Catio to Hen House

[krthaymp]

I do recommend that you use the brick pavers or cinder blocks as an actual "foundation" to raise the catio up, if that's the route you go.

So I'm thinking DLM may actually work best in this way for the chickens and cleaning amount, but my drawback is 1. finding enough yard debris and new material to add and 2. I'm really unsteady on my feet and afraid of tipping over in the coop. Not something I want to fall onto/into. I think I can compensate for that, and it's probably not going to be as bad as I'm afraid it will be.

When you say paver bricks as the foundation, I'm thinking of a perimeter made of the pavers that the frame of the catio sits on with the inside of the catio on ground. Do you mean that or making a solid patio floor were the substrate would be on top of the concrete pavers?

So I would probably leave the platforms, and just add a roosting bar or two that run across from one side to the other, above most of the other stuff. Think about which ways you will walk inside, and run the bar so it doesn't cross that space.

I might worry about chickens catching toes in the wobbly bridge/hammock thing, so I'd be inclined to leave it out or replace it with a plain board (wide like a shelf or skinnier like a roost).

Hammocks are definitely coming out - should have mentioned that. I have plans for THOSE in the house for the cat. I'm thinking of doing two heights of nesting boxes... I can convert the two boxes this comes with, use two buckets, and two milk crates. That should cover everyone's favorites, haha! I'll eventually modify one of the outside panels so I can access the eggs without going in, but that's a project for another time.

And now that you mention it, it probably will be easier to leave the platforms and run a roosting bar or two across the whole structure, but I'll need to see once I've got the space built where they'll fit best.

And I haven't mentioned it before, but I'm adding the plastic or metal corrugated roofing panels, and they will overhand a bit to help keep rain out, since I'm leaving a space open all around above roosting height.

A plan is coming together! Getting excited finally instead of stressed about housing.

 

[NatJ]

I'm thinking of doing two heights of nesting boxes... I can convert the two boxes this comes with, use two buckets, and two milk crates. That should cover everyone's favorites, haha!

How many hens do you plan to have? Most hens are quite happy to share nestboxes, so 6 nests would probably be enough for about 24 hens (which is more than you should have in that amount of space.) Unless they all go broody at once, which is the only time it does help to have as many nests as there are hens.

Or are you figuring they will all share 2 nests, and you don't yet know which two will be the favorites? I could see that happening.

So I'm thinking DLM may actually work best in this way for the chickens and cleaning amount, but my drawback is 1. finding enough yard debris and new material to add and 2. I'm really unsteady on my feet and afraid of tipping over in the coop. Not something I want to fall onto/into. I think I can compensate for that, and it's probably not going to be as bad as I'm afraid it will be.

If you fall over onto deep litter, you just need to brush the dust off yourself after you stand up again. There might be one or two smears of fresh poop, but that would happen with any kind of litter. Deep litter tends to be more clean on top, because the chickens keep scratching it up to look for bugs and other treats, and that causes them to bury the fresh poop. The buried poop decomposes fairly quickly, or at least dries out and falls apart, so once it is buried you mostly don't have to think about it.

As for finding enough material, yes that is a consideration. But if you were to use shallow litter and change it regularly, you would probably need just as much material in the year. The main difference is whether you take out the old stuff before adding new. If you run short, you can buy a bag of wood shavings or a bale of straw or a truckload of wood chips or any of the other things you might use if it were changed regularly. Do keep your eyes open in the fall: if you have neighbors that rake leaves and put them in bags, you might be able to use those as chicken bedding and save someone hauling them to a landfill or composting site!

It would be nice if they didn't charge $200 for shipping. That makes it not on sale . I looked at a couple different versions around that price point ($436) but the one you already chose appears to have the most room for the price atm.

I see two sizes in the Amazon listing. The purchase price is different, but the shipping price is almost the same, which makes the the larger one a better deal in terms of dollars for square feet. Even the smaller one is better than most prefab things sold for chickens, but bigger is nice when possible!

 

[paintedChix]

So I'm thinking DLM may actually work best in this way for the chickens and cleaning amount, but my drawback is 1. finding enough yard debris and new material to add and 2. I'm really unsteady on my feet and afraid of tipping over in the coop. Not something I want to fall onto/into. I think I can compensate for that, and it's probably not going to be as bad as I'm afraid it will be.

When you say paver bricks as the foundation, I'm thinking of a perimeter made of the pavers that the frame of the catio sits on with the inside of the catio on ground. Do you mean that or making a solid patio floor were the substrate would be on top of the concrete pavers?

A plan is coming together! Getting excited finally instead of stressed about housing.

O. Falling inside coop is a bad idea. I fell in house almost a year ago & w/ other complications that hindered healing & strengthening, I'm just now starting to walk w/o an ankle brace in house. So I understand.

W/ little yard debri, it can be more difficult. Then, you could do the shreded paper & cardboard.

As to pavers, you can position them as part of your apron, but I meant raising your coop onto them or cinder blocks to raise wood base up from ground contact. As to having them for full floor, I have brick under our carport by the house (there when we purchased). I don't know if they installed it correctly or not, but it's uneven. That makes it difficult to clean & sweep - I've raised rabbits, ducks & chickens there. Eventually, we will need to pull up all the pavers, re-level area & add either gravel or sand & put pavers back in place. That will be a major undertaking, as full brick area is the size of one "car slot"... And like previous carport that had a cement floor, in the humidity, it sweats. This causes bedding to get wet - even when not raining.



I don't have pics of a coop sitting on a foundation of pavers above ground level.

I screen shot some pics...



I recommend to raise both the wood form of prefab coops or your catio and metal to extend their life. Its not absolutely necessary. Just helps to save some money down the road...

 

[krthaymp]

@NatJ I’ll probably take boxes out, but right now it is more to learn what they prefer. I am getting g some new chicks this season since 1 rooster to three hens isn’t quite working and I’ll probably have 6-8 total in the end. Once you factor in shipping on the smaller coop it’s the same price as the bigger one with shipping included. I hate marketing. I’m getting the bigger one.

@paintedChix thanks for the piccs! It’s hard for me to “see” an idea from just the description and that really helped. I think I’ll use the flat pavers under the perimeter with a predator skirt and do DLM.

 

[MapleLaurelFarms]

One thing I hadn’t considered until recently that I’ve been mulling over… there’s no floor. I don’t like that. They’re going to dig holes and it will be hard to keep clean. I wonder if a layer of chicken wire under a layer of bedding would be ok, or still too risky?

Should I build a platform? Or maybe all pavers for the floor?

This is a really cute idea you've come up with! Regarding the floor, we had the same issue with chickens digging. They were making deep channels around the walls and essentially undermining the foundation. I put down a layer of chicken wire over the dirt held tightly in place and flush to the ground with landscape staples so no toes (mine or chickens) could get caught and then covered it all up with straw.

It immediately halted those shenanigans and has been there for several years with no issues. You could use hardware cloth to make it more predator proof, but adding a base of pavers (requires a very level surface) or a platform could work well also and would help reduce or eliminate rot. Whatever you use, I'd extend it out from the coop a foot or two to discourage any predatory digging.

I'd also consider anchoring the catico somehow. You probably don't have too many hurricanes sweep through Atlanta but it's happened before, rather recently! Here in the mountains, a lot of coops and sheds disappeared during Helene and not from the flooding but the wind.

 

[krthaymp]

Alright! After about 6 hours and the first serious sun burn of the season. The frame is up! It’s a lot easier to measure and visualize what I want where in person. Hate trying to figure that out from pictures.
So here’s what we have so far. It is actually fully built but I was too tired and ready to get out of the sun to remember to take a picture.

The ends look the same except on has a door and one doesn’t, and the drop doors are on opposite sides. I marked two red lines. The top will be the roosts. They’ll run down each side, the full 9’, as 2x4s in those deck brackets so I can take them out to clean if I need.
The bottom red mark will be the litter pan. Instead of using the triangle brackets for the cat pads, I’ll use them to support a litter tray, which I’ll make out of plywood with a small edge to keep it contained.
We will definitely need to reinforce some areas, which will be done by adding trim on the other side of the hardware cloth once it’s all in place. All in all, happy with what I have so far and not regretting buying the catio. The roof was a bugger and not how I would have designed it, but it’s done. Half the panels had their labels come off, so that was half the problem.
More modifications to come, stay tuned!
Off to find aloe and lidocaine now…

 

[Yardfulla poopers]

Hopefully someone will pipe in with their experience with sand in the coop as I haven't tried it.

But from the sounds of it you probably would be better off with a solid floor of some sort, unless the ground there stays very dry on its own, as sand works best when kept dry as possible.

I use sand in my coop in the summer only to alert me if there has been a snake that found its way in. It does stay wet for a very long time if water is spilled. My coop has a plastic floor though. I agree with OP on loving PDZ, but I only use that on the poop board

 

[krthaymp]

Here’s a distanced view of the completed structure. Next weekend we’ll finish the paver base, roofing panels and side panels. Then probably the next weekend the roosts and poop boards and nesting boxes. It’s not where I ultimately want it, but there’s a mess of tree stumps where it needs to go and it’s slow going on taking care of that, and we’re out of time. I’m also adding a second run eventually, so there will be a 9x19 run coming off either side.

 

[NatJ]

It’s not where I ultimately want it, but there’s a mess of tree stumps where it needs to go and it’s slow going on taking care of that, and we’re out of time.

Do you plan to move it later?

Come to think of it, would it be possible to move it? Is it able to be taken apart and put back together, or does it only go together once? Or is it sturdy enough to move it after it is fully assembled?

 

[krthaymp]

I do plan to move it once I have the yard leveled. It will be kinda heavy, but even after fortifying it we should be able to move it with some help - a person on each side, or pop it up on sliders and pull it with the truck. Thinking ahead, the roost, poop boards, nesting boxes, corrugated roofing and siding panels will all be removable to unload some weight when we need to move it.
It's not ideal, but it's what I have to work with, so I guess I'll find a way to make it work, haha!