A Simple and Effective Coop Plan for 50 standard-sized chickens

[Blondie]

Here's my two cents:

If you have a dirt floor, you would never have to buy potting soil again! When I'm re-potting or planting soomething in the yard, I just get a few shovel-fulls of the black dirt that is several inches deep.

 

[speckledhen]

Boy, Blondie, ain't that the truth!! I shoveled out several wheelbarrow loads of rich, black dirt from my pens and mixed into my garden area to sit over winter. They MAKE dirt, these girls!

 

[Preservation Acres]

You folks are the best thing since Wikipedia.

Oh, and Good Morning & Happy New Year!

 

[patandchickens]

If I were going to try to keep 50 chickens at 2 sq ft per chicken, in a moderate climate like TN, you know what I would do? I would make three sides of the coop heavy-duty wire mesh, from 2' off the ground right up to the ceiling. Can't get much mroe ventilation than that

Then I would have plywood panels that would latch securely onto 'em so that I could cover some or all of those open sides in bad weather including winter. The kind of vents Cyn describes, you would incorporate into those cover panels, so even when the coop is 'closed up' you can still have ventilation open at the top.

And then I would also make sure that the chickens had a roofed run or at least porch (i.e. without fencing, just roof) attached to the coop, so that even in bad weather they are encouraged to spend as much time possible OUTSIDE rather than humidifying/ammonifying the indoor air and creating giant sanitation workload.

Just a thought.


Pat, not likely to keep chickens with less than about 10-15 sq ft per chicken indoor, but seeing why someone might feel they 'had' to and agreeing that it'd work better in Tennessee than it would up here

 

[B. Saffles Farms]

Im not saying that my way is the best way or only way, just saying that it does work fine. My coop is never closed completly up, even in the winter.

 

[2chickenrich]

the main thing is to have enugh space for HEALTHY CHICKENS tight space means alot of POOP here is a site from UGA that says 3.5 for each bird
http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/L429-w.html

 

[CHICKEN little 1]

andehens wrote:
My coop is an old dog run with a concrete floor, I keep about 6 inches of wood chips (mulch) on the floor
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I also have a concrete floor in mine also. I love it! The chickens feet stay dry,and like andehens said it's easy to clean.

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

Quote:
TN still gets wind and rain and the occasional ice storm. They'll need an enclosed coop for sure. I'm sure it seems tropical compared to Ontario, but it's not quite that warm.

I have a 10x10 coop with 15 large breed and 7 bantams. It's WAY too small. This winter has proved to be a nightmare. In a way it would be better to just stay below freezing. I'm sure TN gets quite a few days where the temp is around 32 and it's raining. If you send them out in that and then the temp drops even a few degrees overnight there is a very good chance they'll freeze to death. To keep them from dying you have to keep them inside. They might even stay in on their own. Sometimes that can be for days at a time. I wouldn't go any less than 4 sg ft per bird. Otherwise you'll have to clip their beaks or they'll start pecking each other to death. I'd have to believe the ammonia smell would knock you over too.

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
2 sq ft per bird is enough. more sq ft per bird is a bonus. He did say theyd only be in the coop at night.

Trust me...2 sq ft per bird is not enough if they must stayed inside at all. I had one of my faverolles pecked to death and several others pecked on badly and they have a tad over 4 sq ft per bird. They get bored, antsy and start picking. I have 30 in 144 sq ft and they need it. I have lost two birds since the coop was built so there was 32 in there.

So build your coop with a minimum of 4 sq ft per bird unless you are confining them 24/7 and then give them closer to 10 sq ft per bird...if not, you will have problems. 2 sq ft that you read about it is probably for bantams..not standards.

there is my 2 cents worth...I am going back to my corner.

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
Of course...my perfect boy...the Suedenator never makes a mess.

Oh did I mention that I have adopted the Suedenator? No? Well I have. Thank you for taking such good care of him for me.

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