So I am planning to start my coup this weekend for my almost 6 week old girls (yeah I know I'm late getting started).
Due to that though, we are putting them in a temporary coop because they're too big for their brooder and they smelly for our room anymore! Lol plus I'm tired of dusting! So for a wekk or two while my brother and his dog are gone, we are using the dog pen he has built and turning it into a temporary coop. IT is basically treated 2x4s floor about 2.5-3ft off the ground and is about 4ftx8ft. Then it is about 5 feet high and has fencing around it, and has a covered roof, and of course there's a dog house built inside that yet (sorry cam batt is dead or I'd post a pic). For the girls though, we are going to close off the dog house (i don't think my bro would be happy about roosting hens or their poop in his dog house when he gets home) and put hay on the ground (er I mean the wooden floor for easier clean up) and build a quick box from plywood to put a roost in. Do you think that will be ok? The reason I'm explaining the temp coop so much is because what we are thinking for our permanent one is basically the same idea, but only the "box" inside would be slightly larger than the 2x2' that this temp one will be and of course have a place for their roosting pole, nesting box, and food and water inside of it incase we go away, but we are thinking the same basically off the ground house inside a cage type coop. I want to keep it off the ground because around here it's frequently damp and there are a lot of digging varments and the land owners don't want excessive digging for this. So I guess my questions are, do you have any suggestions, do they NEED to be on the ground for a run? (they will be able to periodically free range when we're home most of the day), and also since I'm making this permanent "box" more elaborate and "future" ready than the temporary one, how much space, width wise do leghorns specifically need to roost? Because I'm hoping to make my roosts 3 feet wide at most, but I don't think they will all fit. (there are five, and they currently all roost in about 16" of space!
) And if not and I have to go with to separate roosts, how far apart do they need to be?
Thanks all for your patience and help! As soon as my battery is charged and it stops raining I will work on getting a pic of the dog pen as is so you get an idea what I mean.
here the pen is right now:
Due to that though, we are putting them in a temporary coop because they're too big for their brooder and they smelly for our room anymore! Lol plus I'm tired of dusting! So for a wekk or two while my brother and his dog are gone, we are using the dog pen he has built and turning it into a temporary coop. IT is basically treated 2x4s floor about 2.5-3ft off the ground and is about 4ftx8ft. Then it is about 5 feet high and has fencing around it, and has a covered roof, and of course there's a dog house built inside that yet (sorry cam batt is dead or I'd post a pic). For the girls though, we are going to close off the dog house (i don't think my bro would be happy about roosting hens or their poop in his dog house when he gets home) and put hay on the ground (er I mean the wooden floor for easier clean up) and build a quick box from plywood to put a roost in. Do you think that will be ok? The reason I'm explaining the temp coop so much is because what we are thinking for our permanent one is basically the same idea, but only the "box" inside would be slightly larger than the 2x2' that this temp one will be and of course have a place for their roosting pole, nesting box, and food and water inside of it incase we go away, but we are thinking the same basically off the ground house inside a cage type coop. I want to keep it off the ground because around here it's frequently damp and there are a lot of digging varments and the land owners don't want excessive digging for this. So I guess my questions are, do you have any suggestions, do they NEED to be on the ground for a run? (they will be able to periodically free range when we're home most of the day), and also since I'm making this permanent "box" more elaborate and "future" ready than the temporary one, how much space, width wise do leghorns specifically need to roost? Because I'm hoping to make my roosts 3 feet wide at most, but I don't think they will all fit. (there are five, and they currently all roost in about 16" of space!
Thanks all for your patience and help! As soon as my battery is charged and it stops raining I will work on getting a pic of the dog pen as is so you get an idea what I mean.
here the pen is right now:
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