitely heavier, requiring two people to move it, but we plan to use it as our homebase for 60 chickens.  This house is lower, with a 12x10 footprint.  We will be installing electrified mesh to try to keep the girls contained in one portion of the pasture.

Note that the perimeter of our fields are juiced up with some serious electric fencing.  Our hope is that this will deter coyotes - the major predator in our area - from trying to get to the chickens.

 Brooders

At this point, we have only a very sorry excuse for brooders.  There are currently 7 ducklings and 25 chicks in our home, 25 chicks at the local grade school, and 20 chicks farmed out to a local preschool.  Originally, we had hoped to keep the chicks in the former pigeon loft shown below but the weather had been pretty chilly and I'm just too neurotic to put them out there with a heat lamp.  Hopefully the weather will break this weekend and I'll feel better about putting them there. 

The Pony Palace

The pony palace has been our personal albatross.  The skeleton is in place and after an ill-advised attempt at using tarps as a temporary skin, we will be going to the neighbors sawmill to pick up some rough cut lumber to side it.  Unfortunately, now that the weather has picked up a bit, we likely won't get to it until much later this summer.

Piggy Pens...

...are a work in progress.  The girls are due to arrive this weekend.  Check out the pig page to see what the fencing looks like.  We will be working nights this week to get their shelter built.

Turkey House

Photos to come shortly.  This was another learning opportunity.  We did plenty of reading and built a lovely structure that is suitable for raising 25 birds (or so the book said).  Now that it is done, we realize that we have no desire to raise our lovely turkeys in such confinement, never mind with such little space.  Right now we have 3 birds in there and it's killing us.  We'd much rather them have access to fresh greens.  As such, we are building hoop coops for them.  Not quite sure what we are going to end up doing with this.  On the bright side, it has proven to be a safe place for them throughout the winter.   

MAP   CHICKENS   TURKEYS   DUCKS   PHEASANT   PIGS   SPOTS   YURT   HOME