12x6 Coop Construction, August 2016 Deadline!

[kie4]

 

[kie4]

[VIDEO]

 

[kie4]

 

[aart]

Cool, I love a good prototype test!
Looks a little too steep....but do you plan on using nest pads?
They might slow movement down a bit.
Maybe curve lower padding up against the back wall?

 

[kie4]

Cool, I love a good prototype test!
Looks a little too steep....but do you plan on using nest pads?
They might slow movement down a bit.
Maybe curve lower padding up against the back wall?

Thanks @aart I plan on getting some padding and gluing it onto the back wall final stopping place of egg.
I'm using leftover astro-turf for the bottom because I want to use it up, it's thick for a soft landing, it's harder to clean, and it should get less messy.
Ideally the nesting pad will not get poop on it, but just in case I plan to buy 3 nesting pads from QC supply (they do the larger 12" by 13" ones). Then I can pull out the nesting platforms and power wash them.
http://www.qcsupply.com/420355-standard-nesting-pad.html
I'll put side supports for each nesting platform to sit on, and a small "Egg grab" door on each nesting box to make it fun for the kids.
Only 4 chickens so will work with 1 nesting box and block off the other 2. Won't open the nesting box until November the 15th when the chickens will be 25 weeks old.

 

[kie4]

Looking forward to the next test with a nesting pad

 

[aart]

Seems awful fast.
Nest test, with pad, use a real egg, drop onto pad from about 3-4-5" up....did you know they actually stand when the egg comes out?

 

[kie4]

First prototype didn't let enough feed through and I had to keep shaking the bucket
2nd prototype let too much feed through and some was getting out.
This amount of cut on the PVC street elbow let's enough feed under the opening while still making the chicken crane their neck in and down. No spills.

Hung it up on a bracket as well and now no chicken sits on it and it's off the ground.

 

[kie4]

Nesting pads arrived! Time for some more testing.

 

[kie4]

They always fight to be closest to the wall. Sometimes they even jump on the back of the chicken closest to the wall and both chickens fall off then race to get back up. This is the only kind of pecking order behavior In seeing at 2 months.