Best design choices for Silkies

[chachabella]

So, assuming that silkies can't fly, wont climb a ramp, prefer to huddle in a corner instead hopping up on roost bars... what are the design options for building a silkie coop. Pretty much it turns into just a big dog house that sits on the ground, right?? And if they won't sit on the roost bars is it okay to fill the whole inside with PDZ?

We really were hoping to build a shed, and using half of it for the chickens, and the other half for tool storage. I was really looking forward to all of the amenities like electricity, human sized doors, raised nesting boxes that I won't have to toop over to check. But if in reality all that silkies need is a small house that pretty much sits ground level, a shed seems rather overkill.

We live in Missouri and get the worst of winter and the worst of summer.
Thoughts??

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I would definitely go with a shed if it were me (I do have two shed coops). They will practically LIVE in there all winter. They will enjoy the room.

I tried PDZ all over but don't like it in anything but a very thin layer. I now have switched to sand. I scrape it with a plastic rake every other day and use a kitty litter scoop to get the solids out. It is great. I use the play sand in bags.

What is so nice about a shed is that they can live in there and you can visit with them without freezing. Also you can make a shavings pit for them inside a kiddie pool if you feel that the sand or PDZ floor is too cold for them to sleep in. They will lay eggs in the pool though, so it can be like an egghunt.

They will get up on a roost bar that is low, if they are adventurous silkies. I would recommend maybe 8 inches off the ground or thereabouts. If the silkies are in a mixed flock they may roost higher, with "stairs" to get to the higher roosts. This can be awful, however, as I witnessed one silkie falling from about 3 feet up and it was a sickening thud. (I fixed it at the time.)