Droppings Board and Roost Dimension Question

[brittk]

Hey all,

My husband and I recently moved into a home that had an existing coop. We have been in the process of cleaning it up and doing a bit of new installations for our first batch of chicks at the end of this month.

It's a fairly small coop, but my husband has been working hard on making everything I want fit in there He has built a dropping board frame, which measures out to 28" from the wall to the end of the frame. I am thinking I can get away with about an inch of overhang for the droppings board, which makes my droppings board 29" total.

Here are some photos of what we have so far:







I would like to have a two-tiered roost system, with the upper roost being a 2x4 and the lower being a 2x2 so they can decide which one they prefer.

My question is, do I have enough room to put two roosts without having poop off the board and/or on the wall behind?

Also, while I'm here - I am thinking about enclosing the exposed beams with some plywood and insulation underneath because I don't want the chickens to hang out up there rather than on their roosts. Do you have any thoughts on that? For those of you with exposed beams, do your chickens try to hang out on them?

Thanks!

 

[chicklover 1998]

Your droppings board will be perfect however I would use both 2x4s because it forces them to sit on their feet which will keep them protected come winter. If you leave the beams open they will hag out there because it will be like a chicken playground, but I thought you were covering them with the poop board.

 

[cavemanrich]

FIRST

Now her are my thoughts. For your poop boards, nail plywood to bottom of frame. Into this 3 inch deep area, put in a scoop able medium like course sand, PDZ, or wood shavings. (not cedar) The gumdrops are easily removed with a cat litter scoop. Install your roosts 3 to 6 inches above the poop catch. If you will be having 2 , then stagger the height. Experiment with the distance away from the wall. You will encounter some missiles hitting the wall regardless. I would place about 12 inches away at first. If you don't want the the sand , or whatever, then just nail plywood on top and roosts above that. You can use cardboard, or newspapers on top for easy removal and replacement.
As to insulating and putting plywood on the walls. Of course it is not a bad IDEA, but not necessary ether. Your chickens will not be roosting on the exposed 2 x 4 in the wall. If you had pigeons, then it would be a different story.
A very important part of the coop is sufficient ventilation. Not sure how many chickens you intend to raise and keep, but the more chickens, the more ventilation needed. Summer and winter. Read up on some threads on this forum related to ventilation. You will learn a lot. Just put ventilation into search bar.
You do indicate that you are expecting your first batch of CHICKS. Not knowing your location and climate, the chicks will need to be kept in a brooder with warm temperatures until they are able to endure the ambient. Read up brooding chicks threads if you are not sure what to do there.

 

[chicklover 1998]

FIRST

Now her are my thoughts. For your poop boards, nail plywood to bottom of frame. Into this 3 inch deep area, put in a scoop able medium like course sand, PDZ, or wood shavings. (not cedar) The gumdrops are easily removed with a cat litter scoop. Install your roosts 3 to 6 inches above the poop catch. If you will be having 2 , then stagger the height. Experiment with the distance away from the wall. You will encounter some missiles hitting the wall regardless. I would place about 12 inches away at first. If you don't want the the sand , or whatever, then just nail plywood on top and roosts above that. You can use cardboard, or newspapers on top for easy removal and replacement.
As to insulating and putting plywood on the walls. Of course it is not a bad IDEA, but not necessary ether. Your chickens will not be roosting on the exposed 2 x 4 in the wall. If you had pigeons, then it would be a different story.
A very important part of the coop is sufficient ventilation. Not sure how many chickens you intend to raise and keep, but the more chickens, the more ventilation needed. Summer and winter. Read up on some threads on this forum related to ventilation. You will learn a lot. Just put ventilation into search bar.
You do indicate that you are expecting your first batch of CHICKS. Not knowing your location and climate, the chicks will need to be kept in a brooder with warm temperatures until they are able to endure the ambient. Read up brooding chicks threads if you are not sure what to do there.

x2 I see now what you meant with the wall studs really the only reason to cover it would be personal preference if you would like a more finished look.

 

[brittk]

Thanks for the input y'all!

I'm happy to know my chickens won't try to hang out on the wall studs.

For the poop board, I wanted it on top so I could simply put a dusting of PDZ down and scrape it off into a bucket every morning and into the compost. Is it better to have the sand/PDZ deeper, e.g. sand box style?

If we do have the two roosts, how far apart (both width and height) would they need to be from each other? I will definitely have room to put at least one roost 12" from the wall, but it seems like it might be tight if we have two in there, and I don't want them to poop on or peck each other up.

I am definitely worried about ventilation in the coop, and I have been trying to convince the hubby that we need to create a simple window for them. It currently has open rafter ventilation areas (5 on each side, about 14.5" x 3.5" each), and the pop door, and that's it. There are two windows, one on each side of the door, but they do not function. We're only planning on starting with four hens, but that just doesn't seem like a lot of air flow to me.

And thank you for the reminder about the chicks - I should have worded that section better. We do have a brooder ready in the house, so the chickens wouldn't be in the coop until 6-8 weeks, depending on the weather here. We are in SE Missouri.

 

[chicklover 1998]

the deeper pdz would work better because then you can sift out the poop rather than dumping the whole thing every time.

 

[McKinneyMike]

If we do have the two roosts, how far apart (both width and height) would they need to be from each other? I will definitely have room to put at least one roost 12" from the wall, but it seems like it might be tight if we have two in there, and I don't want them to poop on or peck each other up.

At least 12" off the back wall and 12" apart. 12" height difference would be good in my opinion.

 

[cavemanrich]

I am definitely worried about ventilation in the coop, and I have been trying to convince the hubby that we need to create a simple window for them. It currently has open rafter ventilation areas (5 on each side, about 14.5" x 3.5" each), and the pop door, and that's it. There are two windows, one on each side of the door, but they do not function. We're only planning on starting with four hens, but that just doesn't seem like a lot of air flow to me.

And thank you for the reminder about the chicks - I should have worded that section better. We do have a brooder ready in the house, so the chickens wouldn't be in the coop until 6-8 weeks, depending on the weather here. We are in SE Missouri.

For 4 hens that amount of ventilation should be sufficient. Considering your location in the summer, My suggestion would be to make those 2 windows operable, and have good screen protection against predators. 1/2 inch hardware cloth in a secure frame should be OK. Having the ventilation above where the chickens roost is the proper location, especially during winter. The pop door provides the source of fresh air intake. It will need to be closed at night to prevent predators entering. Proper ventilation will provide a dry environment inside as well as evacuate bad odors. Remember that your coop will have a slight smell of chickens, but is should not be such that it is offensive.