Sunday, May 1, 2011

Chicken Coop - Part 3

Part 1
Part 2



It's done! Well, I guess it will never really be done. "It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world." (Or is that Disneyland?)

First some pictures of the chickens, then a video tour of the coop.


The head chicken in the pecking order is Eve, a Gold Laced Wyandotte.


The "1st lieutenant" is Pox, a California White.


The "2nd lieutenant" is Omelette, a Black Australorp.

The rest are in no particular order:


Skittles, a White Crested Black Polish.


June, an Easter Egger. She'll lay bluish green eggs.


Clover, a Welsummer.


And last (but always wants to be first), Dumpling, an Ancona.


Video Link

16 comments:

  1. This is ridiculously cool Bill!! Was the main structure of the house a kit? Or did you design it? There are people who don't have houses that nice! Haha Spoiled chickens! :)

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  2. Yes, they are very spoiled chickens. The coop is not a kit. I designed it by stealing ideas from this Wichita cabin coop.

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  3. call the cops ---- there is gang at Bill's --- Is there a reward for capturing the LEGHORN GANG??

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  4. Did you get things worked out on the web cam? we are looking at installing a webcam on our coop?

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  5. The webcam works great during the day with natural lighting. The one I'm using is the Foscam FI8918W. I chose that one because I wanted the pan and tilt capabilities. Unfortunately because it's behind plastic (to protect it from the chickens and dust) I can't use the built-in IR lighting for night-time viewing. That's really the only disappointment I have with it.

    Other options would be to install an outdoor webcam out of reach of the chickens, but then I wouldn't have pan and tilt. I'm also not sure how chickens would even handle IR lighting. From what (little) I've read chickens do seem to be able to see infrared, but I'm not sure exactly what frequencies and how well, and if some IR lighting would affect their sleep cycle. So I think for now I'll just stick with the current setup and just use it during the day.

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  6. Thank you for the webcam info, your coop looks great.

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  8. Just about how much did this coop cost to make? I love the design and would like to do something similar to it!!

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  9. @Michaella It cost in the neighborhood of $2000.

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  10. Replies
    1. Sorry Early, I don't. But this video might be helpful to you.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa6GpREYkzQ

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  11. Do you have info on dimensions? Particularly interested in hen house size

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    1. The hen house is 4' x 5'. This video gives a little more information about dimensions and materials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa6GpREYkzQ

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  12. Hi Bill. Do you let your birds free range so they can eat bugs and grass - a very necessary part of their diet? They also need access to grit and shell grit to aid digestion. I love how much you love your girls. It's exactly like that for me. Cheers, heather, au :)

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    1. Yes. The coop is only closed up at night. They spend all day in the yard. They used to have access to the entire backyard, but they destroyed all the plants. So we built a fenced-in chicken run around the coop, replanted the yard, and let them out in the yard once or twice a day at an hour or 2 at a time so they can keep the bug and weed population down but not destroy the plants we want to keep around. The changes can be seen in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPzgrH3ozd8

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