Any Problem with Oversized Nesting Boxes? My Current Footprint?

[Ridgerunner]

What size grating are you using? I use 1/2" hardware cloth on the bottom of my brooder and the grow-out coop. The poop falls through or gets sratched through until they are maybe 14 weeks old, then it starts to build up. I don't know what size grating will be needed so older chickens' poop will fall through. I seriously doubt 1" opening would be enough but I truly don't know.

I would not count on washing it off. You really don't want it ti get wet. You can get smell problems big time. If you clean it out and really air it out, that's OK, but don't leave wet poop in there.

 

[JeffOeuf]

Yeah, now I agree that you're over-thinking this.

Search and read a little on the disadvantages of mesh floor. I don't think it is what you want for your birds. I could be wrong, but think about it...would you want to walk barefoot on welded wire? I would go with a solid floor, apply a thick bed of rice hulls, add a couple tuna cans full of DE and clean it out every 5 or 6 weeks. Between rice hulls and DE, the poop dries almost immediately and my coop has zero smell and no flies. Rice hulls should be readily available in your area, I think. If not pine shavings work almost as well.
When it is time to clean, I just open the big door and rake it out. Your plan is going to involve working in the one place that you don't want to, and that is under the coop. All your sliding floors and trays are fine on paper, but chickens are going to poop where you don't want them to and kick bedding into all the working parts of your mechanisms. Then, they won't work like they did on paper, particularly if your plan is to clean twice a year.

 

[makemineirish]

What size grating are you using? I use 1/2" hardware cloth on the bottom of my brooder and the grow-out coop. The poop falls through or gets sratched through until they are maybe 14 weeks old, then it starts to build up. I don't know what size grating will be needed so older chickens' poop will fall through. I seriously doubt 1" opening would be enough but I truly don't know.
I would not count on washing it off. You really don't want it ti get wet. You can get smell problems big time. If you clean it out and really air it out, that's OK, but don't leave wet poop in there.

Thanks. I wanted to upcycle some iron grates that I had on hand, but did not realize that the poops might be too large. I think that this is a design flaw to address. Thanks for helping me trouble-shoot the blueprint. It is a lot easier to fix things in the sketch stage than the construction.

 

[theoldchick]

This chicken is perfectly happy to lay her egg in an empty feed bag.


If you are worried about large nest boxes, put more bedding in them. Mine prefer hay over pine shavings. They really like to pull material over them and piddle with the stems while they wait for the egg to come.

 

[makemineirish]

Yeah, now I agree that you're over-thinking this.

Search and read a little on the disadvantages of mesh floor. I don't think it is what you want for your birds. I could be wrong, but think about it...would you want to walk barefoot on welded wire? I would go with a solid floor, apply a thick bed of rice hulls, add a couple tuna cans full of DE and clean it out every 5 or 6 weeks. Between rice hulls and DE, the poop dries almost immediately and my coop has zero smell and no flies. Rice hulls should be readily available in your area, I think. If not pine shavings work almost as well.
When it is time to clean, I just open the big door and rake it out. Your plan is going to involve working in the one place that you don't want to, and that is under the coop. All your sliding floors and trays are fine on paper, but chickens are going to poop where you don't want them to and kick bedding into all the working parts of your mechanisms. Then, they won't work like they did on paper, particularly if your plan is to clean twice a year.

Thanks. I was not using welded wire, rather upcycling iron grates. I thought (perhaps incorrectly) that they would allow bantam-sized poop to pass through and be solid enough for comfortable walking. More importantly, I was hoping that they would provide some much needed ventilation when combined with vents near the roof. I live in Austin, TX and am trying to plan the coop appropriately for month long stretches of 100+ degree heat.

The grate would be completely removable to allow for thorough cleaning and sun-drying before replacing it. When removed, the area beneath would be fully accessible to roll the wheelbarrow up and scoop away.

Between Ridgerunner's take on the grate size and your input on its usage, it sounds like a design flaw. I did am more than happy to switch to solid floors. I could even cover them in linoleum, as other posters have done. I know that rice hulls are available in Gonzales and might be able to find them closer to home. Shavings are no problem.

My remaining concern in replacing the iron grates with solid flooring would be ventilation. My design and materials are outwardly similar to http://heatherbullard.typepad.com/heather_bullard_collectio/2010/03/our-chicken-coop.html.
The previous concept was that an iron grate floor and grate portholes near the roofline would allow for a decent level of airflow. If I abandon the mesh floor, what is the alternative for ventilation, matching porthole grates at the bottom of the wall?

I prefer to fix any design flaws in the pencil an paper stage (when it is far cheaper and less labor-intensive) than during the construction. Thanks for helping me trouble-shoot the plans

.

 

[makemineirish]

This chicken is perfectly happy to lay her egg in an empty feed bag.

If you are worried about large nest boxes, put more bedding in them. Mine prefer hay over pine shavings. They really like to pull material over them and piddle with the stems while they wait for the egg to come.

Thanks, I will do that. I really appreciate it when people have taken the time to experiment with or observe preferences. I could care less whether I provide them with shavings, hay, rice hulls, or a silk pillow. It is simply a matter of WHICH one to grab at the store. (Although a silk pillow is a bit more difficult to find at Callahan's General Feed and Ranch.)

 

[aoxa]

I live in Austin, TX. Cold is rarely the problem. Rather, I am being careful in the placement, construction materials, and venting to ensure that I do not cook my chickens . In answer to the question on coop size, my tentative plan is a: - 6' square henhouse with two external 3'w x 3'h x 18" nesting areas with modular dividers forming as many as eight nesting boxes - 6' x 12' fully-roofed run with another 6' running beneath the henhouse. That gives me 36sft of interior space(excluding nest boxes) and 108 sqft of run. My math indicates that the henhouse is sufficient for nine standard chickens and as many as eighteen bantams (while I am only planning on 7-9). The run should be adequate for ten of either. Although...I keep expanding the plan. Based on research and suggestions in my "Indispensable Features" thread, I am trying to incorporate: - Complete exterior access to everything
- Exterior nesting boxes with modular subdividers
- Raised hen house with mesh floor to allow for deep litter
- Removable hen house floor for thorough cleaning
- Removable bins in nest boxes for cleaning
- Interior doors on nest boxes to prevent entry when warranted
- Coop door wide enough to accommodate a wheelbarrow.
- Automatic door on hen house triggered by light exposure (if the cost-benefit analysis can sway me to drop $200 on one)
- Hanging feed and water
- Staggered height roosts (for a safe ladder to the highest roost)
- Windows on the henhouse to easily view chickens, food, and water
- Dutch doors
- Gutters
- Rainwater collection barrel
(This is why the significant other hates for me to design things. He could happily build a shanty out of discarded shipping crates before I am done drafting detailed blueprints .) My understanding is that bantams need just as much outdoor space as standards because they are typically more active. I also plan to have a 3'w x 2'h tunnel that runs along my fence on the opposite side of the henhouse from the run. I can simply add to the length as time permits until they have a track down the length of the yard, providing another 3 sqft per linear foot of "tunnel". The tunnel would not be predator-proof, but would only be for daytime excursions. I would love to free-range them, but read that bantams are still relatively flight-capable; my fence is only 6' near the house and 4' at the rear property line. I am concerned that the best outcome I could hope for to an unimpeded walkabout... would be bare-assed chickens and feather-bearded neighbor dogs. As to what I am doing with my birds... Primarily, they would be pets. Their only job would be to rid the vegetable garden of bugs when I can turn them loose without fear for fruits and shoots. The vegetable garden is currently 11'w x 28'l x 10'h, and fully enclosed with 3/4" hardware cloth. I intend to eat the eggs, but never chickens that I have cosseted and named . I am allowing for the possibility of having chicks, but usually do not like to reproduce anything that I am not keeping. It is going to be hard enough to find homes for any excess roos from my initial chicks. I may caponize them to facilitate re-homing...or to keep them. The brooder area would be easy enough and I love the idea for an isolation chamber option. If I built a temporary fence separating the 36 sqft of run beneath the henhouse and included a trapdoor/ladder from the double-box...I could have a coop-within-a-coop at will! You've got me spinning off on another tangent! Thanks for the props on what most people consider to be WAY over-thinking. The boyfriend tries not to roll his eyes when he asks me what an shape on the sketch is, only to hear a non-funtional item like "lantern", "planter", "chandelier", etc as a response .

Wow.. I don't think I've ever met someone so organized It's nice to hear how you are planning all these awesome features. I would like to have a lot of those things as well! Most people over think the breeds and not so much the coop design. We didn't really spend much time coming up with our first, but I need to build a separate coop for my roosters. I'd like something practical and easily accessible. The roosters are just too ambitious (that's a nice way of putting it) with the girls, so they need a separate area after breeding season. Have you thought about automatic feeders & waterers? More so with the water.. I would say that is the most time consuming part of my job taking care of them. Having access to fresh water very close to the feeding stations is very important to me. I would die if I had to take all my waterers up to the house to fill (as my hose would not reach from the house to their barn!). I fill up 8 waterers a day. You should also consider having water and food in two different locations, as someone is always low in the pecking order, and can be bullied away from food/water. I wouldn't worry too much about them jumping the fence. I have a 4' fence on the edge of my property. It doesn't go around the entire 2-3 acres, but it does go down 250 feet and is 4 feet high. They don't jump it at all. One rooster goes AROUND it. I always believe that a quarantine area is very important. For example, I have one rooster named George who is frightened easily and is bullied very badly if he is out with the flock. I have him in a separate area where he can see/hear everything going on, but they can't bother him. I also used this same location for a duck who injured her leg, and was being picked on by the other birds in the flock because of it. You just don't know how important/needed a quarantine area is until you do NEED it. Since you are planning this in so much detail, have you researched your town/village/city's bylaws? I don't know exactly where you are located, but even small communities can have issues with you keeping chickens. I've learned this the hard way.

 

[aoxa]

By automatic waterer - I'm talking the nipple water system. It's very easy and once they know how to drink out of it, so much less water is wasted and it does not get dirty as easily. Something to think about! Probably should have said this on your other thread, but oh well

 

[JeffOeuf]

...
My remaining concern in replacing the iron grates with solid flooring would be ventilation. My design and materials are outwardly similar to http://heatherbullard.typepad.com/heather_bullard_collectio/2010/03/our-chicken-coop.html.
The previous concept was that an iron grate floor and grate portholes near the roofline would allow for a decent level of airflow. If I abandon the mesh floor, what is the alternative for ventilation, matching porthole grates at the bottom of the wall?

I prefer to fix any design flaws in the pencil an paper stage (when it is far cheaper and less labor-intensive) than during the construction. Thanks for helping me trouble-shoot the plans

.

That's a lovely coop, and fundamentally similar to mine (raised floor, covered run, area under floor as part of run). What I see missing is windows. Chickens lives revolve around the sun, and Heather's lovely coop has not one single window in the coop. I have windows on three sides of my coop. They have glass multiple pane windows on loose pin hinges. In the summer the windows get completely removed. The roof overhang keeps rain out and there's very little limit to the amount of air flow going through. I just finished installing the windows for this coming fall and winter. When it is nice, I can prop them open to get the amount of ventilation I want. Just stating an opinion (and a newbie one at at that), but I would rather have windows and light in the coop than a ventilated floor.

 

[makemineirish]

Wow.. I don't think I've ever met someone so organized

It's nice to hear how you are planning all these awesome features. I would like to have a lot of those things as well! Most people over think the breeds and not so much the coop design. We didn't really spend much time coming up with our first, but I need to build a separate coop for my roosters. I'd like something practical and easily accessible. The roosters are just too ambitious (that's a nice way of putting it) with the girls, so they need a separate area after breeding season.
Have you thought about automatic feeders & waterers? More so with the water.. I would say that is the most time consuming part of my job taking care of them. Having access to fresh water very close to the feeding stations is very important to me. I would die if I had to take all my waterers up to the house to fill (as my hose would not reach from the house to their barn!). I fill up 8 waterers a day. You should also consider having water and food in two different locations, as someone is always low in the pecking order, and can be bullied away from food/water.
I wouldn't worry too much about them jumping the fence. I have a 4' fence on the edge of my property. It doesn't go around the entire 2-3 acres, but it does go down 250 feet and is 4 feet high. They don't jump it at all. One rooster goes AROUND it.
I always believe that a quarantine area is very important. For example, I have one rooster named George who is frightened easily and is bullied very badly if he is out with the flock. I have him in a separate area where he can see/hear everything going on, but they can't bother him. I also used this same location for a duck who injured her leg, and was being picked on by the other birds in the flock because of it. You just don't know how important/needed a quarantine area is until you do NEED it.

Since you are planning this in so much detail, have you researched your town/village/city's bylaws? I don't know exactly where you are located, but even small communities can have issues with you keeping chickens. I've learned this the hard way.

Absolutely!

I live in Austin, TX (a fairly chicken-friendly town). The city code stipulates that I cannot keep a noisy animal and outlines setback guidelines. Beyond that, I can have as many as six goats (as long as they are female or neutered males), as many chickens as are housed appropriately, and miniature livestock! It's a cool town. I doubt that my neighbors care if I have chickens. However, I am hoping to house the chickens in an pristine enough fashion that they are unlikely to know they are there. Frankly, the city code does not even preclude a rooster as long as it is not noisy. I went on a coop tour where the chicken owner simply kept their French Copper Maran rooster in the laundry room at night, returning him to his harem each morning!

I had a cooler place to put the coop, a niche in my yard bordered by the house, neighbor's fence, and the fence separating my front and back yard. Sandwiched against my foundation and and cemented fence posts, it would have been pretty impenetrable with very little investment in materials and labor. Even cooler, a doorway added to the base of the fence separating my yards would have given the chickens access to the vegetable garden whenever I opened it. Furthermore, I could have watched the chickens out one window,...
but it wasn't within code as it would have been closer than 50ft to my neighbor's residence (and threatened the mental stability of their chicken-hungry dogs). I doubt my neighbors care or have a clue what the city code states, but was not willing to risk having to move it.

I have been contemplating automatic feeders/waterers, but I am a dork that likes feeding things. I get a twisted sense of accomplishment when I set down the freshly prepared dog bowls for the night. If all else in my day has gone awry, at least I am still the hero that fixed their world. However, I may need automatic options to give me the freedom to disappear for a few days without having to rely on a pet sitter.
As to convenience...
The proposed hen house location put it 20ft off my back patio within easy reach of the hose faucet. Even more convenient, the rainwater collection barrels are right there with spigots on the bottom. My plan is to store the feed in the blind corner created between the two external nest box quads on adjacent walls. The compost is 40ft away from the run door. I have a fairly big yard by Austin standards (0.8 acre), but liked the idea of having the chickens close by. The proximity of the coop is part of the reason for incorporating a variety of eye-candy features beyond efficiency.

Thanks for the personal experience on the fence height. I would love to give the chickens free-range time if it is possible. The fence between my yard and the chicken-eating dogs is 6' high privacy. However, the back fence is four foot cyclone to allow maximum visibility of the huge green space behind me. I am concerned that the wide open space and feed that some people put out for the deer might tempt my chickens to roam. (You are not supposed to feed the deer inside the city limits, but people do...causing the population of my backyard deer to be about 30!)

For the record, I am not that organized. I am just frugal and lazy enough to realize that some exhaustive planning is saves me quite a bit of expense, time, and labor. Furthermore, the planning can be done as a pretense for productivity while I watch TV (It's a recorded episode of "The Good Wife" right now). Labor, time, and money are not as easy to come by.

Besides, it has long been established that the significant other and I may both have English as a first language, but cannot understand each other. One too many trips to a hardware store picking up an item that met all the criteria given in the description,but was not the RIGHT item...
has impressed on both of us the importance of detailed blueprints/sketches to forestall any homicidal tendencies.

Everybody's suggestions have already impacted my design significantly. Dutch doors have been added to the back wall of the coop. The nest boxes are now modular in nature. The hen house floor is no longer iron grates, but solid with deep litter ABOVE it. I am going to incorporate trapdoor and temporary fence panel closing off the run beneath the hen house to create a coop-within-a-coop for non-contagious isolation purposes (brooder area, new introductions, injuries,etc). Now that the deep litter method is being employed in the hen house, I am going to raise the floor and the overall coop height. My original intention was to keep it completely out of my neighbor's view by making it the same height as the privacy fence. In my new arrangement, the roof will be visible over the fence. However, the boyfriend (whose a foot taller) will also be able to stand upright in the run and the wheelbarrow can be pushed right beneath the hen house floor to sweep it out.

It's quite a bit of work, but I am not planning for this to be done until spring, ....just in time for baby chicks. If you are interested, I will try to take pictures of the process, finished product, and features unique to my design. I cannot tell you how invaluable the collective wisdom has been thus far and really appreciate y'all taking the time to offer feedback on my hare-brained ideas.