Backyard Chicken Coop

We didn't have a lot of space to put a coop, but I thought I could use the side of the house.  This is the space I started with.

I designed it so that it would hide behind the fence line for the most part and be functional.  It has undergone some changes but this was the beginning. The space is 8 foot long by 5'6" wide and sloping height from 5'10" to 5'4" and 52" of the 8 feet of length is covered by tin while the rest is covered by chicken wire. This is to keep predators out.

I designed the roost with a poop board below it so that it could be cleaned to keep the smell down but also keep rain from getting into the food below.

As you can see, I used a 5 gallon bucket and some nipple waterers and PVC pipe for the feed.  I have since had to redesign the feeding stations because it kept getting clogged at the bottom turn.  I now use vertical PVC pipe feeders.

I have also replaced the wood shavings on the bottom of the poop board with Sweet PDZ powder to keep the smell and moisture down.

Since my chickens have now matured and are laying eggs, I have built and installed the nesting boxes. I filled them with wooden eggs so the chickens would use them. The nesting boxes are just to the side of the door.

At first the chickens wouldn't use them, I then added straw and shavings to the nesting pads on the bottom and used chicken wire to secure the four older chickens in the boxes overnight.  By the next afternoon, they were laying in the boxes and have continued to do so.

So now that I have added the nesting boxes, the coop looks like this from the outside.

Overall the project has turned out well.  They say that a chicken needs about 5 sq ft of space and since the ground in our coop is 8ft by 5.5 ft we have enough for our 7 chickens.  However, we have also clipped one wing on each chicken and let them free range in the back yard each evening and some days we open up the coop and let them roam around on the side of the house since we have a chain link gate to keep the dogs out.

The flavor of the eggs changes based on what they eat.  I only feed Purina Layena SunFresh and they free range.  The yolks turn really bright orange when they free range and have a much richer flavor.  I highly recommend it!  Plus since we don't give them hormones or antibiotics, they eggs are healthier for us than the regular ones in the store!

Welcome to the Homestead

We live in a suburb of Fort Worth Texas.  It is called White Settlement because it was founded 150 years ago when it was the white settlement west of Fort Worth surrounded by American Indian tribes.  We love it here.  We have a city park to the north, a field to the south, to the west is a ravine/water channel and to the east is a large property with a couple of horses.  We can see hawks, buzzards, horses and an occasional coyote, and hear a rooster crow and we are inside city limits.  It is almost like living in the country while still being close to everything.

We have 2 medium large dogs, Rhody and Riplee. Rhody is a 75lb Black Lab/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix who was born in January 2002 and  is incredibly smart and easy going.  Riplee is a 55lb Shepard mix that was born in July 2004 and is really loving but a bit on the dim side.

We also have 4 cats, tortoiseshell Rat born in 1996, Rascal born in 1997, RJ (Rascal Junior) born on May 5, 1998 and Rhapsody (Snowshoe) born in 2006.

We have 2 turtles, Yurtle and Houdini.

We also have 7 chickens all born April or May 2012, Apple (Easter Egger), Henrietta (Dominique), Snow, Ice (both sex-linked Easter Eggers), Dorthy, Rose and Blanche (Buff Orpingtons).

This is our menagerie!  Welcome!