Chicken Coop "Must Haves"

[Cknldy]

Must haves for a coop huh? Well, since it is a prebuilt one go out and pretend to clean it out like you would if there were chickens in it. The problem with my pretty little bantam coop is that although I am small and CAN fit in the door doesn't mean that I WANT to be on the ground in the rain or snow to do the clean out! Close off nest boxes until chickens are old enough to use them, make sure the preinstalled roosts are higher than the nest box and figure out where you want the food and water to be. Don't worry- your chickens will teach you what to modify over time

 

[Celizwalsh]

I really like all the advice and Ideas I have gotten so far

Thanks everyone!

 

[chiknhurder]

Locking them in the coop and not letting them out for several days is a great way to train birds where to go to roost every night.

 

[Alaskan]

Biggest things for a coop:

Waterer outside, not in the coop.

Perch 4 inches wide or you will get frostbite

Poop trays

Wood chips for bedding

Use some sweet PDZ either on the poop trays or where ever the bedding needs a little help.

 

[mindylee]

I hang bird seed bells in my coop for treats.
My chickens LOVE them!
I also have cat litter pans with tops as nests in corners and they LOVE them too!

My food & water is in coop BUT water is on a tiny wood pallet to keep shavings out. I also tarp my coop up during winter to trap heat in to keep everyone warm.

 

[dfgkfghggfasd]

I try to put a lot of effort into minimizing the "chores" of taking care of chickens.
Not that I don't like hanging with the chicks but it can be good to limit non-fun parts.

Some things I've Learned:

Port Feeder:

I built this feeder from a trash can and some parts from amazon.
Holds roughly a whole bag of feed. You can even put it on bigger items like barrels as demonstrated here (not my photo):

Here is a video of the concept in use:
(not my video)

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It is very low-waste and easy to use and refill.

Nipple Waterer:

(Not My Photo)
Related Post: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/nipple-system-watering-reviews.1302777/

These are also low waste and work by the chickens pecking on these artificial "nipples" to get water. Mine are currently being fixed but they lasted a long time so I can't bring that against them. There are various kits online (example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q3KK3JE/?tag=backy-20)

My favorite part is knowing my chicks will have a long time before I need to clean and refill their waterer. Little worries. You can hook it up to as big of a water supply as you want, some designs even have it connect to water hose to automatically refill.

Open Door Coup
This one is very basic if your coup is but so that there is no wall or barrier on one side you can easily sweep stuff out. My current coup utilizes this method.
You can also find various coups with the door swinging up.
Example:

(not my photo)

If you need any specific needs like for cooling or warmth or strong winds please say so as there are even longer lists of "must haves" for these purposes.
(examples: fans, misters, frozen soda bottles, water heaters, e.c.t)