New House, Old Coop

[thlayli]

Heyo! Old member coming back after several years -- I had a flock of 17 when I lived in Washington after getting out of the military, but still-enlisted Husbando got orders to California and the chickens couldn't come. Now that Lady Navy no longer gets a slice of me OR my man, we've contracted on a great house on 2 acres, which just so happens to have a large coop and chunnel around a garden (did I mention this was a great place??). HOWEVER, the coop is not 100% up to snuff, even though there are chickens already in it merrily pooping out eggs every day.

Pros:
It has electricity! Which is GREAT in case I ever want to do things that require that. It currently has a low wattage lightbulb but the days are long enough that the ventilation windows (2 of them, about 2 feet long by 8 inches-ish tall. this is me eyeballing and I'm bad at measurements) provide enough light inside.
It's metal. No rot! The roof seems to be in good condition, too.
The chicken tunnel is both in very good condition and tall enough that I can actually get into it and walk around while just stooping slightly. It is also about 3.5 feet wide around a 150 foot perimeter, so plenty o' room for fluffybutt activities. (see my previous statement on my eyeballing abilities, though)

Cons:
There's a big old tree cuddling up on it and getting in the way of everything. Can't open the second ventilation window.
The access door is warped and doesn't sit in the frame correctly. There is a gap of several inches on the bottom corner where it doesn't close all the way.
The coop is lifted off the ground about a foot, but the entire space is blocked in by plywood. The plywood is rotted in several spots, which cuts down pretty severely on coop security and while it IS shady there is very little airflow.
There is a mounted feeder inside that is not closed, and in fact doesn't have a lid at all, and is crammed full of feed. I startled several mice when I went into the coop to check things out. I don't like that.
It is dirty.
There are few roosting spots for large fowl adult birds. I was surprised at the lack of roost room, because the hens look to be austrolorps and larger birds. Even the easter eggers were pretty big compared to what I'm used to/remember. There is a roost ladder but it would probably only comfortably accommodate pullets or one grown hen on each rung.

These are my proposed alterations to address the issues I see. Mostly I'm looking for suggestions on improvements and whether what I want to do is a good idea or if it can be done in a smarter way. I will post photos in the next comment so look for those to see what I mean and give you a look at what I'm working with.

Fixes:
Trim the damn tree.
New access door. The current one is a dutch style with an upper screen, which I really like. Ideally I will be replacing the current door with a similar, better door.
Remove the plywood from the base of the coop and replace it with hardware cloth. This will maintain the dusty, cool area where the hens can go to hang out while allowing airflow and increasing security. I will make a hardware cloth apron and bury the excess/cover it with either pavers or brick.
Remove the mounted wood feeder and replace it with another type. I kind of like the wall mount but it might get in the way if I install a roosting bar along that side. I don't want poop to cover the feeder or risk getting into their feed. I am considering bucket feeders with spouts the chickens can stick their heads into to access food, lifted off the floor with cinder blocks.
I will remove all current bedding and deep clean the coop and nesting boxes. Do you prefer pine shavings or straw for bedding? I have access to both, but straw is more abundant where I live. I have done no research on the pros/cons of straw bedding for birds, though, and whether it is easier to compost than wood shavings. (no cedar, I know).
I will install roosting bars 2 to 3 feet off the floor of the coop, running along the long side of the structure on both sides. What do you recommend doing for poop trays under that? A plank? Does it get in the way of cleaning the coop? Do you recommend them at all? The nesting boxes are built along one of the walls and can't be moved.

While I didn't plan on keeping the current 6 chickens and asked the sellers to take them, there isn't much I can do if they just...leave them. I mean, I could rehome them, but I'd feel bad about it. They're sweet birds and they're laying like gangbusters. I have an order of 16 (2 cocks and 14 pullets) coming from Meyer at the end of August though and I planned on brooding in the coop. (One time inside was Enough and I don't ever want to do THAT again)

I am open to modifying my order for Fewer Chickens if yall think the space is not conducive, either with or without current hens. Any and all opinions are welcome, because I want to do this so my flock is happy and healthy.

 

[thlayli]

The snake may have been eating the eggs.

Coulda been, but she wasn't very big. If the hens would've seen her that would have been the end of that. I think she was more attracted to the copious amounts of tiny rodents. (Snek was safely relocated to a woodpile on the opposite side of the property. I like having snakes around, as long as they aren't in birds nests or chicken coops!) Snakes are A Problem but they aren't THE Problem. Something pretty big got the bird -- all of them look like marans size or larger. My main frustration is I have no way of stopping it from happening again. :/

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome back to chickens.

Yes, trim the tree, but leave as much shade as possible so the coop doesn't turn into a rotisserie in the summer sun.

I'm concerned about the size and the ventilation.

The Usual Guideline say, for each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

So 16 birds, with just your order, would need 64 square feet in the coop -- 8x8 -- and 160 square feet in the run -- but @rosemarythyme raised the point about winter, so you might want to add "Build covered run for winter" to your plans.

And you'd need 16 square feet of ventilation but the vents you describe amount to less than 3 square feet.

Here is my article on ventilation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

As for the bedding, any dry organic material *can* work -- but each needs it's own form of management.

Shavings are popular because they're readily available and easy to handle. They don't pack much. But they also don't compost readily.

Straw composts better but is prone to packing, matting, and developing anaerobic pockets so it require more management in fluffing and turning.

I don't recommend hay because it's a compost green -- a nitrogen SOURCE -- where what you need is a compost brown -- a carbon source to react with the nitrogen.

Some materials such as pine straw here in the US southeast and fall leaves in areas with abundant deciduous trees are locally abundant and have their own set of pros and cons.

I *personally* like a mix of materials better than one single material.

This is my article on Deep Bedding: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

 

[thlayli]

Update: Went out to the house again to get contractor measurements for some finishes to the basement. When I went to check on the hens (actually just to see if they were even still there) there was a snake in the coop (pretty rat snake) and a dead, mostly-gone carcass of one of the birds.

And then there were 5.

I'm kinda pissed there isn't anything I can do for the birds right now, but whatever I do once we take ownership, predator proofing has just moved to #1 on my list, especially if Previous Owners aren't going to take their chickens with them. I don't think the rat snake had anything to do with the dead hen (like I said, lots of mice because of open food everywhere), but SOMETHING got in there. The rest of them didn't seem agitated, but there were only 7 eggs in the nesting boxes. Last time I went, there were almost 20. Someone has been collecting eggs, and either didn't see or didn't care about the damn dead animal in the run.

I'm pretty steamed about it, let me tell you.

 

[thlayli]

Measured the coop for realsies today (we had a tape measure instead of our eyeballs and arms) and it's 12x8. Perfectly fine for 10 chickens and a few extra next year. I started working to clear out the interior run but the house is on the top of a hill and so I felt like the sun was sitting directly on my head. I will wait until Wednesday when temps are supposed to cool off.

 

[thlayli]

Pic 1: A distance shot to show that the entire door is now visible from afar
Pic 2: close up of the haircut I gave the tree. It needs more shaved off but it'll do for now.
Pic 3: the swatch I ruthlessly hacked from the gate to the far corner. The entrance into the chunnel is about halfway between the two, and I can now open the door easily.
Pic 4: the brooder revealed! I had no idea it was in there when I started.

 

[thlayli]

Pic 1: A Before picture of the stacked wood and attached plywood on the northern side of the coop.
Pic 2: Boards and plywood removed, tree sufficiently trimmed.
Pic 3: The interior run has been completely cleared. This also demonstrates the WALL OF WEEDS and how stupidly thick and tall they are.
Pic 4: Progress! A good 30 or 40 feet of chunnel has been cleared, except for the trees.
Pic 5: A close up of the progress
Pic 6: My Dad, in the chunnel with the weedwhacker.

 

[thlayli]

So, it's been a minute! A LOT has happened, although not much worth "reporting". I got my coop cleaned up and secured, although the corrugated metal walls made installing roosting bars incredibly difficult. I, uh, still haven't put those in. It's on my to-do list though!

In early September I set 22 shipped hatching eggs, of which 5 (SIGH) actually hatched out. Being entirely too optimistic I decided the fault was mine and as long as I washed off the ones that got to me covered in the dried goop of their broken brethren then it would be okay the next time. It was not okay the next time. Another batch of eggs arrived in October with broken shells, and this time I got exactly zero (0) babies from them. The only batch that arrived entirely secure and unmolested? 11/12 successfully hatched, and the 12th was a dud.

I will never buy shipped eggs again. Either I pick 'em up or bust.

Unfortunately for the Ameraucana Breeder's Club, not a single chick was an Ameraucana. I know, I know, but my family needs eggs come spring and I just couldn't wait for anyone near me to have chicks available, and most people had quit selling eggs for the winter. I got two near-Ams, though, funky colored easter eggers I should name O'Douls and Heineken. The rest are orpingtons and icelandics (which are apparently A Whole Thing on their own, which I did not realize).

The babies all feathered out in my garage and then I chucked 'em into the coop. They settled in pretty quickly, and early December I moved the second batch out there in a dog crate so they could all safely get acquainted with the older chicks before I unleashed them. There has been minimal strife, although I did have to play referee a few times when O'Douls got too aggressive. A quick tug on her neck feathers when she started to kick at the littler ones got rid of her attitude pretty quickly. All was well.

And then, the blizzard.

We got down to about -9 degrees where I am, and that was WITHOUT the wind chill. When it first dipped into the low teens I was worried for the babies, since they were barely a month old. I checked in the coop and one was pretty inert. She didn't try to get away from me and she wouldn't eat, just sat there fluffed up with half-closed eyes. I was afraid she was getting "into the frost", as Richard Adams would say. Emergency procedures were needed.

I got the brooder from the garage, came back to the coop, and built a little cave in one corner. I covered it with a thick floor mat that had been stuffed in a closet because our little cleaner bot couldn't handle the fringe, then piled straw on top of that. Next to it, because there was no way 11 chicks could all fit under the brooder, I put a thermopad on the floor under the board that will one day hold nesting boxes and then stuffed the space around it with straw, effectively making a little lean-to. When I was done I put my naked hand into the brooder-cave; it was noticeably warmer. In went Cold Chick and three of her siblings. They tried to dart out when I let them go but stopped before they actually left it. I herded the rest of the babies over to it and by the time I left the coop they had all congregated around the cave/lean-to, even if most of them didn't need it right that minute. Cold Chick was eating and moving around before I went back to the house.

After that it was just daily checks to make sure they had enough food and the water hadn't completely frozen over (I have a heated base for the waterer). This was my first blizzard too - I didn't know the hairs inside your nose could freeze.

After that atrocious storm blew through and everything turned into a big quagmire, the next step was introducing the flock to the run. I think tensions were starting to run a little high as the weather warmed because everyone was, pardon the pun, cooped up. Earlier in the fall I installed an automatic door on the coop, but even though it had been faithfully opening at sunrise and closing ten minutes after sunset I had blocked the way out into the run with a straw bale. The chunnel is made of cattle panels and I was afraid the babies would just through the gaps. (This fear was legitimized when, later, the Icelandics tried to get through the panels and are juuuuust too big to squeeze through). But, with the weather clearing up and the little chicks needing an outlet from the bigger ones, I decided to move the barrier and see what would happen.

It was a smashing success, y'all. The first couple of days I had to manually walk the chicks up the ramp when it was time to go in for the night (much protesting and squawking ensued), but for the past two days they've been coming and going at their leisure, and not a one has gotten locked out when the coop closes. The little ones seem to enjoy the outdoors more than the older ones, but I've seen all of them out and about, pecking at the weeds and dirt, fluffing themselves and flapping their wings. They seem downright content. Which, I guess, is the goal.

Older babies were born October 8th
Younger babies were born November 12th

Pic 1: older babies right after hatch
Pic 2: older babies when I moved them into the coop
Pic 3: the Icelandics hatching
Pic 4 and 5: my two Easter Eggers
Pic 6: the saucy one
Pic 7, 8, and 9: the Icelandics
Pic 10: the brooder cave/lean to in action

 

[mowin]

First, thank you for your service. Looks like you've got a good plan in place.

 

[Cryss]

Good bones, good plan. I prefer shavings. Straw hides mites n such and hay gets moldy. I don’t remember you mentioning coop dimensions. Basic standard is 4sqft/bird inside floor area not including nest area. Good reason to keep nests above the floor. Run area 10sqft/bird. I use a 2 foot wide poop board underneath a single height roost. (Having said that I recently added an extra roost and poop board that is slightly higher but not directly above the original.) But remember when they jump down they need horizontal space so they don’t jump crashing into an opposing wall. Video shows original. Photo shows new roost and nests.