12x6 Coop Construction, August 2016 Deadline!

[kie4]

Awesome advice @Howard E , thanks. Not sure when the next time will be, but good to know for if there's a ever a coop #2.

We have a groundhog that appears every now and then in the yard, are groundhogs a threat to chickens?

The plan is to do a Wichita Cabin Coop style coop with raised hen house and enclosed run. 2 pop doors, one to let out of the hen house and one at the far end of the run to let the birds range when we're at home.

Platform for the hen house is in now for more of an idea of shape:

Oh, I was going to upload an image but it failed. Is there a workaround for this?
"Some images failed to upload:

• IMG_5439.JPG - Queueing to remote storage failed!

You can try re-selecting them and uploading again."

 

[kie4]

Pallette 2x4s in for the hen house floor. 1 inch higher at the back for hosing out.

 

[kie4]

Awesome advice @Howard E , thanks. Not sure when the next time will be, but good to know for if there's a ever a coop #2.

We have a groundhog that appears every now and then in the yard, are groundhogs a threat to chickens?

The plan is to do a Wichita Cabin Coop style coop with raised hen house and enclosed run. 2 pop doors, one to let out of the hen house and one at the far end of the run to let the birds range when we're at home.

Platform for the hen house is in now for more of an idea of shape:

Apologies @Howard E
@Howard E , I I didn't reply about the deep litter method. I'm very interested in this, but am not sure if my skills are up to it. I need to learn more about composting and figure out why my compost box is not turning into rich fertile soil first. In the meantime I think I'll order a cubic metre of sand and put that into the coop over the scrub/grass that is in there now. I would like to have the option available though, so the run and hen house have clearance for deep litter.

 

[aart]

Quote: I would advise against sand in the run in your climate....go with a variety of dry plant matter instead.
Here's a great description of contents and how to manage organic 'bedding' in a run or coop...and there's a great video of what it looks like.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037998/muddy-run-help-please#post_16017992

 

[Howard E]

To piggy back onto what aart suggests............it helps to understand what goes on on the floor of a run or coop exposed to the elements.

Commercial laying houses have mechanized manure removal systems, but aside from that, chicken houses in general do not have flush toilets, or even an outhouse. Chickens stop, drop and move on. That is all over the place. Since they spend half their time perched on a roost, what lies beneath the roost gets the majority of it, but everywhere else does to. The droppings beneath the roost.........the part inside the coop, gets cleaned out pretty often and is dumped into your compost bin where it will start breaking down. The part left in the run is a different story.

So the nature of these droppings is they are a combination of both solid and liquid......those join forces inside the chicken before they are dropped out the bottom. So what you see laying on the ground is a combination of both......solid and liquid. What happens next on the floor of your run depends a lot on what you have to start with. If your underlying soil is sandy or at least light, elevated and well drained soils, all that manure may eventually filter down to the soil level, then keep moving on down, where it spreads and dissipates, but over time, will eventually build up enough to clog the system. The ground, over time, gets fouled......fowled? If you soil is clay, or wet and poorly drained, everything stops at the soil line, so the fowling starts from day 1 and gets worse with each passing day. That shows up as a wet, smelly, nasty fly infested mess.

A layer of sand helps move it on down, but it will only go so far. Sand is also inorganic mineral........so is inert. It does nothing but sit there acting as a base or platform for everything else. Basically, it just gets smeared or with a nod to Ghostbusters, slimed. By contrast, litter is organic.....wood chips, leaves, pine straw, etc. It functions more or less as a disposable diaper. How often it gets changed is a function of how many birds and how deep it is.......(how thick the diaper is). The benefit of litter, in addition to absorption, is it combines with the droppings.....actually uses the N (nitrogen) in the droppings to start breaking down the litter into compost. (the formation of compost requires carbon, nitrogen, water and air and all in the right proportions) So done right, the birds are actually a part of the composting process, providing the N as well as the mechanical stirring process needed to both air the compost pile out and if too wet, help dry it out.

This composting action doesn't really start until the depth of the litter reaches a certain level. Probably about 4 to 6 inches to start and the deeper you can go.....up to as much as a foot or more, the better. So having those deep kick boards around the base gets you started on the right track.

I do like the Wichita style coop and attached run. It is one of the best I've see to date for a standard backyard coop setup for a small flock of birds. That size and that design. I hope others now planning coops are paying attention and taking notes.

 

[Howard E]

BTW, concrete floors are used as an elevated, well drained, inert base upon which a layer of litter resides. It is impervious to water and manure, so everything sits on top, but that is by design. Litter builds up, litter gets removed. It is also impervious to rodents and varmints from below.

Solid floors inside coops can function the same way, but solid floors are made of wood, so rot enters the picture and has to be considered.

 

[kie4]

I would advise against sand in the run in your climate....go with a variety of dry plant matter instead.
Here's a great description of contents and how to manage organic 'bedding' in a run or coop...and there's a great video of what it looks like.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037998/muddy-run-help-please#post_16017992

@aart Wow this is interesting, thank you for your advice.If copying a forest floor is the best way to manage the compost in the run, then I'm now thinking of using the huge container of leaves from last Autumn that I have. I thought they would compost, but they are just sitting there getting more and more compact with each rainfall. I've been tilling them but they don't seem to break down. Perhaps they are missing the "N", that @Howard E is describing.

If I could create a system where I have 2 containers:
1) 8ft X 8ft x 5ft high box full of leaves
2) leaves get used as a 1ft deep litter in the 12x6 run that sits on top of the yard dirt
3) broken down leaves move to top of smaller composting bin
4) fertile soil taken from bottom of smaller composting bin and used on vegetables

Would this kind of system work?

With 4 birds in a 12x6 run who are allowed to range during the day, roughly how often should I rotate the leaves/litter onto the next container?
Are there less risks of flies/maggots in this type of system?

With any luck, by the time Autumn rolls around again, the box of leaves will be empty.
Apologies if this type of question has been asked countlessly on the forums.

I figured out a way to make a coop page, progress continues:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/have-a-go-wichita-cabin-coop

 

[aart]

Quote: Any compost, or deep litter, system needs and mix of materials and the proper mix of water and air...temperature can play a part too.
Deep litter in the run (or coop) is essentially a cold compost system.
Composting is a science and an art...beyond my skill/patience levels.

 

[kie4]

Any compost, or deep litter, system needs and mix of materials and the proper mix of water and air...temperature can play a part too.
Deep litter in the run (or coop) is essentially a cold compost system.
Composting is a science and an art...beyond my skill/patience levels.

That is my main concern @aart . If I set myself out to deep litter in the coop I will make a mis-calculation and have a fly infested mess on my hands. However @Howard E described that sand on top of dirt will only saturated the soil table with chicken poo as it builds up over time. This is a tough one but I think the possibility of processing the leaves from the yard along with some other things to put some variety in the sub-strata is an opportunity I have to gamble on and try. There may be failures, but nothing a full clean out and restart won't fix. Thanks again for the advice @aart

 

[Howard E]

You are correct. If it were me, rather than filling the run with sand, I'd use those leaves. Some seek them out as choice #1. The reason they have just been sitting there is probably due to the lack of nitrogen........they are the carbon part. The chickens will supply the N and will do the work to turn them.

I'd think that size of coop with only 4 birds would last nearly a year or so between cleanouts. And be nice and tidy doing it. Problem may come along when winter hits and things cool down and slow down. But birds will turn it. Toss in a handfull of scratch grains and get out of their way.