What kind of coop for silkies

feliciadawn

Songster
Mar 31, 2020
586
800
201
Delaware County (near Philly), PA
What would be a good design for 5-6 silkies/frizzles? I already have a huge run that they can share with other chickens, but I need a nice secure place for them to sleep. My silkies seem unable or unwilling to use a ramp -- I am trying to think of a good design that does not require a ramp. Thoughts?
 
For the summer I put together a geodesic dome climber, wrapped netting around it, put a window on top and some shingles around, and covered half of it like a tent. Then I put my electric fence all the way around it. Works great now but won't be good for snow, so need to move them in November.
 
My 3 silkies have learned to hop up onto the little ramp and into coop! It's not so big, also known as the "rinky dink" coop on BYC...but it's working for my situation.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20210606_081411.jpg
    IMG_20210606_081411.jpg
    716.9 KB · Views: 17
I’m in the same situation. I’ll be building something like this but at a smaller scale outside my coop - within the run. I won’t be including stairs, I was thinking a wide ramp instead. Ideally I’d like coop to be 1-1.5 ft off ground so I don’t lose run space but I may have to lower it due to them being so finicky
 

Attachments

  • 7B376403-9A6D-47F0-B3EF-40C2AD0EF887.jpeg
    7B376403-9A6D-47F0-B3EF-40C2AD0EF887.jpeg
    367.2 KB · Views: 15
We have 8 Silkies, the two youngest are 15 weeks old, the older ones are all about 2-3 years old, and we have no problem with any of them using a full-size coop.
The adult Silkies go up alongside the RIRs, EEs, and Comets, while the juveniles use a slightly smaller version of our segregated coop to get used to full-time living when they're mature.
Maybe some training is in order for your Silkies. We have, from time to time (or with new arrivals or young birds) needed to show them the entrance and ramp, how to use the ramp to go inside, and point out the roost bars for both sides of the coop. On the juveniles' side, the lower roost bar (really just a step-up bar) is about 8" off the floor, while the primary roost bars are 19" off the floor. The two young birds usually just jump from the floor to the higher bars to roost for the night without bothering with the lower bar.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom