Carport to Coop/Run Conversion

[FLSweetTater]

Thanks for all your nice comments and feedback.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I just got back to this thread and saw your progress! What cute babies you have and your kids look like they LOVE the chickens!

Y'all did a wonderful job on this!

 

[FLSweetTater]

I really like the poop hammocks - they make clean up a breeze. It only takes a few minutes. Here's a before photo. There's not a ton of poop here as this is only one day/night's poop collection, but I wanted to show the photos of the process. Really, I have been cleaning them every 2-3 days.



Not much sticks to them. I made them out of plastic tablecloth material that I doubled over & sewed so both sides are plastic and the fuzzy side is inside. I think the pattern helps hide the poop so when you're standing back & squinting your eyes a bit, you don't see the poop too much.



The hammocks are attached with hooks & eyes. Very easy to remove. I take my 5 gallon bucket in and dump all the poop into that. Then I take the hammocks outside and hang them on the side of our barn.



Then I spray them off.



And then I hang them outside the coop to dry in the sun.



This literally takes about 5 minutes every 2-3 days and I know I've cleaned out at least 80% of the poop. Daily I go in and take about 5 minutes to scoop up poop in the rest of the coop. (that should be a song)

Here's the sand scoop I made with a pitchfork and 1/8" hardware cloth & zip ties.

 

[henless]

Great coop!

I'm in Texas, and built an open air coop out of two stalls in our barn. Very similar to yours.




I also love your bucket feeder. I built the same one for my chickens. They just love them! Very little waste.

 

[FLSweetTater]

Great coop!

I'm in Texas, and built an open air coop out of two stalls in our barn. Very similar to yours.




I also love your bucket feeder. I built the same one for my chickens. They just love them! Very little waste.

I saw your post of your coop build a month ago or so. I think I stumbled across it when I was searching for "open air" coops! You did a great job!! Do you let your chickens out or do they stay in the coop/run always? What do you use in the coop on the floor? Is it some kind of mulch? Also, do you think you'll ever have to add any kind of heat source in the winter? In Florida, if it ever gets below freezing it is usually only a few nights. I'm wondering if I should put up a heat lamp on those nights. We put in an outlet, so I can do it easily if need be. Or if it is in the 40s will they need a heat lamp? I'm not sure what to do with this type of coop in the winter...how cold is too cold for the birds and when they will need a heat lamp.

 

[henless]

I don't let mine out...yet. We have a little over 5 acres and still have one side we need to replace the barb wire with field fencing. Then we need to seperate the pasture from the yard with a cross fence. Then, I do have plans to let them out, just not all the time. We have a lot of predators here, not counting my own dogs. We are in the process of building an outdoor run attached to the left side of the "coop". That will give them extra room to run around in.

I'm using deep litter for my flooring. I love it so far. We had some friends of ours come over the other day, and they made a comment about not being able to smell the chickens. They are new to chickens also, and said you can smell their's when you pull up in the drive way. So the DL must be working!

I don't plan on adding a heat source. We do get in the low teens during the winter, but as long as you have a draft free area, the chickens can survive that easy. I plan on putting up clear plastic for the winter to block the winds but allow the sun in. You just have to make sure you leave plenty of ventilation. Chickens give off a lot of moisture, and that will cause frostbite if you don't have a way for it to escape. This will be my first winter with them, so I'll have to see how it goes. I got my chicks in late February and they have been outside since day one. The first couple of weeks they were in my husbands shop, then they were moved to the in coop brooder once it was finished. They did great.

 

[FLSweetTater]

I've finally finished the outer edges of the coop - adding rocks and covering the hardware cloth apron. Plus I've added a few more decorative touches.

 

[henless]

Looks good!

 

[FLSweetTater]

Here is the watering system I made, based on more ideas I found on this site!







Now off to make the nesting boxes!

 

[aart]

Man, that is one nice open air coop!! Kudos!

The poop hammock looks very well thought out....realize tho that pullet poops are neat and tidy little things, once those girls grow up the poops will triple in size, lol!!

You might want to put larger roosts up one they get full grown too. A 2x4, wide side up, works really well.

Again, congrats on a great job!