Gallery of chicken coops
"Beautiful coop built by Jeff Taylor and his granddaughter, Jayda, pictured."
My Pet Chicken (the place I ordered my baby Barred Plymouth Rocks hens from) has a gallery of chicken coops built from scratch.
Also, My Pet Chicken has a great "Cash for Cluckers" sale. They'll send you 25 chicks (all hens) for $41.50 with free shipping. That's a great deal, because the regular price is $100.
Previously:
- Urban chickens of the Bronx - Boing Boing
- Phone call: Can I keep chickens in Chicago - Boing Boing
- Setting free the chickens - Boing Boing
- Plymouth Rock Monthly -- old magazine for chicken aficionados ...
- Urban chicken controversy in Montana - Boing Boing
- Screams kill chickens - Boing Boing
- Clothing for chickens - Boing Boing
- Boing Boing: Zombie chickens rise from mass graves
- Plymouth Barred Rock chicks - Boing Boing
- Hen lays green eggs (no ham) - Boing Boing
- Photos of chicken forming in egg - Boing Boing
- Plymouth Barred Rock chicks - Boing Boing
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no mirror ball?
You know why chicken coops always have two doors?
If they had four, they'd be called a chicken sedan.
I used to keep chickens (alas, can't be done in my new place), and the Barred Rocks rocked! Great chickens...
...although you should probably "go local" when acquiring chickens. Supporting local farm economies is good, and they're less likely to carry things like salmonella and avian flu.
If I'm going to get chickens, I'm going to get some weird varieties like the Ameraucana or Araucana which lay blue eggs and have ear tufts.
Speaking of chicken sedans, we ran a story a few months back about Harley Cowan in Portland, OR, who received a Portland architectural award for his chicken coop:
http://washington-state-magazine.wsu.edu/s/index.php?id=271
And he has Buff Orpingtons--a great name for funky chicken.
My dad, being a contractor, put together a cut list and pricing for us for the materials for our coop. We're in the process of buying materials and hope to build next year. He gave us some of his leftover steel roofing, so the chickens will be covered in style!
Any one know of a site like 'my pet chicken' but for the UK? I'm wanting to buy some chicks!
I used to have chickens. They were already old hens when I got them, but they still laid. I had 4. Got them given to me by an old man who was very sick and wanted a home for them. They were Dominickers and were big. One was glossy blue black and she 'ruled the roost'. There was a blond one and two browns. Blackie and Blondie started beating up on the two brownies. (pecking order) Blood was drawn, which alerted a fox, and one fateful night that was the end of the chickens.
If I ever do it again, I will build a better coop. These coops are impressive.
It looks like a child's playhouse -- very homey.
@#3 - I agree that you should try to "go local" when buying chickens - however, it can be very, very hard to find all females. That's a particular concern for urban coopers since roosters are forbidden inside of most city limits.
Also, a lot of times, when you buy chicks from your local poultry guy, you're getting non-local chicks that have been sent to the poultry seller.
For example, I raise ducks. I purchased 8 ducklings from my local farm store. The farm store got them from Metzer Farms, a large poultry supply company that developed the breed I bought.
I then discovered I needed more females to round out my flock, so I found a guy within a three county radius who was selling ducks, and was willing to sell me adult females (which, believe it or not, is VERY hard to find - people tend to keep their female poultry and want to get rid of males). I went to his place to find that the ducks I bought from him were ALSO purchased from Metzer Farms as ducklings a year ago!
So, sometimes, "local" isn't as local as you might like!
My town insists on an acre before you can have even a single chicken. 6 dogs, fine, 8 cats, fine, 1 chicken? Buy the two lots next to you....
Hey #11, just do like me, ask the neighbors first and do it anyway!