pollito mama
Hatching
My wonderful husband has just built me a dream chicken coop for our flock that more than doubled during the summer. (A hen went broody and we got so excited we let her adopt eleven little chicks). We now have 16 hens and 4 young roos (will sort out the extra roos in due time). But he built it while I was at work, ignored the sketches I had worked so long on to guide him, and the egg boxes, instead of being a few feet off the ground as I intended them, are on the floor level, actually just a little below floor level, though with a layer of shavings should be about flush with the coop plus a flat two by four to separate the box from the coop to keep the shavings from being mixed around. On the outside it's raised up enough that it won't be too low for collecting eggs, but I had always thought that the boxes should be elevated. I'm wondering if I should have him redo this, a lot of work to make a new hole and cover the old one, or if I can leave it.
I'm now thinking that if/when another hen goes broody, I could let her stay there since the babies will be on ground level, which might be an advantage. We have twenty chickens now, and they free range on an acre all day and get locked up every night. Our new coop is 8x10 with an attached mini run that is 8x6. (was supposed to also be 8x10 but I was at work and my husband made an executive decision). The run will be used mostly for the hens who like to sleep outside in the summer, for an occasional baby chick pen, and to allow the freedom to take the occasional overnight trip so we could in theory leave the chickens up the whole time without hassling someone to be here to let them out at dawn and put them up at dark. I wanted a coop/run big enough to do that.
So if I really want the egg box moved, we need to do it now before we paint and decorate and lose our momentum, but I am afraid if we change it, the repair job may not look as perfect as it does now. We had a small team of professional house builders to build it this weekend, but my husband will likely make the changes himself if we redo the boxes. Any thoughts on how likely I am to regret floor level egg laying boxes?
I'm now thinking that if/when another hen goes broody, I could let her stay there since the babies will be on ground level, which might be an advantage. We have twenty chickens now, and they free range on an acre all day and get locked up every night. Our new coop is 8x10 with an attached mini run that is 8x6. (was supposed to also be 8x10 but I was at work and my husband made an executive decision). The run will be used mostly for the hens who like to sleep outside in the summer, for an occasional baby chick pen, and to allow the freedom to take the occasional overnight trip so we could in theory leave the chickens up the whole time without hassling someone to be here to let them out at dawn and put them up at dark. I wanted a coop/run big enough to do that.
So if I really want the egg box moved, we need to do it now before we paint and decorate and lose our momentum, but I am afraid if we change it, the repair job may not look as perfect as it does now. We had a small team of professional house builders to build it this weekend, but my husband will likely make the changes himself if we redo the boxes. Any thoughts on how likely I am to regret floor level egg laying boxes?