A lot of Chicken Questions that Need to be Answered

[littlepeepers]

I have been wanting chickens, along with my mom, for a couple of years. We hadn't gotten any because of my dad's seriousness about not wanting any. As I met new friends, one of them happened to have chickens. The ball started rolling and there was no way to stop it. We had discussed getting chickens, and my friend was getting more chickies so I decided it was time. Much to my dad's chagrin, I am now the proud mother of two Buff Orpingtons, Lilly and Penelope, and two Black Australorps, Iris, and LaFonda (it's a long story). The are almost two weeks old and I have been researching coops for months. We have decied to covert part of our shed in our back yard into a chicken coop for my growing chickens. For the basic size we were thinking 4 feet wide by 4 feet long by 4 feet tall. Since we have four egg-layers I was thinking for a nesting box we could use one milk carton box turned on it's side but I don't know what to use as a bedding in it. Should I use straw, pine shavings, shredded newspaper? That's only one of my many dilemas. My next dilema is if I should use the deep-little method. I don't have the time to clean out their coop once or twice a week. If I do do the deep litter method do I need to put something over the wood floor in the coop? Should I put down cheep linoleum? (Sorry for the spelling errors). It doesn't get colder than the low 20's here at night in the winter so I was wondering if I need the heat from the deep litter? If I were to do that how much pine shavings should I put down? Also for their run, looking at picture of other's chicken coops do I need to put sand in their run? I was planning on just building the run over our grassy area and just let them hang out and eat. Kind of like pasturing but in a contained area. I just need some advice if anyone has any. I'm just a newbie to raising my lovely, much loved chickens!

 

[patandchickens]

Hi, welcome to BYC and congrats on your new chicks

Quote:
If it doesn't get colder than 20 F *and* you can vent the coop into the shed (but see below), then that size should be minimally-okay, although bigger would be better (especially if the run will not be roofed or the run is likely to be muddy or windy or otherwise unpleasant for them in bad weather).

Since we have four egg-layers I was thinking for a nesting box we could use one milk carton box turned on it's side but I don't know what to use as a bedding in it. Should I use straw, pine shavings, shredded newspaper?

I would suggest that whatever you use for your nestbox be mounted on the wall, so that there is at least 12-14" of clearance between its underside and the top of the bedding, so that it is not subtracting from the usable floorspace in your already very small coop. Remember you are probably going to have to be fitting the waterer and feeder in there too...

One milk crate or similar box would be fine for 4 hens, and honestly it does not matter much what you use for bedding in it, as long as it's *something*

My next dilema is if I should use the deep-little method. I don't have the time to clean out their coop once or twice a week. If I do do the deep litter method do I need to put something over the wood floor in the coop? Should I put down cheep linoleum? (Sorry for the spelling errors). It doesn't get colder than the low 20's here at night in the winter so I was wondering if I need the heat from the deep litter?

You are not going to be able to do any kind of deep litter mgmt that produces heat. Nor should you even try, in that size coop

Whether to put down linoleum is a personal choice, I don't honestly feel it adds a lot (as compared to primed and painted plywood floor) but it won't *hurt* much either if you really really want to do it.

I am a little concerned about "I don't have the time to clean out their coop once or twice a week", though. Hopefully this just doesn't convey well what you really mean -- but if you *honestly* do not have 3-4 minutes once or twice a week to scrape the poo out and rebed as necessary, then I would have to question whether you are in a position to be able to care for chickens. They ahve to be checked daily without fail -- and if you want to keep them for very long, they really ought to be locked into the coop before dusk and let out at dawn. It takes next to no time to clean a 4x4 coop, it is not like you have to scrub it down or anything

As far as how often to clean, you will have to clean the coop more often if it is 4x4 than if it is 4x8. But the exact "how often" depends on your particular setup and your personal management style; there are various different ways to do it, all of which can work perfectly well, just depending on you prefer to expend your energy. So I would suggest you just sort of play it by ear as you go along, and see what ends up working best for you.

f I were to do that how much pine shavings should I put down?

You need enough bedding in the coop that the floor is always covered; 2" is a bare minimum for most people (given the strong tendency of chickens to shuffle the bedding around so there are piles and bare spots) and I think most people use more like 4"+.

Also for their run, looking at picture of other's chicken coops do I need to put sand in their run? I was planning on just building the run over our grassy area and just let them hang out and eat.

It won't be grassy for very long. Quite soon it will be bare earth, and mud. If it is a poorly drained area, DEEP NASTY mud. Sand, preferably applied when the ground is still hard and dry, will slow or prevent the formation of mud. You can wait and see what happens, but, know that mud is probably in your future

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[Cindiloohoo]

I have to say, I agree with patandchickens!

 

[poltroon]

Also for their run, looking at picture of other's chicken coops do I need to put sand in their run? I was planning on just building the run over our grassy area and just let them hang out and eat.

It won't be grassy for very long. Quite soon it will be bare earth, and mud. If it is a poorly drained area, DEEP NASTY mud. Sand, preferably applied when the ground is still hard and dry, will slow or prevent the formation of mud. You can wait and see what happens, but, know that mud is probably in your future

In addition, if it is stationary and has no bottom, I guarantee that if there are any rodents in your neighborhood, they will burrow a hole inside your coop. Better to have a solid, dry bottom.​

 

[littlepeepers]

Thanks for all of the advice. We have already planned on digging a trench at least 6" deep and burring hardware cloth in it. After doing more measurements on our soon to be coop, it will end up being 4 feet long and 5 feet wide.

As for the run, we will have the chickens in there during the day when we aren't home, when we are home and/or outside they will be able to free-range in our huge yard. The area that their run will be is in an area without drainage problems. During the winter when it rains a lot, there are never any puddles. We haven't decided if we should have a roof or just hardware cloth on the top. From anyone's experience, have you had a problem with a cat attacking a full grown chicken?

If I just put pine shavings in the coop, would I be able to clean out the chickens pooh and put that in the compost? Would doing that prolong how long the pine shavings could be in there with out changing. Would I have to change out the shavings once a week, or once every two weeks? From anyone's experience have they found a time frame that worked for them?

For a roost for my chickies, how much room do they need above the roost, behind them, and in front of them? Thanks for all the help, it will make this coop be even more fantastic!

I love my chickens and my family has a reputation for spoiling animals. They will be the best cared for chickens in the city! I just have a very busy schedule until May, and they won't be in their coop permanently until June.

 

[CityChook]

from MN!

Just so you know, there is a search function in the blue bar in the header of this page. You can search by key word in all the different forums. There is a TON of great information - go check it out!

And congrats on your new chickies. I have BOs too and just love them!

 

[bantybev]

Just wanted to add....if you place a dropping board under their roost and scrape it once a day or every other day the litter on the floor will stay clean much longer. Most of the poo is done from the perch if you plan on letting them out in the am and back into the coop at sunset. If you add DE or stall-dry into the floor matter, it won't smell at all and will not need to be changed as often. Stall dry neutralizes the ammonia in their poo and absorbs moisture. It also has food grade DE (diatomaceous earth) to help with pest control.

The stall dry is not a necessity, but just a suggestion

I love it.

Good Luck with your new friends. You will love them. They are so intertaining and interesting. (BTW....you will want more)

 

[littlepeepers]

I know I will want more but between time, space, father, animal restraints, four is the perfect number for me. Especially with me going to college in three years, four chickens are a lot easier to find a good home for than 8 or 10. I do love my chickies though. I can't wait to try out all of these new ideas in my coop. Where would you get DE or stall dry?

 

[SillyChicken]

you won't be able to remove just the pooh from the shavings.... that would be an all day project! I have a floor in my 4x8 coop, and started out with 2" of bedding one week (=1 bail of shavings) and add 2" more the next week. The birds will mix it all up on their own.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
You might want to rethink this. Just 6" deep is not going to keep very much out. You need 18" deep to be reasonably safe, even more in some circumstances.

A much lower-labor alternative is to run a 2-3' wide apron of heavy gauge wire mesh -- 1x1 or even 2x4" is fine, no need to use hardwarecloth in most circumstances -- all around the outside of the run and coop, laid horizontally on the ground and well-secured to the base of the run fence. It needs to be pinned or weighted down well, and then you can either let the grass grow up through it, or put mulch or sod or decorative rocks over it, or whatever. FAR easier than trenching 18" deep, and just as effective.

As for the run, we will have the chickens in there during the day when we aren't home, when we are home and/or outside they will be able to free-range in our huge yard. The area that their run will be is in an area without drainage problems. During the winter when it rains a lot, there are never any puddles.

OK, but your run is still going to go to bare earth, and may still become muddy. Just sayin'

If I just put pine shavings in the coop, would I be able to clean out the chickens pooh and put that in the compost? Would doing that prolong how long the pine shavings could be in there with out changing. Would I have to change out the shavings once a week, or once every two weeks? From anyone's experience have they found a time frame that worked for them?

There are too many variables. Everyone develops their own style of 'coop sanitation'. Some people clean daily, other people do their dropppings boards daily but only spot-clean the litter a couple times a year and never actually replace it (and with the right setup, one can actually have excellent conditions with this method -- although probably not in your situation), and everything in between.

I will tell you that it is not usually real feasible to just pick the poo out and leave the bedding, the way you would with a horse stall for instance. However, if you have a droppings board under the roost, you can clean THAT daily and it will cleanly remove at least 50% of your daily poo from the coop right then and there with no loss of bedding at all

Honestly, you'll just hagve to experiment and see what works best for you.

For a roost for my chickies, how much room do they need above the roost, behind them, and in front of them?

You'll want at *least* 14" above the roost (that is extremely minimal, esp. for your large breeds), 24" is a lot better. Ideally you would have 18" between roost and wall, but in your circumstance you may need to tighten that up a little. The key thing is to remember that chcikens are not helicopters and need to be able to get up TO the roost somehow (and down -- they usually prefer to sort of 'fly' down) -- either something they can hop onto as a sort of intermediate step, or enough horizontal room in front of the roost that they can go up at a 45 degree angle or so. Thus, if your roost is 2' high, you want AT LEAST 2' in front of it and preferably significantly more.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​