Between the Bees, Coop Outfitting

[we3ernes]

Awesome!! Great pics!
One thought, poop board better be darn clean before flipping it up

Missed replying to this before. I was wondering how this will handle. I need to test it out, but I don’t plan on keeping a roost there while it is being used as a pen. Hopefully that means less poop on this particular board. Then anything that will slide should go to the back and onto the blocking between the 2x4s. Anything that won’t slide probably doesn’t matter!

 

[we3ernes]

Yeah, I followed that for my center door...mistake...but easily fixed with a piece of wood and a couple screws. I don't paint or trim....I do sand all sharp edges tho.

I have a unreasonable fear of mite infestation. I know that if I keep it clean I should be fine, but I have a loathing for the little critters that demands I caulk, prime, and paint EVERYTHING! Plus it will make the space a little brighter which will be a bonus. My eyes aren’t what they used to be.

 

[aart]

Not sure 'clean' will deter mites, but caulking and painting all cracks and crevices will surely help deter them from taking up residence.

 

[we3ernes]

It’s moving day! I’ve been so busy painting that I haven’t had time take & post photos.

I have a flip up door with food and water on the other side. Eventually the food and water will move to the run, but this will be handy for now. There was no particular reason for the slats, I was just using up wood I had on hand.

On the opposite side is where the nesting boxes will go, so this side is just firmly wedge in place (as in it took a hammer to get it in properly!)

Mindful that this will be used as a Dutch door only about 10% of the time I devised a simple “bolt” to hold the two doors together. The nail just slides out when I want to separate the two (and then is stored by inserting into just the two lower eyescrews).

These were a birthday gift from my dad - a chick feeder (has four tiny ports for 0-5 weeks and four larger ports for 6-12 weeks) and a 5 gallon horizontal nipple waterer. They are sitting on blocks of wood to hold them at the appropriate height.

I added rope “hangers” to keep them from getting toppled by rambunctious chicks. That shelf is 6’3” off the floor, time will tell if they will try to fly that high (I realize that many do, but most of my chicks are heavier breeds). If they do I’ll continue the poultry netting up to the ceiling.

Here is the brooder area with the lid and doors open. Since I don’t currently have any older chickens my plan is to let the chicks roam the entire coop during the day and then lock them in this area at night. I’ll put their baby waterer in with them so they have a source of water in the brooder.

Here is a close up of the “huddle box”. The wall behind the box and the one to the right are both insulated. The box itself slides out so I can remove it when I’m not brooding. The portion that you see with PDZ sprinkled on it is actually the top of the mama heating pad (MHP). You can see the cord coming up on the right side of the box (center of the photo) to the controller which is suspended from eyehooks and plugged in on the far right of the photos.

This is a side view of that shelf. The left is the front the right is the rear. Top board is some kind of melamine coated board (same thing I made the poop board out of) so poop should scrape off easily. I made it wedge shaped so that the rear is lower than the front, but the top stays fairly level for when the chicks jump on top.

The heating pad is covered with an old dishcloth and held in place by a piece of paracord that is run through slots in the front and rear of the shelf.

A better view of the slots.

Very excited to show them their new digs!

 

[aart]

Love the paracord idea!

Angle spacer is unnecessary, they wouldn't have any trouble with that slight angle, and spacer will insulate heat from the top where they love to sit when the underneath gets too warm.

Is the pad height adjustable? Oh, now I see the pin holes.

Still I worry about only one side having egress.
Is it easy to lift up to do a quick check on them?

Can't wait to see them bopping around!!

Oh love the feed water access idea too, let us know how that works out.
Where did the feeder and waterer come from(link?), never seen those before.

 

[we3ernes]

Love the paracord idea!

Angle spacer is unnecessary, they wouldn't have any trouble with that slight angle, and spacer will insulate heat from the top where they love to sit when the underneath gets too warm.

Is the pad height adjustable? Oh, now I see the pin holes.

Still I worry about only one side having egress.
Is it easy to lift up to do a quick check on them?

Can't wait to see them bopping around!!

Oh love the feed water access idea too, let us know how that works out.
Where did the feeder and waterer come from(link?), never seen those before.

Hey @aart, It is easy to lift the shelf up, there are blocks in the back to keep it from sliding off the pins and there is an elastic on the top of the box that latches to a eyehook on the front of the shelf to hold it in a vertical position so I can clean out the area.

The wedge shape wasn’t particularly necessary, but I did need to reinforce the white melamine (it bowed too much for my comfort). Initially I was going to add some wood strips, but then I got the idea of notching the hardboard and making the sandwich.

The feeder was from My Pet Chicken, but they are currently out of stock (a personal beef with My Pet Chicken, they completely remove an item from their webpage when it is out of stock). I did find a link to it on Amazon, but it is out of stock there as well, https://www.amazon.com/RentACoop-Chick-Port-Feeder/dp/B07D5L2T84
and the waterer was from Amazon, https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B016AFYT4Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Both were “made” (or at least branded) by the company RentACoop, https://www.rentacoop.com/

I did wonder about having only one side open, but it really is oversized for the number of chicks I have. The width of the heating pad is 24”, but the width of the box is 27”. The depth of the pad is 12” and the depth of the box is 14”.

It won’t let me upload a video, but here are some stills:



The look tiny again!

 

[blackdog043]

Since I don’t currently have any older chickens my plan is to let the chicks roam the entire coop during the day and then lock them in this area at night.

I would keep them in the brooder area for a few days or week, so they get used to using the MHP. Just in case you hadn't thought about that.
If you don't have covers to plug into the receptacles, to keep dust out, it would be a good idea to get some. Now we need picks of the chicks inside there new home!

Where did the feeder and waterer come from(link?), never seen those before.

I was wondering the same thing.

EDIT: I was posting when you were, they look great in there!

 

[aart]

The wedge shape wasn’t particularly necessary, but I did need to reinforce the white melamine (it bowed too much for my comfort).

Ah, yes, understand the need for stiffening the span.....common issue with the 'MHP'.

I did wonder about having only one side open, but it really is oversized for the number of chicks I have. The width of the heating pad is 24”, but the width of the box is 27”. The depth of the pad is 12” and the depth of the box is 14”.

It is now, but might not be in a week or so.
I count 8 chicks?


Thanks for the feeder link...are there down turned 'pipe' elbows inside attached to ports?
If you get a chance, snap a pic of the inside please?

They sure look happy...nice bunch!

 

[we3ernes]

Ah, yes, understand the need for stiffening the span.....common issue with the 'MHP'.


It is now, but might not be in a week or so.
I count 8 chicks?


Thanks for the feeder link...are there down turned 'pipe' elbows inside attached to ports?
If you get a chance, snap a pic of the inside please?

They sure look happy...nice bunch!

I tried to get a pic of the inside of the feeder, but it is full up! I tried to get a closer shot of the ports though....

 

[aart]

That tells the tale, built in baffle, no need to see inside....thanks!
Looks like RAC had those made...they paid for the die so their name is molded right into the part.