Beginner Coop / Run Ideas Please!

[3KillerBs]

It's looking good!

As long as your fully-feathered chickens have the option to be dry -- the dry, well-ventilated coop -- you can allow them to get as wet as they care to be when they choose to be. Remember, chickens know how to be chickens better than we know how to be chickens.

Here are mine getting soaked in 40F rain back in January! https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wet-hens.1442537/

Give them a nice, big pile of pine straw in their run. I put three lawnsweepers full of pine straw and lawn clippings yesterday before the rain came.

The great thing about pine straw is that it dries out on top almost as soon as the rain stops.

 

[3KillerBs]

P.S. My Ladies hold me personally responsible for the weather and will follow me around the fenceline complaining if it's not to their liking.

 

[ciananh33]

P.S. My Ladies hold me personally responsible for the weather and will follow me around the fenceline complaining if it's not to their liking.

Absolutely. I feel you on that one, lol.

 

[rosemarythyme]

As long as the coop stays dry, that's the important thing. Even if they go to bed with wet feathers, as long as there's a dry coop and ample ventilation, they'll dry off overnight without issue.

You'll probably need more trenching/drainage as it sounds like water will be an ongoing issue whenever it rains heavily.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

They need grit for digestion. Most of us provide it in a separate container always available. It goes in their gizzard to grind up their food. I'd recommend that, it will be cleaner than the sand they poop in. They also need a separate container of oyster shell, it provides calcium for egg formation. Sorry about the rain! But it looks like you're surviving okay. Good luck!

 

[Hillcrest homestead]

I know this is already been addressed but you may consider the chickens didn’t roost because the clear roof made them worry about exposure to hawks