Between the Bees, Coop Outfitting

[we3ernes]

My dad was here for Christmas so we were able to add electricity to the coop!

Buried a line from the garage over to the coop. This section will be inside the run so we covered it in schedule 40 pvc. The run wall will be a few inches away from the electrical, so it won’t be a trip hazard for long! The white thing next to it is an exterior outlet with a cover. I imagine it will be used for a immersable water heater.

Light switch, it has a timer in case I want to extend their “daylight” hours. All the interior wiring is in flexible metal conduit.

Plug (on right) is in the storage area, light is a “hog light”....


Hog light (at least that is what they are called around here).

Upper plug for a powered exhaust fan or regular fan. Lower plug is for in coop brooding (mama heating pan).

 

[we3ernes]

Had a few warmer days so was able to get a few things accomplished:

The interior of the coop (using a panorama). You can see that the first window is done and currently propped on a stick. You can also see the divider wall between the storage area (where I am standing) and the coop proper.

Here is the window from the outside. From this angle it is difficult to see, but it is over 48” wide and 36” tall. I am looking at putting the window on ropes so I can adjust it as needed. There aren’t gutters yet, I’m noodling on how to fit 16’ aluminum gutters in the back of an 8’ pickup without A) damaging the gutters B) getting pulled over or C) scaring the daylights out of passing motorists. We also need to decide if the rain barrels will go at the front or the back of the coop (front is my choice, trying to get hubby on board!)

One bonus to having the porch is having a “loft” area above it. So I can better utilize the space I added a ladder....

So I can get up to (and in, if absolutely necessary) the space. The yellow handle is from an old swing set.

There is room for a few bales of pine chips up there, and anything else I might need to store (my brooder?)

Tomorrow is supposed to be warm and dry, so I hope to get some work done on the poop boards, the divider screens, and maybe a pop door.

Trying to get as much done now as possible as I go in for neck surgery in three weeks. I had a spinal fusion four years ago and it took really, really well, so well that my bone just kept on growing into the spinal canal. now they have to remove the back half of my spine at three of the vertebrae. It sounds really awful, but according to my neurosurgeon the recovery is easier than the fusion I had!

On a happier note my chicks should be hatching tomorrow! I expect them on Tuesday or Wednesday!

 

[we3ernes]

And this is not the coop build, but this is my thread, so I will temporarily hijack it to show you what I did when it was too cold/rainy to work on the coop:

Our “Chick TV” set up. They will only be here (and only be in the bin) for two weeks after that the bin will move out to the coop where it will become their huddle box.

Close up of the bin, the red thing in the middle is a door that can fasten out of the way once it become a huddle box.

Both sides of the top hinge up out of the way and of course the entire lid removes for clean out.

Mama heating pad, a little large for this box, but once this becomes the huddle box it will be turned sideways and will be able to accommodate the chicks as they get larger.

Fairly standard assembly - wire rack on wood frame with bolt legs, heating pad, old dishcloth.

Really proud of this contraption, it is based on several of @aart ’s designs. Vertical nipple waterer over a hardware cloth covered plastic tray (to contain moisture/drips).

Different angle lets you see how it adjusts (in ½” increments) upwards. Elastic bungee allows for easy removal.

This Air Force Academy Chapel look-alike is an experimental chick feeder.

It is an icecube tray with a cheap (Dollar Tree) cooling rack bent over it. The tray is held at the right angle by two pieces of plastic (left over from the brooder lid) zip tied to it.

Larger zip ties act as retaining clips for the tray and also as outriggers for the entire contraption (so it doesn’t tip over on any hapless chicks!)

 

[aart]

LOVE the ice cube tray feeder...curious how that rack will work out.
Should reduce the 'perching and pooping' syndrome.
I hate when they do that...never found a good solution, but might try this.
Could always put it in a 'frame' to help stabilize it if tipping is a problem.
Larger board with hole cut to cube fit tray...and adjustable legs!(bolts and Tnuts) to raise it as they get bigger.

Waterer looks great too....I like how you think!
Remember you need a tiny hole in lid to prevent vacuum.

The bin lid looks very familiar
Hate to say it, but not sure they for 2 weeks.
Once you get that feeder and waterer in there, might not be room for chicks.
Maybe you have smaller feed/water for the bin?
How many are you getting...and when?

Loft....they're gonna want to get up there...might have to block it off.

 

[jthornton]

That's going to be a super coop for sure.

One thing I observed when I had a top opening brooder the chicks would run and try to hide when I approached from the top. It's a hard wired defense from flying predators. When I changed to a side opening and approached from their level it was a whole different response to me. They would hop up on my arms and come to see what I was up to.

I love your inventions and I may copy your window cover in my shed conversion.

JT

 

[we3ernes]

LOVE the ice cube tray feeder...curious how that rack will work out.
Should reduce the 'perching and pooping' syndrome.
I hate when they do that...never found a good solution, but might try this.
Could always put it in a 'frame' to help stabilize it if tipping is a problem.
Larger board with hole cut to cube fit tray...and adjustable legs!(bolts and Tnuts) to raise it as they get bigger.

Waterer looks great too....I like how you think!
Remember you need a tiny hole in lid to prevent vacuum.

The bin lid looks very familiar
Hate to say it, but not sure they for 2 weeks.
Once you get that feeder and waterer in there, might not be room for chicks.
Maybe you have smaller feed/water for the bin?
How many are you getting...and when?

Loft....they're gonna want to get up there...might have to block it off.

I have other options available for feeders, so I can experiment with this one and see how it works, the space between the wires might be a little narrow, but the wires are very easily bent, so I might squeeze every other one if it appears too narrow.

The waterer does have a small hole in one of the “shoulders” of the bottle. I can’t remember why now, but I didn’t want the hole in the lid itself.

It might end up being a little small past the first week, I’ll have to play it by ear. The tub IS bigger than it looks without context. The main purpose was to have them in the house for the first few days so I could keep a closer eye on them. Once they start looking crowded I can move them out to the coop.

I’ll be getting 9, 8 that I chose and a “Meyer Meal Maker”. Not sure what the survival rate is on hatchery chicks, but assuming they all survive they should have plenty of room the first week and be right at ½ sq.ft./chick the second (that includes subtracting out space for the feeder/waterer).

There is “chicken wire” (actually a plastic poultry net) going in between the coop and storage area and the loft is over the storage area, so they won’t have access to it.

 

[we3ernes]

That's going to be a super coop for sure.

One thing I observed when I had a top opening brooder the chicks would run and try to hide when I approached from the top. It's a hard wired defense from flying predators. When I changed to a side opening and approached from their level it was a whole different response to me. They would hop up on my arms and come to see what I was up to.

I love your inventions and I may copy your window cover in my shed conversion.

JT

JT, I’ve seen that phenomenon as well. I plan on using the little red door to access the chicks and use the top openings to access food and water. We’ll have to see if that works.

This year I was focusing on outfitting the coop, but if we decide we want to brood every year then I will make a larger purpose built brooder with side openings for this very reason.

 

[aart]

I plan on using the little red door to access the chicks and use the top openings to access food and water.

I didn't look too close at this the first time around.....clever!

 

[jthornton]

JT, I’ve seen that phenomenon as well. I plan on using the little red door to access the chicks and use the top openings to access food and water. We’ll have to see if that works.

I missed that little red door completely when I looked, it will be interesting to see how they react when you open the small door. Are you going to remove them before servicing the brooder?

JT

 

[paneubert]

My only real comment is that the future bee hives you mention planning to build may end up with the bees showing an interest in your chicken feed. It is occasionally posted as a question on here. People freaking out when they find a swarm on their chicken feeder. They will move on eventually.