Smoky Mountain Hen House - COMPLETE!!! (pg 5)

[DawnSuiter]

Quote:
I meant sticking out from the side of the coop, with little lifty roofs so i can reach in to get eggs.

As far as coop height.. I'm just not an over the top kinda person. I bought my house after it was destroyed, vandelized & left for demo in foreclosure. It had no water well was destroyed, no power (box ripeed off) & you could barely get into it. Broken windows, doors, smashed toilet sink... etc. I bought it for 30K spent 2 weeks and about 7K more dollars and it's now a beautiful modern home. I could've bought a nice one for triple the $$$, but I prefer to live modestly and well within my means. I hope the same for my chickens. They are only 2' tall or so.. I thinking they don't need a room fit for humans. Do you know something I don't? Or do you have a different view on this? If so, please share

 

[okiemommy]

In fact.. yesterday, when i went to our local "feed" store (farmers co-op) and asked about chicken feed & care, the good 'ol boys promptly told me while laughing at me that "you CAN read TOO much, and these ideas of insulation, DE & NOT keeping chickens in a coop full time is just plain old stupid". They also laughed at the idea of actually building a chicken coop, and informed me that after starter food, my chickens should live on SCRATCH until they become layers. At this point, I left. I just don't know who to believe, but I insisted I learned that Scratch was basically junk food/candy and again I was reminded that I "read too much". Apparently not a problem HE has ever had.

I got the same reaction her in Oklahoma....though our feed store is pretty much in town...It's within OKC city limits. I had a hard time getting the guy to get a box for me for the chicks, let alone tell me what I needed to have for them. It's a good thing that I had seen this website a couple of days before, other wise I would've been completely clueless. He pretty much told me the same thing when I asked him questions, and told me that whoever told me this stuff is wrong.

I didnt really take much stock in what he said anyway since he was so reluctant to help me.​

 

[CarlaRiggs]

Dawn,
The chickens need some height so that they can stretch their wings and move about comfortably. They feel a need to roost above the floor. This will also give you more room to lean into the coop to clean without hitting your head!

As for the nesting boxes outside, that's a great idea. However, if the winters are cold in your area, then I would consider insulating them. The nests will be much colder than inside the coop, and the eggs may freeze. Not much fun.... You will want to put some type of lock on the box so that predators can't get in.

Carla

 

[okiemommy]

I prefer to live modestly and well within my means. I hope the same for my chickens. They are only 2' tall or so.. I thinking they don't need a room fit for humans. Do you know something I don't? Or do you have a different view on this? If so, please share

I don't know that I have a different view on it, I pretty much agree with you. I personally think that it would make the work easier if it were stand up size, and if you're homesteading, you will be doing a lot of time consuming work(we are beginning to slowly work towards that as well)


also as I mentioned there are plenty of ways to get free building materials for your coop. Many of these coops were built with free matierals. I'm building mine with pallets, wood that my family didnt need and some of the other ways I mentioned earlier.

Also the chickens do need space to fly around and move around freely. The chicks in my brooder are starting to peck at each other, and one of them is bloody, b/c they don't have enough room. It is a big rabbit cage and there are only four chicks in there. I am unable to get another brooder, so we are going to be letting them out to play and forage a lot, to keep the pecking down. I would take the time tested advice of most of the "veterans" around here about the square footage needed for the chickens. They've seen all kinds of things and their methods are time and experience tested.

 

[DaveMN]

Quote:
Compared to the northern US we have mild winters. While it snows here in the mountains we usually only see a dusting of snow at our elevation. We MAY have 2 solid weeks of 20-30 degrees and the occasional, I mean occasional nights in the teens or single digits. Other than that winter days average in the low 40s, nights in the upper 20s and that is only during Jan/Feb really. December & March you can find 50-60 during the day & 30-40s at night regularly.

It looks like you don't have cold winters so you should be fine without insulation. My guineas survived -30F winter nights without insulation in the coop, just a heat lamp if they needed it which they generally did not use.
It was 40 this morning and if i can walk around in shorts and a t-shirt doing chores then your chickens will have no problem with an uninsulated coop.

 

[DawnSuiter]

So... I have revised my plan to include a brooding area & a place for a rooster to reside when isolated as well as integrated.

I realized after reading more books, that I would have to let the natural process happen at least occassionally in order to actually save money and still keep up egg production. We have to resign ourselves to of course dispatching some of our flock, but I think that's only responsible.

Here's a link to my new picasa album for the chicken planning, the only thing in it is currently the "drawing" i've made...
please provide your input.....
My Picasa Chicken Web

 

[countryatheart]

Your plan is VERY nice. I am making do with a converted lovebird hutch. It had hardware cloth on the front and back with solid wood on the sides. My brother helped attach plywood with hinges over the wire. I can latch the plywood down in cold or stormy weather or leave propped open while hot.(It doesn't get very cold in south Texas). It is raised off the ground about 2 ft. and about about 5 ft from floor to peak with floor space about 3 1/2 by 5 ft. So far it is working well for 4 hens. They spend all day in a fenced run with much more space.

 

[tricia]

Wow - That looks really nice!

 

[Dilly]

Quote:
Compared to the northern US we have mild winters. While it snows here in the mountains we usually only see a dusting of snow at our elevation. We MAY have 2 solid weeks of 20-30 degrees and the occasional, I mean occasional nights in the teens or single digits. Other than that winter days average in the low 40s, nights in the upper 20s and that is only during Jan/Feb really. December & March you can find 50-60 during the day & 30-40s at night regularly.

It looks like you don't have cold winters so you should be fine without insulation. My guineas survived -30F winter nights without insulation in the coop, just a heat lamp if they needed it which they generally did not use.
It was 40 this morning and if i can walk around in shorts and a t-shirt doing chores then your chickens will have no problem with an uninsulated coop.

Nice layout only thing is you have your deminsions confused. The rooster house and nursery are eight foot not ten.. Thus nursery 8x4 =32 sq. ft. Rooster yard 5x4 ft. not 7 x4 That is if I am reading this correctly. I cannot wait to follow your progress. Looking good.

 

[DawnSuiter]

yes yes yes you are correct! I am uploading my corrected drawing now to reflect that... and doors to get out of the nursery & rooster house.

I couldn't wait for my 8 australorp pullets coming late July, so i managed to find a local breeder and am picking up a straight run of 6 buff orpingtons tomorrow.

I am ALSO excited to see my progress

Do you think the "flow" will work? That being cutting off mom from the group in this fashion when she decides to lay...er I mean... go broody on some eggs?