Building an external laying box?

[queenie_29]

What a nice space you've got for your run! Spacious and shady with good clutter to give them things to do.

You're in a mild, subtropical climate, I think? (Correct me if I'm wrong, please), If yes, then your chickens don't need a fully-enclosed coop, they just need a predator-proof shelter with a roof and protection from your prevailing winter and/or storm winds. In areas where summer heat is more of a problem than winter cold having one wall entirely made of wire is often a good idea.

If you can modify your coop to turn it into one, big box instead of 3 little boxes (coop, nestbox, and attached run), with the leeward wall entirely wire and a perch run lengthwise that would probably be the easiest.

Here's a thread about one person's modification of a prefab coop: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-renovated-prefab-coop.1440258/

That is really helpful, thanks so much! In terms of the nesting boxes, should we just leave them as is, or do we need to block them off or anything until the girls start laying?

Secondly, when modifying the coop, the floor of the little house bit pulls out like a tray. Are we better off just pulling that out and adding a few bits of plywood on various sides for protection from the weather?

Thanks so much again, I am completely new to this and I just want what is best for the girls.

 

[3KillerBs]

Secondly, when modifying the coop, the floor of the little house bit pulls out like a tray. Are we better off just pulling that out and adding a few bits of plywood on various sides for protection from the weather?

You can leave the nestboxes, just make the roost higher than the boxes. You'll want to take out both the bottom tray and the wall that is between the coop and the run.

 

[queenie_29]

You can leave the nestboxes, just make the roost higher than the boxes. You'll want to take out both the bottom tray and the wall that is between the coop and the run.

Sounds good! I will give it a go this weekend. I'm really glad I signed up for BackYard Chickens, it is very helpful!

 

[3KillerBs]

Sounds good! I will give it a go this weekend. I'm really glad I signed up for BackYard Chickens, it is very helpful!

It is indeed.

I learned so much hear when I was a beginner!

I wrote a whole article revisiting the many, many questions I'd asked.

 

[queenie_29]

It is indeed.

I learned so much hear when I was a beginner!

I wrote a whole article revisiting the many, many questions I'd asked.

Yes! I only wish I'd signed up earlier when the girls were very little - I had so many questions!

Is that a brahma coming out of the door in your profile picture?

 

[3KillerBs]

Yes! I only wish I'd signed up earlier when the girls were very little - I had so many questions!

Is that a brahma coming out of the door in your profile picture?

Yes, that's Dumpling, my Light Brahma.

I'm a total sucker for feathered feet!

 

[queenie_29]

Yes, that's Dumpling, my Light Brahma.

I'm a total sucker for feathered feet!

Aww she is very cute! How old is she?

Same here - I was choosing out of so many chicken breeds, but it was very important to me that at least one of our 4 girls would have fluffy feet!

 

[3KillerBs]

Aww she is very cute! How old is she?

Same here - I was choosing out of so many chicken breeds, but it was very important to me that at least one of our 4 girls would have fluffy feet!

She was about 6 months in that photo. Today she's a stately hen of about 14 months who lays me a funny, roundish, occasionally-speckled egg about 4-5 days a week.

 

[queenie_29]

She seems very sweet. I have a 4-month-old light brahma named Queenie, who (although she is second to bottom in the pecking order) seems to think she rules the place. Yesterday she thought it would be a good idea to jump on top of a bush, and she sat there for a few minutes, very impressed with herself, before sinking through the bush back down to the ground.

 

[suburbanfarmermi]

On another note, I was thinking about trying out the deep littler method because I have read that that's a pretty efficient way to keep the coop clean. Does it really work? If so, how deep do I make the litter in the coop so I just scoop off the top layer and chuck it on the floor of the run? Also, when they were babies I read it was really bad if the poop got mouldy. Is that still really bad now, or not so much of an issue?

DISCLAIMER: We are new to chicken keeping so I am NOT speaking as a seasoned expert On the subject of DEEP LITTER METHOD We have followed a few people on youtube such as oak abobe, carolina coops, Chanyata Farm.

here is what we have come up with.

-We are using 4-6 inches of pine shavings.
-once or twice a week we toss in a few hand fulls of litter to cover up the manure that is on top.
-It is important that the litter stay dry.
-The pine shavings should just break down right in the hen house.
-We expect that twice a year we will simply rake out the coop into a wheel barrow.
-We will put the composted material in compost pile to make sure it is broken down before adding it to our garden.
- The key to having reduced odors and a healthy coop is to maintain a 20 to 1 ratio. 20 parts Carbon (litter) to 1 part Nitrogen (chicken manure).. .... In other words don't skimp on the litter.


here is a link to our coop. We had to make a few adjustments to the design we chose to accommodate the deep litter.

Please note the nesting boxes are blocked off in the following photo because our girls were not yet laying when I took this picture.

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