Building a Woods Coop for DLM in the Shenandoah Valley

[DoozyWombat]

Agrees that those buckets need to be rotated 90°.

Curious why the roost 'stairs' are oriented as they are?
Usually they go the other way, but maybe there's good reason?

I did it that way because of the angle of the roof. I started measuring them out the other way, then realized there was not room for four bars properly spaced in that direction. Since I'm going to have big birds, and I didn't want them pooping on each other, I didn't want to make the spacing smaller. So they are set with the bars in roughly the same direction as the roof. The bars are spaced 12", both vertically and horizontally.

Humans would want to see them go the other way, but I didn't think chickens would care. As it is, all the bars have plenty of head space from the roof, and the highest has a lot of space (about four feet.) Once I harvest the CX, I expect the whole flock will be on that highest perch, facing the front, and easy to reach.

I am hoping I can catch birds without having to get them from the perches. If I end up having to do that, I may end up regretting the decision to reverse the bars.

 

[aart]

I did it that way because of the angle of the roof. I started measuring them out the other way, then realized there was not room for four bars properly spaced in that direction. Since I'm going to have big birds, and I didn't want them pooping on each other, I didn't want to make the spacing smaller. So they are set with the bars in roughly the same direction as the roof. The bars are spaced 12", both vertically and horizontally.

Humans would want to see them go the other way, but I didn't think chickens would care. As it is, all the bars have plenty of head space from the roof, and the highest has a lot of space (about four feet.) Once I harvest the CX, I expect the whole flock will be on that highest perch, facing the front, and easy to reach.

I am hoping I can catch birds without having to get them from the perches. If I end up having to do that, I may end up regretting the decision to reverse the bars.

That makes sense. Also thought easier to rake out underneath them....and...all roosts are maybe(?) more accessible if you need to grab a bird off the roost for an exam.

Ah. Showing my ignorance here. Again. No, Brahmas are definitely not tiny. I was planning to build the boxes out of scrap wood, but read some suggestions that cat litter tubs make great nesting boxes. I think the mouths are 11.5" wide by 14.5" long, tapering slightly to the bottom. So maybe they are too short as they are, but if I turn them so they are taller, perhaps that will be enough. I was concerned about it being too narrow, but from what you are saying, height is more important. I don't remember the depth, but it's something like 18".

And I really appreciate the feedback.

I'd forget the buckets and build some nests....at least 14W x 14D x 16H. Brahmas are big birds, and all birds like to be able to run around and around to get settled.
Buckets might work, many use them successfully.
I tried them and the birds chose larger nests.

 

[DoozyWombat]

That makes sense. Also thought easier to rake out underneath them....and...all roosts are maybe(?) more accessible if you need to grab a bird off the roost for an exam.

I'd forget the buckets and build some nests....at least 14W x 14D x 16H. Brahmas are big birds, and all birds like to be able to run around and around to get settled.
Buckets might work, many use them successfully.
I tried them and the birds chose larger nests.

Yes, cleaning was another reason. Even with DLM, I'm going to have to clean out under them, and it will be much easier this way. I forgot to mention that.

I'm going to rotate but keep the buckets and build a wood box per your recommendations. I'll have a small flock once they start laying, so we'll see what they want to do. You're probably right, and if they only use the box, then I'll replace the buckets.

 

[Molpet]

my BJG didn't use the cat litter boxes, but other people have good luck
The cx might never use the roosts, some of mine did use a low roost. I have five 22 wk olds mixed cx, that still aren't roosting

 

[DoozyWombat]

my BJG didn't use the cat litter boxes, but other people have good luck
The cx might never use the roosts, some of mine did use a low roost. I have five 22 wk olds mixed cx, that still aren't roosting

Wow, 22 weeks! It must be interesting to see how they manage their size over time. I don't plan to keep mine longer than 9 weeks at the most. Do yours forage okay? Could weight be a reason they aren't roosting?

Take it FWIW, but what if you tried a 2x4, narrow side up, just the width of the board off the top of the litter? So they'd only have to go up 3 1/2" to the roost, they wouldn't have to rest their keels on the wider side of the 2x4 (which some have said is harder for CX to do,) and they'd get into the habit of roosting. As they did, you could reset the board a little higher. Again, no experience here, so take it FWIW.

I've built a little play roost (based on Cackle Hatchery's "Roost Boost") for the chicks to start roosting on in the brooder. One of the things I'm worried about (as a totally inexperienced chicken keeper) is getting them to learn basic behaviors such as roosting, going up and down the ramp into the coop, and even coming in when the sun goes down. That's one reason why I'm getting all the chicks at once. I was going to get the CX, raise and harvest them, then get my breeding/layer flock, but I realized I didn't really want to be going through the teaching process twice. So I'm getting the breeding flock at the same time as the CX, and they will (hopefully) learn from each other. If/when I get another CX crop to raise, they will (again, hopefully) learn from the established flock.

 

[Molpet]

Wow, 22 weeks! It must be interesting to see how they manage their size over time. I don't plan to keep mine longer than 9 weeks at the most. Do yours forage okay? Could weight be a reason they aren't roosting?

Take it FWIW, but what if you tried a 2x4, narrow side up, just the width of the board off the top of the litter? So they'd only have to go up 3 1/2" to the roost, they wouldn't have to rest their keels on the wider side of the 2x4 (which some have said is harder for CX to do,) and they'd get into the habit of roosting. As they did, you could reset the board a little higher. Again, no experience here, so take it FWIW.

I've built a little play roost (based on Cackle Hatchery's "Roost Boost") for the chicks to start roosting on in the brooder. One of the things I'm worried about (as a totally inexperienced chicken keeper) is getting them to learn basic behaviors such as roosting, going up and down the ramp into the coop, and even coming in when the sun goes down. That's one reason why I'm getting all the chicks at once. I was going to get the CX, raise and harvest them, then get my breeding/layer flock, but I realized I didn't really want to be going through the teaching process twice. So I'm getting the breeding flock at the same time as the CX, and they will (hopefully) learn from each other. If/when I get another CX crop to raise, they will (again, hopefully) learn from the established flock.

They are cx mixes, their great grandma was a cx. I hatch out 25-50 a year. I eat most of cockerels and sell the pullets. At least one hatch a year, usually he last hatch and the mom dumps them at 5-6 wks, doesn't roost until the pullets start laying. A turkey hatched 2 cx mixes at the same time as these.... and she had them roosting at 3 wks.

and they can get on the roosts during the day, just go back to a corner at night.

 

[jthornton]

I'd make it high enough and deep enough for the full grown hens to stand up in and be fully inside. Looking at the breed facts page at cacklehatchery.com on Brahmas the hens weigh 9 1/2 pounds and my Rhode Island Red Hens weigh in at 6 1/2 pounds so the Brahmas are 1/3 bigger. So they are some hefty girls when full grown. I would build a really big nest box. My current Roll Out Nest Box Mk3 is about 14" tall and 15" deep and it seems a bit crowded for my RIR hens sometimes. They fit ok sideways but not so well if facing the front. It is plenty wide at 36" so they make due. The one I built for the new coop is larger in depth for my Cinnamon Queens which are similar in size to the RIR breed.

Having said all that and I must say my first egg I found in a 1/2 full bucket of gravel... bet that was not comfortable.

JT

 

[DoozyWombat]

They are cx mixes, their great grandma was a cx. I hatch out 25-50 a year. I eat most of cockerels and sell the pullets. At least one hatch a year, usually he last hatch and the mom dumps them at 5-6 wks, doesn't roost until the pullets start laying. A turkey hatched 2 cx mixes at the same time as these.... and she had them roosting at 3 wks.

and they can get on the roosts during the day, just go back to a corner at night.

So they can roost, they just don't want to at night. Fascinating. What do you use for roosts?

And I have wondered, ever since I learned that CX were mysterious crosses that could not be replicated in heritage breeds, what results would come from CX breeding. Are your CX great-grandchildren breeding anywhere close to the traditional CX characteristics?

 

[DoozyWombat]

And here's another thought on the CX.

It seems to me the CX exhibit two strong genetic characteristics: extreme eating and extreme growth. I wonder if they could be related. E.g., I wonder if the eating causes much of the growth, and the genetic characteristic we should be looking for is an inability to feel full.

A quick search turned up a 1984 article on force feeding "broiler" chickens, which I suspect were CX. It found that force feeding them did not change their growth rates. Is that because the growth rates were pre-programmed, or because there is literally no limit to how much a CX will eat, because its hunger is never turned off by a full crop? I couldn't read more than the abstract, but the negative result suggests to me that the non-force-fed birds were eating as much as the force-fed birds, suggesting they were force-feeding themselves.

A bigger question would be what would happen if a lack of hunger satisfaction was a trait of a traditional, large heritage bird (such as a Brahma.) Would it experience much faster growth, giving us a heritage bird with the meat-producing utility of a CX?

Hence my curiosity about the CX offspring characteristics.

 

[DoozyWombat]

I'd make it high enough and deep enough for the full grown hens to stand up in and be fully inside. Looking at the breed facts page at cacklehatchery.com on Brahmas the hens weigh 9 1/2 pounds and my Rhode Island Red Hens weigh in at 6 1/2 pounds so the Brahmas are 1/3 bigger. So they are some hefty girls when full grown. I would build a really big nest box. My current Roll Out Nest Box Mk3 is about 14" tall and 15" deep and it seems a bit crowded for my RIR hens sometimes. They fit ok sideways but not so well if facing the front. It is plenty wide at 36" so they make due. The one I built for the new coop is larger in depth for my Cinnamon Queens which are similar in size to the RIR breed.
JT

Your roll out box is a cool design! I love the concept of a community box. Don't know if the birds will get along well enough to share the space, though. Could that be a breed-dependent thing? I may just have to build a version of that.

Also, I definitely do want some birds to go broody, from time to time. Maybe I can adjust the floor so it is flat in one area, and move eggs there when I want that to happen?

So much to learn!