Lookin like a coop!

[BanditMan]

Nice job so far. Excited to see he finish product!

Thanks a bunch!

 

[BanditMan]

Oh yea duh! That's right! I will put pop door on other side...I will do windows then ...its only 1/4 inch so I will have to do some reinforcing...I'm in south Carolina so I will probably do sand then. Sand in whole bottom?

 

[21hens-incharge]

To frame in for your windows you can use 2x2's from floor to ceiling and above as well as below your window opening.
If using a shed window you will likely need 2x4 instead.

Be sure to put hardware cloth on the window openings.

I use shavings in my coop. It is very dry here.

 

[bajabirdbrain]

Your wood work looks pretty darn good. It appears to me that an external access to nest boxes would be better as the coop isn't "man size". X2 on sand for the floor, we started off with pine shavings but didn't like them at all. Put down sand in our 6x10 coop and with poop boards under the 2 roosts AND daily cleaning with a Folger's coffee container and a plastic kitty litter shovel, the sand has been great. Put the sand in last summer and it is still in good shape. If it were me, I would just put a row of 1/2" hardware cloth over the chicken wire, at least 2 ft up or 4ft even better. Chainlink fencing will only keep out dogs and coyotes. Racoons can climb over easily SO, do you have any protection from predators digging under your perimeter walls? We put a chicken wire apron under the walls and outwards a couple of feet to discourage digging, so far, so good.

Still looks like a nice set up. One last suggestion, PLEASE put your location in your avatar so that advice can be geographically accurate(snow? snakes? bears?)

Here you can see the 4ft high hardware cloth/wire at the bottom. Added these shower curtains as wind/snow/rain protection during nasty storms. Easily removed for spring/summer. I had to add grommets for strength and would use a heavier plastic if/when I replace the curtains.

 

[BanditMan]

To frame in for your windows you can use 2x2's from floor to ceiling and above as well as below your window opening.
If using a shed window you will likely need 2x4 instead.

Be sure to put hardware cloth on the window openings.

I use shavings in my coop. It is very dry here.

So do you put shavings on the ground and hen house>? i will probably go ahead with windows.

 

[21hens-incharge]

So do you put shavings on the ground and hen house>? i will probably go ahead with windows.

I use them just in the hen house.

There are a lot of things that can be used in the run. I put in leaves from my trees when they drop them in the fall, alfalfa from purchases bales, grass hay and grass from mowing my yard.

I use no chemicals in the yard or on my trees.

 

[Chad Oftedal]

Your wood work looks pretty darn good. It appears to me that an external access to nest boxes would be better as the coop isn't "man size". X2 on sand for the floor, we started off with pine shavings but didn't like them at all. Put down sand in our 6x10 coop and with poop boards under the 2 roosts AND daily cleaning with a Folger's coffee container and a plastic kitty litter shovel, the sand has been great. Put the sand in last summer and it is still in good shape. If it were me, I would just put a row of 1/2" hardware cloth over the chicken wire, at least 2 ft up or 4ft even better. Chainlink fencing will only keep out dogs and coyotes. Racoons can climb over easily SO, do you have any protection from predators digging under your perimeter walls? We put a chicken wire apron under the walls and outwards a couple of feet to discourage digging, so far, so good.

Still looks like a nice set up. One last suggestion, PLEASE put your location in your avatar so that advice can be geographically accurate(snow? snakes? bears?)

Here you can see the 4ft high hardware cloth/wire at the bottom. Added these shower curtains as wind/snow/rain protection during nasty storms. Easily removed for spring/summer. I had to add grommets for strength and would use a heavier plastic if/when I replace the curtains.
View attachment 1357333

Thanks for this info! I'd heard that for areas that are wet (like PNW), sand can work well on the inside of a coop. I just put pine shavings in mine last week, but have been considering sand. I'm also building the poop boards this weekend to get them in there - I just had to go with a temporary roost for now because the birds were getting big and needed to go in to the coop.

We have similar sized coops - mine is 8x8, so a little bit smaller. How much sand did you go with, and did you haul it in bulk, or one of the big box stores?

 

[bajabirdbrain]

Chad: I had read several articles on what kind of sand to use and I ended up going to our local nursery and had a small loader bucket of their sand dumped into my 3/4 ton truck. The sand came from some rock and gravel pit and was clean and free of chemicals etc. Cost was about $35 and I have been using the left over for our dust bath in a kiddie plastic pool. 1/2 wood ash, 1/2 peat moss and a couple of shovels full of sand. When we get a low spot/hole in the run I add some more sand to keep it sort of level. Seems everybody is happy. The sand in the coop never gets wet and with the curtains very little water gets into the run. Good luck.

 

[cwelte]

Hi - I'm totally new to raising my hens (still only a week old) but it's that time of year when I start to clean out the fireplaces (burning mostly oak). Am I understanding you correctly that I should be saving this ask to mix with peat and sand to make their dust bath? That's awesome!

1/2 wood ash, 1/2 peat moss and a couple of shovels full of sand.

 

[BanditMan]

Ok so what the heck is dust bath???@!