Pintail: Is that blue board insulation on the outside?

I take it the wood floor is just dropped in there so its removable?

Very nice style.

Thanks again folks.

Seniortrap: its pink board underlayment for metal roofing. There is no wood floor in the coop, it is concrete covered with pine shavings and organic matter. The poop board under the roost is essentially a piece of left over plywood that I attached a scrap piece of vinyl flooring. I then took some 2x4's and attached them around the edges of the plywood to create a box to hold the sand. This is a removable tray so-to-speak. I doubt I'll ever need to remove it, but if I need to I can easily.

This Auto feeder I made has an internal slanted floor. and Holds 240#'s of feed.


I framed in the backside of our cow lean to. Framed it in 8 x 12 and insulated it with pink 2" foam. The chicken Yard has wire buried almost 3 feet, the bottom section is buried chain link around and then also buried chicken wire coming up out and around the whole outside yard. We also have lots of hawks, owls and even eagles around our farm. I used $4 totes screwed to the wall with the lids cut out for nest boxs.. real nest boxs are too expensive and these can be cleaned easily. We have had many different types of Layers over the years. mostly all brown egg layers. The initial effort of renting a Trencher and burrying the outside run Wire was well worth the cost and effort. We also have a walk in area, divided like a vestibule for the feed in metal cans and garbage , tools etc.

The best birds I have had over the years were Plymouth Rocks from Hoover hatchery they live a long time and produce a large brown egg.

Here's some pics from my set up. I normally keep from five to twelve chickens, currently have five hens and a rooster. I built the coop myself. There is a 625 sq. ft. pen attached. The coop is on attached 6 x 6 skids and has heavy-duty eye-bolts attached so it can be easily towed to new locations. Not exactly a chicken tractor but we take the fence down and move everything to a new location every couple of years. The pic below is several years old, we had too many chickens at the time and they wiped out the grass. We moved everything soon after.

The old rabbit hutch to the left serves as a place to raise chicks, we buy them when they are a day or two old. It serves double duty as a pen to break broody hens of their broodiness.



The nesting boxes stick out the back.



The food tray and water fount. The water fount sits on a heater base in the winter. It keeps the water liquid down into the single digits. There are three nesting boxes and a storage area on the left for things like heat lamps and small feeders and water founts for the chicks. You can see the roosting areas on the left and right. There are also two diagonal roosting areas up higher on the left for a total of about fourteen feet of roosting space.



A close up of the nesting boxes. Although there are three and they are identical, nearly all hens over the last ten or so years have preferred the one on the right. I've seen three hens trying to lay in there at the same time while the other two boxes stood empty.



I put covers on them in an attempt to make the other nesting boxes more appealing, it didn't work. Now the covers stay rolled up.



I put two glass windows in, one in each side. The openings are covered in galvanized hardware cloth. They are kept down in warrm weather for ventilation.




They are closed up during cold weather.



The chicken door/ramp.




It can be closed up and locked at night.




The two photos above are several years old. The coop and fence have since been moved to a new location and the old chicken door replaced. It was worn out from never being closed. We've never had a problem with predators getting inside the coop at night.






Years ago I put the inside and outside coop lights on a timer to give the hens 15-16 hours of light each day during the late fall and winter months. It made a huge difference. Most of my birds lay an egg a day right through the winter now.



An old oil drum I found at camp. It holds exactly 100 pounds of pellets.



I keep a chart to make sure none of the girls are slacking. Slacking will get you invited to dinner.



The result of all our hard labor.

Nice information Lugnut. Great pictures and explanation.

I see your yard area is open at the top. Do you clip the wings?

Thanks

We do when we have to. Once one goes out the rest soon follow suit.

We haven't clipped the latest batch yet. They are ten months old. Back when they were about five months old one flew over the fence and was promptly killed and carried off by a fox. It happened right next to the fence in front of the others. No more fliers since then.

Plymouth rocks might be this springs chicks... hmmm

There's always a couple of barred rocks in my flock, a couple of Rhode Island reds too.

Meanest rooster we ever had was barred rock, second meanest too, but also had red roosters get bad. Best ever layers I've had were Delawares, easy keepers and long lived. Our Buff Orpingtons started laying a month ago and so far so good they are about the tamest fowl we have raised. They run-fly to us on sight or can be called to come at a run from 150 yards away, kinda hoping they don't wander off more than that.

Had a Production Red that needed a lesson in a sandal smack it took a good whack upside the head to break him from trying to spur me. he walked in circle for a few laps but never tried that again.

Hatched another P-red the next year we were buds when he was growing up then one day he drew blood out of the blue, did not end well for him.

They take pressure cooking well.

Our current rooster is a buff orpington. He's pretty mild-mannered compared to some of our others over the years.

But, he broke bad with me the other day, jumped up on the roosting rail and pecked the back of my hand as I was reaching for another scoop of food. A knock on the head with the feeder scoop and a swat across the coop seems to have dissuaded him from that type of behavior...for now.

our best birds that laid like they were on fire was the Golden comet. Brown eggs and when they start laying look out!

Our Black Austalorps lay really nice brown eggs. The breed hold the world record of 364 eggs in a year.

We have foxes and hawks aplenty but, have not lost any yet. Been 2 years free ranging with the only issue being that they love to move the gravel away from the house perimeter with all the scratching. If you want max egg production feed layer pellets or mash.

Our coops are simple 8x12' frames for the base covered with 1/2"X1/2" wire. 2x2 framed walls covered with vinyl coated chicken wire. Sides can be covered over winter with material of choice. Corrugated metal for the roof. Nest boxes mounted four feet above floor and project out from the rear. These are on wheels and can be easily moved to spread the poo over the field.

Tip: if you get an egg eater and can positively identify her, have her for dinner. Keeping in mind that they are getting enough calcium. If shells are thin add some oyster shells to feed. Most layer feeds have this in them.

Lots of good information.

Thanks

A good tip is, do away with the water tank underheater. And just put the water in a oil pan directly below the Red Heat bulb. Mine just drops down from the ceiling. Easy to fill and clean. And cheaper.

Never use foam insulation board around chickens they will eat it.

X2. This makes me say swear words.