Chicken Manure everywhere

[Intheswamp]

Leave the chicken wire up and add the 2x4 fence wire. Naturally, 1/2" hardware cloth would be better than the chicken wire. The big thing about having both 2x4 and 1/2" HC is that coons can't reach through and grab a chicken. The holes in chicken wire allow coons to reach through.

Ed

 

[MeepBeep]

Leave the chicken wire up and add the 2x4 fence wire.  Naturally, 1/2" hardware cloth would be better than the chicken wire.  The big thing about having both 2x4 and 1/2" HC is that coons can't reach through and grab a chicken.  The holes in chicken wire allow coons to reach through.

The 2nd layer of 2x4 fence will not prevent the raccoons from ripping apart the chicken wire and reaching in through the 2x4 opening, and if one weld on the 2x4 fence breaks them might even gain full entry depending on size...

 

[ConcreteWaves]

The 2nd layer of 2x4 fence will not prevent the raccoons from ripping apart the chicken wire and reaching in through the 2x4 opening, and if one weld on the 2x4 fence breaks them might even gain full entry depending on size...

Well my neighbors have had chickens in their run with just poultry wire for years they said. And i peeped my other neighbors backyard and his are free range. Granted, prolly has a nice tight coop, but they neighbors with the chickens with poultry wire also keep their coop open all the time.

Wut im getting at is.....maybe i dont have coons right here in this town. It is deserty. Idk i only lived here for a month and 1/2.

With that said, i hear ya loud and clear, im gonna take further precautions to secure the run and coop.

 

[pauleberly]

I went to Walmart, and purchase some dowel rods that I felt were a good size for a chickens foot. I attached the the dowel rods to where I wanted them to sleep. I then went and got some poop boards.

My poop boards are plastic storage containers. They are around 4 inch tall, and about 36 inch long.

I then filled that plastic storage container with sweet pdz, and DE

Now most of the chicken poo is concentrated into that mixture. I bought a 99c kitty litter scoop at walmart, and I sift it out every third day. So far, it has been working out really really well

 

[MeepBeep]

Well my neighbors have had chickens in their run with just poultry wire for years they said. And i peeped my other neighbors backyard and his are free range. Granted, prolly has a nice tight coop, but they neighbors with the chickens with poultry wire also keep their coop open all the time.

And I'm sure you can find people that free range with no security or fortification that have 'yet' to lose a bird, that doesn't mean that fortification against predators is a waste or overkill, more likely it means their time for attacks and losses from predators hasn't come yet...

 

[ConcreteWaves]

And I'm sure you can find people that free range with no security or fortification that have 'yet' to lose a bird, that doesn't mean that fortification against predators is a waste or overkill, more likely it means their time for attacks and losses from predators hasn't come yet...

I hear that. Better to be safe than sorry for sure; they've prolly just been lucky so far, huh.
Well, I'm still like I said, going to take the necessary precautions to secure the coop and run. Let the neighbors flock get got, not mine.

 

[ConcreteWaves]

Went ahead and made some of the changes. So far so good. My chickens flock up the rampway right round 8:30ish n roost on the pole all night. Lots of manure in the morning right in the poo board.
I put a cardboard box over the nesting boxes and got rid of the higher row of boxes.
Pine wood shavings on the floor of the coop. Straw, grass clippings, and wood chips for run floor.

 

[Beekissed]

I have taken the time this morning to read the replies and cant thank you enough.

I will close off the nesting boxes and clean them out completely.

Im going to clean the floor and start fresh with the deep litter method n put organic matter down in the run, and for the coop ill use pine shavings and straw.

Here are pics of my setup i took this morning, ill prolly also post in coop setup thread to ask for criticism on what i can do to make it better. But yep here is my setup, and my roosting pole isnt the highest point. That can be fixed.

Went ahead and made some of the changes. So far so good. My chickens flock up the rampway right round 8:30ish n roost on the pole all night. Lots of manure in the morning right in the poo board.
I put a cardboard box over the nesting boxes and got rid of the higher row of boxes.
Pine wood shavings on the floor of the coop. Straw, grass clippings, and wood chips for run floor.

Both of these configurations for the coop are going to be problematic in many ways. Here's some tips that will help you have a more ergonomic coop.....move those nest boxes to the front of your coop and actually make them boxes. Yours are open and barely have a lip on them, with a shallow bed of shavings....these kinds of nests will always be a problem as bedding will get kicked out, as will eggs, and birds will always be roosting on them. Even worse, you will have to walk through a coop of poop to collect your eggs.

That window needs to be by your roosts, so placing your roosts crosswise in this coop in front of and just below these windows much like your nest boxes are constructed now would be a better setup. Place them a good 18 inches from the wall and stagger the roosts a foot down from each other....you'll likely need 3-4 roost bars. With your roosts in this manner, they will be able to mount and dismount much easier than you currently have it and you won't need the zig zag of ramps.

Then, place your nest box unit closer to your entrance with covered nesting...it helps to slant the top of the nest box top so they cannot roost there. Straw or hay makes for better nest bedding than shavings and won't get kicked out as easily, especially if you use hay. A higher lip on the nest box will also help with this.

Trust me on this....this will make for a much easier coop situation. If you use composting deep litter you'll not need a poop board or box, so that takes a step out of the process as well and frees up your floor space for chicken life. If you use deep litter, you'll need something along the bottom of your run wire to contain the litter in the run....this would be a good place to use some rabbit wire or hardware wire as you will need that anyway. Hardware wire will contain bedding nicely.

 

[aart]

Went ahead and made some of the changes. So far so good. My chickens flock up the rampway right round 8:30ish n roost on the pole all night. Lots of manure in the morning right in the poo board.
I put a cardboard box over the nesting boxes and got rid of the higher row of boxes.
Pine wood shavings on the floor of the coop. Straw, grass clippings, and wood chips for run floor.

That looks better....
....but not sure what's holding up that roost other than the ramp, it likely needs to be tied back the the studs.

@Beekissed they have access for egg collection from outside.

 

[ConcreteWaves]

That looks better....
....but not sure what's holding up that roost other than the ramp, it likely needs to be tied back the the studs.

@Beekissed
  they have access for egg collection from outside.

The roosting pole is being held up by 2 45 degree cut 2x4s attached with screws into studs. Its all very rigid.

I dont wanna move the boxes @Beekissed because the windows open and close/lock from the outside for easy egg gathering.

The breeder i bought my flock from said not to put hay or straw in the nesting beds and to use fine pine shavings. If your telling me she is wrong, and its okay to use straw in the boxes, i certainly will.

I was thinking of adding a 2nd roosting pole. The one i have now, is a round fence post i ripped in half. Its great in diameter they all get up there and roost all night but im thinking maybe making a 2nd one evenly accross for when they get bigger, i heard you want about 8in of space all around each bird. Some thoughts on that. Im not putting four or five poles in there. The pole is 5ft long, so 5 full size birds on 1 pole 4 on the other. Again i only have a flock of 9.

Its been said a couple times now that my nesting boxes arent exactly boxes, so i wont roof them but ill extend the side walls and front guard wall higher to give a more closed off feel, yea? Ill also add straw like i said to the wood shavings.