Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[cwrite]

You know, if the police turn up looking for my cockrel due to noise issues, I would be sad, but okay with it as long as they'd also take away the teenage guys next door who scream violent expletives at their poor girlfriends when they come visit.

 

[ChristieB]

I think when I get to building my coop I will either bury breeze blocks the perimeter of the run (we have heaps from a wall in the outdoor area) or when they do the slab for the shed get them to do the perimeter of the run too , it will be right on the fence in our little backyard so burying wire isn't really possible unless I go into the neighbours yard. I will have a row of wide pavers around the outside too. The run only going to be about 2x 4-5metres so that will work for us

 

[tandykins]

For coop cleaning, the best thing I find is the karcher pressure washer.

I shovel out the droppings, etc, into a bucket. They don't smell and are clean, as I mix zeolite and diatomaceous earth into the bedding under the roost. They dry up neatly, which is worth it! Both of those items are compost safe, so it all goes into the compost.

Then every weekend that it is sunny, I pressure wash the whole coop. As long as I've shoveled it out, it's clean, and it has a concrete floor, which makes that a breeze.

I let it try out, and then I sprinkle in zeolite and diatomaceous earth, and clippings from my wormwood plants. Wormwood also smells nice. I make sure to toss plenty of more edible weeds in there so they don't go crazy.

It's honestly not that much work, maybe 20 minutes, and I get to have silkies who always have clean fluffy feet. I'm sure I'll get parasites one day - there's simply no way to avoid it. I need to worm all of them actually, just in case...

Here is one of my silkies showing off her blowdry:

I pressure wash my entire coop top to bottom once every 2 weeks. Every nook and cranny gets blasted until I can't see even the staining from poop. It takes about 45 minutes - probably because the floor is just straight ply. We intend to cover it in lino as soon as we can source some.

I lay down compacted bedding for easier clean-up and mix it with diatomaceous earth.

Then, daily (sometimes a couple of times a day) I go in and clean the poop trays (the sides from old server cabinets) with the pressure washer and pick up all of the visible poop and chuck it in the compost. This keeps the coop fresh between proper cleanings. Every day the floor must be poop-free.

The roosts are taken out and hosed off once every other day or so but are only pressure washed once every fortnight (because they require sanding after each pressure wash).

I take a lot of pride in my very clean and non-smelly coop. However, I have noticed that pretty much no matter what I do there are always flies in there. :/

 

[Ashburnham]

I know, just one, shocking right

I am leaning towards concrete but not sure if it's going to be quite expensive. Wouldn't need reinforcing steel as well just for a chook pen floor would I?
(I'm not actually sure we have hardware cloth here vehve, or if we do what it's called or what is used for normally)

The house also has flooded before, year before last it was a big mud puddle and I had to put bread crates all over the floor to keep the chooks out of the mud. Thinking whatever I do also needs to raise the ground level.

I've also made sure I've got a wall I can later add an automatic door . Another project for another day!

Concrete is one of the cheapest building materials around - providing you mix it yourself.
Every few years I order a truckload of sand and screenings, usually mix it in a wheelbarrow, Good exercise too.
I use old concrete rubble and broken bricks as filler, and any metal rubbish lying around for reinforcing

I also make my own concrete pavers by pouring concrete into a wooden framework.

Hardware cloth is just the Yank word for many types of wire mesh.

xxxxx M

 

[K Spot]

Marans babies nearly 4 weeks old

 

[Ashburnham]

I think when I get to building my coop I will either bury breeze blocks the perimeter of the run (we have heaps from a wall in the outdoor area) or when they do the slab for the shed get them to do the perimeter of the run too , it will be right on the fence in our little backyard so burying wire isn't really possible unless I go into the neighbours yard. I will have a row of wide pavers around the outside too. The run only going to be about 2x 4-5metres so that will work for us

A cheap solution I have developed for chook house foundations is treated pine sleepers laid on edge buried most of the way into the soil.
I build the frame of the house on top of this. It wont last as long as concrete but will probably see me out.

xxxxx M

 

[Steampunked]

@tandykins, we still have some flies too, grr. Thank God for pressure washers though. How many chickens do you have? Mine seem to poop a bit too quickly for me to easily scoop so the roosts get scooped to the concrete floor and then more sawdust applies on both. But I'm worried about Winter - I leave in the dark and return in the dark, and am not relishing the idea of my midweek duties!

I need to work out a solution...I hate Winter now as for three months I only see daylight on a Saturday and Sunday! It got so bad last year I had to get myself a daylight lamp for inside the house.

 

[Ashburnham]

Foundation of treated pine sleeper.

 

[Ashburnham]

@tandykins , we still have some flies too, grr. Thank God for pressure washers though. How many chickens do you have? Mine seem to poop a bit too quickly for me to easily scoop so the roosts get scooped to the concrete floor and then more sawdust applies on both. But I'm worried about Winter - I leave in the dark and return in the dark, and am not relishing the idea of my midweek duties!

I need to work out a solution...I hate Winter now as for three months I only see daylight on a Saturday and Sunday! It got so bad last year I had to get myself a daylight lamp for inside the house.

I use the deep litter system and shovel the waste out once a year onto the veggie gardens.

 

[appps]

I use the deep litter system and shovel the waste out once a year onto the veggie gardens.

Yes that's us too, except when it rains and it gets wet it stops being deep litter and becomes deep muck.

I can't hose at the moment without turning their floor to mud.