[Rossco]

after the g16b conversion was done I needed something to occupy my time, so I got two little day old chooks. Two months on they were in need of a home outside a box in the garage so this is what I put together on the weekend.





its made of treated ceiling battens from bunnings and 65mm chipboard screws.





used a small mesh to keep small birds and rodents out and covered the house part in colorbond offcuts courtesy of the new construction development down the road.



I planed on the corners of the battens on the inside to make roosting more comfortable. the auto feeder and waterer are from a website, dine-a-chook I think it was. heaps better than having to change the water every day and there's no feed wastage. the roof is hinged and folds up to access the inside of the house. I just used a sam's warehouse tub for the nesting box when the time comes for them to start laying.
Here are the girls



I have my design drawings that I can scan if anyone is interested.

Rossco

[gvzookdriver]

Nice I really like it

[Trypt]

Neat. Spoilt hens!

[twojay]

Beauty, should keep out the foxes. Those feeders and drinkers look good, just bought them online just now. They always knock over their trough and shit in it.

[PJ.zook]

Looks like a pretty good unit. By the looks of it, much like mine were, the chooks are free to roam the backyard during the day, which is great. But, be prepared for a never-ending deluge of shit everywhere you don't want it, especially around your doorways and windowsills.

[Rossco]

twojay wrote:

Beauty, should keep out the foxes. Those feeders and drinkers look good, just bought them online just now. They always knock over their trough and shit in it.

ya there great! no feed or water wastage so they will pay for them selves in a few months. I thought about building it myself but after working out prices it was only about $10 more to buy it from old mate, and it turned out he lives two streets over from me so I just walked over and got one.

PJ.zook wrote:

Looks like a pretty good unit. By the looks of it, much like mine were, the chooks are free to roam the backyard during the day, which is great. But, be prepared for a never-ending deluge of shit everywhere you don't want it, especially around your doorways and windowsills.

ha ya shitting is a hobby of theirs in a big way. They like the veranda, but a quick spray of the hose sorts them out and they hate it so much they seem to learn to stay off. I move the coop every three says or so and then just hose the ground where it was to wash the poo away. I do what I can but there is always the odd cold and squishy land mine about.

[PJ.zook]

Hehe tried the hose with mine, they learnt they could get away faster than it took me to get the door open. They knew perfectly well they weren't meant to be there.

[Rhinoman]

PJ.zook wrote:

They knew perfectly well they weren't meant to be there.

Ha Ha, yeah they know.

[Jimny1]

Chooks... ...

[Jimny1]

Meh........... chooks you buy eggs for six months of the year and chook pellets for 12 months of the year, and they shit every where because they can. But hey nice chicken coup and the chooks will make nice chicken soup............................

[Rhinoman]

Have you got a better picture of that feeder? I was looking at a few on ebay and they all seem to be quite simply made out of drain pipe, I'm sure it would be simple enough to make one.

[PJ.zook]

Chickens are great for weeding the garden, but once you realise that standing in shit constantly is unpleasant, plus you then realise you can buy 24 eggs from the market for like $5...

[Rossco]

Rhinoman wrote:

Have you got a better picture of that feeder? I was looking at a few on ebay and they all seem to be quite simply made out of drain pipe, I'm sure it would be simple enough to make one.

I looked into this, I'm all about DIY. I found a really good step by step process on how to build one but I cant find it now. google PVC auto chicken feeder or something along those lines. Other people have made it themselves. Heres one on youtube, a bit rougher than the one I bought but the same idea with the smaller pipe controlling the feed height. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAWpEcwRLnA

Rossco

[stockman]

Nice coop.

I hate working with wood. Much prefer metal.

Here is the skeleton of my coop:

[mnemonix]

What did you use to roll such a wide radius on those bends?

[stockman]

Had them rolled.

[driftr]

i just received one of the feeders and water adapter for a jerry can!

so much cleaner than the messy bird feeders that were in there, and no more wasted water.

[dawsey]

looks good ..but does it fit on the back of your zook so you can take them for a day out..

stockman wrote:

Nice coop.

I hate working with wood. Much prefer metal.

Here is the skeleton of my coop: