AstroTurf
In the Brooder
Just got two hens, please advise, simplest is a picture.
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There are so many different ways to do roosts, nests, food, and water it makes it hard to comment and recommend. And every one of us have their favorite methods so we can be opinionated, but in truth many different ways work. We are all in unique circumstances so sometimes different things work better for different people. One of the hard things is that you need to try to figure out who is doing things somewhat similar to you and steal shamelessly from them.
Some people feel that civilization as we know it will forever change if you don’t use a 2x4 laid flat for a roost. Others are convinced a 2x4 on edge is heaven for them. Yet others feel a nice round perch makes their feet ever so comfy. You should see some of the discussions on here about this, but some are not for the faint of heart. They all work. For a round perch, I’d suggest something a bit thicker than a broom handle though. Their toes are pretty long and it helps them grip if the wood is a bit larger in diameter than that. If you use lumber I suggest rounding off the sharp corners. That’s not so much that it makes it easier on their feet, though it might, but more to avoid splinters.
The only thing that is more varied than the nests we use is what our coops look like. Some people fill a cardboard box or bin like yours with bedding and set that in a corner of the coop, an easy instant nest. Some people build really complicated roll-out nest boxes or hang curtains on them for various reasons. You can look through these to see what some people have done. You can make it as simple or complicated as you wish.
Nest boxes
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/41108/show-us-your-nest-boxes-ingenous-design-post-it-here/220
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-your-creative-nesting-boxes/80#post_12395882
Opa’s Rollaway Nest Box
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=287684
It’s the same for food and water. Lots of different things work. Feed needs to be kept dry. It helps keep food and water clean by raising them above the bedding or the ground. Chickens scratch a lot and will scratch dirt, trash, poop, and bedding into them. You can try hanging them from something up above, building a platform to set them on, or set them on a cinder block or something like that. The general target height is the top of the smaller one’s back.
I like your plan to keep that coop when you build new. A place you can separate them often comes in handy for many different things, many of which you would not expect. That’s another thing I recommend, build flexibility into your design. Things never work out exactly as planned.
Good luck. You are off to a great start.
I will start with removing that box since chickens like to sleep on the highest part, you can get some plastic nest from tsc or use some 5 gal. Buckets horizontal with a 2x4 in front to prevent eggs from falling. And i use pine shavings flakes and reprece it every 2 weeks. And cover top part to prevent water from going straight to them.
The way I determine the height of the roost is determine the height of the floor, including any bedding you use. Then position your nests. That can be pretty low or higher up if you wish, especially if you have a bad back and don’t want to bend over too much to gather eggs. Then put the roost noticeably higher than that. I think you use metric in South Africa so 30 cm or about a foot should be enough.
Chickens normally like to roost on the highest thing they can get to. You don’t want that to be the nest because they poop a lot when they sleep. Occasionally you can still have problems with them sleeping in the nests but having the roosts higher is where you need to start.