Ali James' Garden Chickens

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Here is my first ever YouTube video showing the coop we have made. There are some issues with it I talk about and am looking to tweak so would love your thoughts.

So glad you took the leap Ali! Hi

That's a great review video. You showed all the things I wanted to see

I was going to suggest lining the nesting boxes with newspaper under the wood shavings, which you can throw out when it gets soiled, but then you thought of vinyl. Yes, vinyl sounds better

Have you thought of raising the whole coop up on cinder blocks? Just to add a bit more height to save your back and more head room for the chooks underneath.

I have mine up on cinder blocks and it makes it easier to clean out the poop every morning. I just open the wall and lean in!

I like what I saw of your run. Good idea having the coop under cover! I hope you put wire or pavers or something under the walls. Chooks are great diggers

Don't forget to add environmental enrichment in there. Things to hide behind and jump on like logs, old tyres and perches. Of course a chair for you too!

Can you tell that I'm excited for you?

 

[Ribh]

So glad you took the leap Ali! Hi

That's a great review video. You showed all the things I wanted to see

I was going to suggest lining the nesting boxes with newspaper under the wood shavings, which you can throw out when it gets soiled, but then you thought of vinyl. Yes, vinyl sounds better

Have you thought of raising the whole coop up on cinder blocks? Just to add a bit more height to save your back and more head room for the chooks underneath.

I have mine up on cinder blocks and it makes it easier to clean out the poop every morning. I just open the wall and lean in!

I like what I saw of your run. Good idea having the coop under cover! I hope you put wire or pavers or something under the walls. Chooks are great diggers

Don't forget to add environmental enrichment in there. Things to hide behind and jump on like logs, old tyres and perches. Of course a chair for you too!

Can you tell that I'm excited for you?

Great ideas ACM!

 

[Perris]

No I haven't - do you have a link?

it's here https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/uk-member-please-say-hi.655508
enjoy!

 

[WhoDatChick]

Hey der
What a lovely intro and video! Your setup looks great.. please don’t take our suggestions as thinking we know better.. just giving tips on what we each find helpful to our situations .... with that.. since you have the pullout tray may I suggest sand in it.... I use sand under my roosts and just scoop the poop every morning.. just like a litter box.. so easy and clean and stays fresh so you don’t have to worry much about ventilation... you still need some of course, but.... also would be easier to pull out.. I love it!! I did the pine shavings and found that difficult to clean each week and the smell was terrible in our heat! But you must try and do what you feel is best for your setup.. but I couldn’t help but mention sand as it’s been so wonderful and easy! Enjoy your gals.. can’t wait to see them

 

[Ali James]

So glad you took the leap Ali! Hi

That's a great review video. You showed all the things I wanted to see

I was going to suggest lining the nesting boxes with newspaper under the wood shavings, which you can throw out when it gets soiled, but then you thought of vinyl. Yes, vinyl sounds better

Have you thought of raising the whole coop up on cinder blocks? Just to add a bit more height to save your back and more head room for the chooks underneath.

I have mine up on cinder blocks and it makes it easier to clean out the poop every morning. I just open the wall and lean in!

I like what I saw of your run. Good idea having the coop under cover! I hope you put wire or pavers or something under the walls. Chooks are great diggers

Don't forget to add environmental enrichment in there. Things to hide behind and jump on like logs, old tyres and perches. Of course a chair for you too!

Can you tell that I'm excited for you?

Hi and thanks so much for joining in. There are some great ideas there; I was wondering about raising the height up a bit, but then will have to work out an 'extension' for the ramp up to the door...

I have lots of ideas and supplies for enrichment - watch this space!

 

[Ali James]

it's here https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/uk-member-please-say-hi.655508
enjoy!

Thanks Perris, I'll have a look in a bit

 

[Ali James]

Hey der
What a lovely intro and video! Your setup looks great.. please don’t take our suggestions as thinking we know better.. just giving tips on what we each find helpful to our situations .... with that.. since you have the pullout tray may I suggest sand in it.... I use sand under my roosts and just scoop the poop every morning.. just like a litter box.. so easy and clean and stays fresh so you don’t have to worry much about ventilation... you still need some of course, but.... also would be easier to pull out.. I love it!! I did the pine shavings and found that difficult to clean each week and the smell was terrible in our heat! But you must try and do what you feel is best for your setup.. but I couldn’t help but mention sand as it’s been so wonderful and easy! Enjoy your gals.. can’t wait to see them

Hi WhoDat - I'm right with you on the sand! I have a sack of soft builders sand that will go in the tray once I've made my modifications.

 

[Ali James]

Question re water:

Do your chooks have access to water within their sleeping quarters? I have a drinker for the girls but it is for outside in the run. Do they need something inside as well? Bare in mind the temperature in the UK is generally fairly mild.

 

[Kris5902]

The only time I gave my chickens water/feed in their roosting space or the “coop” part of my tractors was when we had a nasty cold snap last February and everything was frozen right up... I couldn’t move them due to a few feet (crazy!!!) of snow and their waterers were freezing up in the space of a few hours. Everyone refused to leave the roosting box so I was sticking my head in and holding little Tupperware containers of warmed water for them every few hours! I tried to leave the food outside but they would cluster at the door looking at it, go maybe a foot down the ramp then “nope, not that hungry!” It lasted a whole horrible week.

I usually keep their hanging feeders in the run area, and lift them up and hang them from the hooks on the rafters at bedtime. We have a lot of rodents here and this helps reduce the number of them hanging out in my coops, there’s still usually one or two surprised mice every evening when I stick my head through the door for the evening headcount, but there’s nothing for them to eat and no really nice spot to nest so they move along and are always gone by morning. Can’t blame a mouse for trying though!

Edit: forgot we were talking waterers!

My waterers also live in the run, I let the girls out every morning and they go straight to the food and water, but they don’t drink at night. So, as long as I don’t sleep in it works just fine. If the door between the coop and run stays open it’s basically a non issue though. We have high humidity and I don’t want to add any moisture to the coop area I don’t absolutely have to. Disclaimer: I’m having internet issues here and haven’t managed to get the video to run... really looking forward to seeing your set-up/review!

 

[Ali James]

Thanks Kris, that's really helpful.

This evening I have fitted self adhesive vinyl tiles to the floor of the poop tray and the nesting boxes, and sealed it all with a transparent waterproof silicone. It doesn't look all that pretty, but once the sand and the pine shavings are down, it won't look any different.

Last night I was driving off to Bingo with a friend and spotted some large tree stumps by the side of the road. To my friends amazement, I slammed the breaks on, reversed back, jumped out of the drivers seat and promptly loaded up the wood pieces. Its all rotting and falling apart and must be a little slice of chicken heaven! I know lots of folk on BYC do this sort of thing, and it made me smile and feel like one of you!!

Anyway ... as you were...