Hey Everyone!
I wanted to document our family's first coop build for our new flock. Since moving to an area that can allow BYC we decided to finally make it happen. I should say I because I surprised my wife while she was out of town with 10 pullets (5 golden buffs and 5 Rhode Island Reds). I also told our 5-year-old son if he could keep a tight lip until my wife arrived home I would take him to tractor supply to pick out his very one baby chick.
My wife arrived and she was shocked my son and I were able to keep a surprise from her. She was excited to start on our chicks but also shocked I opted to get so many. As promised we took my son to tractor supply to pick out his very one chick. While there we learned you can’t just buy one chick as state law requires 4. So he picked out two Black Sex links and two barred rocks. While checking out the wife asked a lady about these smaller chicks (bantam Cochin a bantam silkie). Nevertheless, 10 went to 14 then to 16.
Now the 55-gallon brooder I set up for 10 was a bit tight for 16 chicks so we grabbed two more 55-gallon totes and used 5-gallon buckets to connect. This has since worked fantastic and baby chicks are happy and now run around between the totes. This also makes cleaning a bit easier as we can section off each tote as we go. So far 10/10 would recommend.
The coop build must start and 16 chicks will need a place to call home. We live on about an acre outside city limits and unfortunately is located on a nice slope. Being located in Tn the rain...happens a lot and we must account for a lot of rain water. We have a nice 15x30 flattish section above the house that we felt was the best spot for the coop. My fear was water runoff flooding the coop making it a muddy mess for the hens. I jumped on the marketplace and found a reasonable deal on 10 8.5' railroad ties I could build a coop base. This would allow the coop and run to be off the ground enough to hopefully keep the rain diverted around the coop and have happy hens.
My wife and I used a tiller to break up the clay soil outline and started laying down the ties. To backfill the coop base we used a mix of dirt from the ground we pulled up and pond fill we got for free locally. That netted us about 3-4in of build-up over the ground to hopefully help retain dirt inside the coop and the water out. Once the coop is built we will run the hardware cloth down the front of the ties and bury it to prevent digging. We have a family of foxes as well as local dogs that run around so protecting the flock is a top priority.
The coop design we are using was from Third Coast Craftsman as it appears to be well thought out. The plan is to expand the design from 5 feet to 8 feet and the run to 16 feet. We have since collected most of the coop lumber and roofing and started building sections to make moving easier. This weekend I should be able to get a good chunk of the coop section built.
I do have some questions for those more experienced with chickens. I am looking to automate food and water to a certain degree.
For food, we are thinking of the Grandpa's large automatic chicken feeder. We do plan to fence a large part of our backyard to free range when possible but in the run, we want to keep them happy and mice/rodents away (when possible). Are the reviews as good as they say or is there a better solution I am not seeing?
For water, I do plan to gutter the roof lines and collect rainwater in a 55-gallon drum. The thought would be to mesh the inlet and outlet to keep leaves and disburse out of the water. The only issues would be bugs and mildew. Is there a trick to filter and dispense the water? I have seen a nipple system used as well as hanging manual dispensers. Not sure what's the best.
I wanted to document our family's first coop build for our new flock. Since moving to an area that can allow BYC we decided to finally make it happen. I should say I because I surprised my wife while she was out of town with 10 pullets (5 golden buffs and 5 Rhode Island Reds). I also told our 5-year-old son if he could keep a tight lip until my wife arrived home I would take him to tractor supply to pick out his very one baby chick.
My wife arrived and she was shocked my son and I were able to keep a surprise from her. She was excited to start on our chicks but also shocked I opted to get so many. As promised we took my son to tractor supply to pick out his very one chick. While there we learned you can’t just buy one chick as state law requires 4. So he picked out two Black Sex links and two barred rocks. While checking out the wife asked a lady about these smaller chicks (bantam Cochin a bantam silkie). Nevertheless, 10 went to 14 then to 16.
Now the 55-gallon brooder I set up for 10 was a bit tight for 16 chicks so we grabbed two more 55-gallon totes and used 5-gallon buckets to connect. This has since worked fantastic and baby chicks are happy and now run around between the totes. This also makes cleaning a bit easier as we can section off each tote as we go. So far 10/10 would recommend.
The coop build must start and 16 chicks will need a place to call home. We live on about an acre outside city limits and unfortunately is located on a nice slope. Being located in Tn the rain...happens a lot and we must account for a lot of rain water. We have a nice 15x30 flattish section above the house that we felt was the best spot for the coop. My fear was water runoff flooding the coop making it a muddy mess for the hens. I jumped on the marketplace and found a reasonable deal on 10 8.5' railroad ties I could build a coop base. This would allow the coop and run to be off the ground enough to hopefully keep the rain diverted around the coop and have happy hens.
My wife and I used a tiller to break up the clay soil outline and started laying down the ties. To backfill the coop base we used a mix of dirt from the ground we pulled up and pond fill we got for free locally. That netted us about 3-4in of build-up over the ground to hopefully help retain dirt inside the coop and the water out. Once the coop is built we will run the hardware cloth down the front of the ties and bury it to prevent digging. We have a family of foxes as well as local dogs that run around so protecting the flock is a top priority.
The coop design we are using was from Third Coast Craftsman as it appears to be well thought out. The plan is to expand the design from 5 feet to 8 feet and the run to 16 feet. We have since collected most of the coop lumber and roofing and started building sections to make moving easier. This weekend I should be able to get a good chunk of the coop section built.
I do have some questions for those more experienced with chickens. I am looking to automate food and water to a certain degree.
For food, we are thinking of the Grandpa's large automatic chicken feeder. We do plan to fence a large part of our backyard to free range when possible but in the run, we want to keep them happy and mice/rodents away (when possible). Are the reviews as good as they say or is there a better solution I am not seeing?
For water, I do plan to gutter the roof lines and collect rainwater in a 55-gallon drum. The thought would be to mesh the inlet and outlet to keep leaves and disburse out of the water. The only issues would be bugs and mildew. Is there a trick to filter and dispense the water? I have seen a nipple system used as well as hanging manual dispensers. Not sure what's the best.
