Poop board convert *warning-graphic/gross poop pictures*

[Brookliner]

When I built my new coop I wanted it to be tall enough so I could easily walk in. You should also check out the winter waterer threads. Lots of good ideas there. I have food and water under my poop boards and it works fine. My roosts are only 4-6 inches above the poop boards but I can easily remove the roost bars for cleaning.. I have pictures on my profile that show this set up. Keep in mind that I have bantams not large fowl LF.

 

[Thespoiledchicken]

I just finished what bayoudragon did. It was enlightening, now I have all but decided on a coop design. I have already experienced chicken math and our first chicks are shipping 8 April. that said a few questions. Oh we want to keep 12-15 wyandottes as full time residents.

1. How tall a coop? I was was thinking 6' ish.
2. Does the Roost need to be about 1 linear foot per bird? That will determine my outside dimensions. I was thinking 8 x 10
3. Is it OK to put Nesting boxes, food and water under the poop trey?
4. How much space will they need to get up and down? Do I need a ramp? or two?
5. Can someone point me where to look for ideas to keep water from freezing in sub zero temps.

not to much right? This whole thing is making me neurotic!!!

1) Depends on if you want to walk into your coop standing straight up or not

6' is a decent height for a coop, I like to walk around in mine- others only access theirs by opening panels outside. Depends on your preference.

2) You will hear people say 1' per bird BUT in my experience most birds snuggle together at night and leave alot of unused perch space. Of course the more room the better but I would not go crazy worrying about the exact bird to perch ratio. 8x10 is a very nice size for 15 Wyandottes provided they are not living in there full time (only to sleep, lay and lounge around).

3) Alot of people are putting nesting boxes, food/ water and even brooders under the poop tray. I have my food and water under them and I LOVE it! Stays clean. I will be building a brooder under one side this Spring

4) Wyandottes will have no problem jumping up if it's about waist high. Most breeds can easily get on and off without problem. Some bantam breeds may have problems getting up- I have Silkies and some can hop up, some cannot. They sleep on the floor or a lower perch. I have also had Brahmas which are a very large breed- they don't seem to hop up so good, lol. So...consider your height depending on breed but Wyandottes will do great at waist height

5) Hmm...the unfrozen water dilemma. I use a large heated dog bowl in the winter. Do you have electric nearby? Run an extension cord to a heated bowl. Without electric you are stuck humping warm water several times a day during bitter temps

Good luck with your new chicks

Trish

 

[amenfarm]

1) Depends on if you want to walk into your coop standing straight up or not

6' is a decent height for a coop, I like to walk around in mine- others only access theirs by opening panels outside. Depends on your preference.

2) You will hear people say 1' per bird BUT in my experience most birds snuggle together at night and leave alot of unused perch space. Of course the more room the better but I would not go crazy worrying about the exact bird to perch ratio. 8x10 is a very nice size for 15 Wyandottes provided they are not living in there full time (only to sleep, lay and lounge around).

3) Alot of people are putting nesting boxes, food/ water and even brooders under the poop tray. I have my food and water under them and I LOVE it! Stays clean. I will be building a brooder under one side this Spring

4) Wyandottes will have no problem jumping up if it's about waist high. Most breeds can easily get on and off without problem. Some bantam breeds may have problems getting up- I have Silkies and some can hop up, some cannot. They sleep on the floor or a lower perch. I have also had Brahmas which are a very large breed- they don't seem to hop up so good, lol. So...consider your height depending on breed but Wyandottes will do great at waist height

5) Hmm...the unfrozen water dilemma. I use a large heated dog bowl in the winter. Do you have electric nearby? Run an extension cord to a heated bowl. Without electric you are stuck humping warm water several times a day during bitter temps

Good luck with your new chicks

Trish

5)Make sure you run a over-sized outdoor type extension cord-fire safety-- I have a GFCI and a snap covered outlet.. I use a dog bowl heater and it works great! Without it , even if you change out the frozen water several times a day, they will drink more water if the actually water temperature is warmer.

 

[Xovan]

Thank you so much for the replies. As I am 6'4" I might have to rethink the height. It just seems like so much wasted space up there, and heat loss in the winter. The run is 36' x 26' of 8' chain link fence. I also plan to run some of the wire mesh around the bottom. What about the the heated pipe tape wrapped around the water. Do they still make that? we had it in our house when i was a kid a long time ago!

Sorry I do not want to hijack this wonderfully helpful thread. I will stop with the off topic questions now.

Rob

I am in Central New York North of Utica

 

[amenfarm]

Thank you so much for the replies. As I am 6'4" I might have to rethink the height. It just seems like so much wasted space up there, and heat loss in the winter. The run is 36' x 26' of 8' chain link fence. I also plan to run some of the wire mesh around the bottom. What about the the heated pipe tape wrapped around the water. Do they still make that? we had it in our house when i was a kid a long time ago!

Sorry I do not want to hijack this wonderfully helpful thread. I will stop with the off topic questions now.

Rob

I am in Central New York North of Utica

Don't worry about heat loss, unless your raising yokohamas. Pick chickens for a cold area, peacombs like buckeye's, the canadian beed chantecler ,etc. Just no drafts across the roost, chickens have plenty of down to snuggle into and next to each other. I tested this this winter by running my cold fingers next to my chickens skin, it was 25* and she was nice, warm and toasty. I'm 5'91/2" and No way do I want the ceiling really close, I hate bumping my head!! I think my ceiling is 10+ feet, just because the roof was already there my husband just enclosed the area. Yes, they still do make heated pipe tape. Remember, you usually have 5 to 8 inches of litter on the floor- you will be walking on top of that. If it's about chickens it's really not off topic.

 

[chickiemomy]

Just want to pop in here & re-emphasize the please be careful about power & out buildings - use GFCI outlets - extension cords rated for outside - careful about dust getting into the outlets as the dust can ignite and be a fire hazard. We had a member - over on the natural OT thread who just lost a barn ful of chicks & farm animals due to fire - it is truly, truly heartbreaking. I've heard she started a fire safety thread to share what she's learned - really a trooper trying to make the best ... Learn from someone elses tragedy & be careful out there!

I'm off the soap box now - it's a mom thing...

 

[amenfarm]

x2

 

[Xovan]

Yea it wasn't until I was 26 or so before I realized it was easier to learn from others mistakes. Now that I am 40 and I live by it. That is why I am doing all the reading on here. I haven't done this much reading since college.

 

[amenfarm]

Oh my goodness--I do the same thing. I always read about every animal I've owned before jumping in. The only time I did not was 21 years ago when I got gunieas and the person I bought them from said they would roost in trees and be safe from predators, 4 days later and 4 fox attacks later, I knew better. I researched here for a year ahead of doing anything. I also bought 4 books on poultry! If I find something that I like I always find at least 2 different sources to confirm the information before I will use it or even repeat it. Some posts I've made are just that checking to see if the info. I've collected is accurate before using it.

 

[bayoudragon]

Yea it wasn't until I was 26 or so before I realized it was easier to learn from others mistakes. Now that I am 40 and I live by it. That is why I am doing all the reading on here. I haven't done this much reading since college.

Yep. Exactly.