chicken mistakes (coop building questions)

[cluckylisa]

I love this website. We're getting chicks for the first time and I've learned so much from reading up in this forum. Has anyone had success in turning a metal garden shed (about 10'x10') into a coop with a run attached to it?

Thanks!

 

[edselpdx]

Someone wrote a few pages ago: "We didn't do a very good job of designing it to be easy to clean. The floor is wood, but it's pieced together from various bits, so it's a very rough, uneven surface. If you'll have a wood floor, you may want to consider painting it with oil-based enamel paint, or anything else that would provide a tough, smooth, water-proof surface. Maybe marine deck paint or some such. It would make it a lot easier to clean."

My chickies are coming March 30th, and I used some linoleum (old fashioned jute-backed REAL linoleum--like the brand name marmoleum sheet, not squares) to overlay the wood floor and up the sides for about 12 inches to facilitate hosing it out and sanitizing. I will be using deep litter method. I found an ugly remnant of real linoleum for "cheep" at a local salvage place.

I also picked up old windows from dumpsters to use. I'm reusing a 2-story cedar play structure that my daughter has outgrown for the basic structure of the coop, so the run will be under as well as extend out for outdoor space.

I've learned lots from this site over the winter in my planning, and this is one of the best threads yet.

 

[edselpdx]

"hmmm. I had no idea that there had been a huge shift in the quality of linoleum. Makes sense tho, why would it be different than anything else?
Vintage linoleum...ebay?"

"Real" linoleum is a natural product made out of linseed oil and some other natural products. It is sold under brand names like "marmoleum" and others. It is not the same as regular vinyl flooring--even though people refer to vinyl flooring as "linoleum" all the time. That said, if you're using a deep litter method, I'm not sure how much that matters. The vinyl flooring (or linoleum) would be buried pretty deep and it's purpose is primarily to be easy to clean when you do your intermittent total cleanout of the deep litter. I found my marmoleum scrap piece at a salvage place here in Portland.

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

If you use plank flooring I would suggest covering in linoleum...i just finished putting some down...how nice! I got remnants for free off of craigslist...lucky find!
As for raccoons...they can pull out staples. So use a screw with a washer every 6" or so to be the structure and staples in between so it stays taught. They can also undo regular hook and eye latches so use a clip type.
Coyotes come out in the daytime when they are hungry, so keep them within a fenced area while "free-ranging".
Hawks seem to be easily dissuaded with as little as bird netting over the run. You can tie a few shiny streamers to it too. I like to have a roof on a good portion of it though otherwise they might not come out in the rain/snow. That means more poo in the coop, yuck. They should be outside unless they are in there to lay...
I suggest using shavings in the nest boxes instead of straw...seems to be less broken eggs.
A poop board is a board or tub placed under the roosts so it can be cleaned instead of changing out all of the bedding as often. I'd avoid hardware cloth covered tubs (like I had) and just put a melamine board or a flat surface easy to scrape. Oh and definitely make roosts higher than boxes...no roosting/pooping on the eggs.
Make sure you have a nice big window or two, covered in hardware cloth to leave open on super hot summer nights...electricity for a fan is also good. In the winter you can use it for light/heat/defrosters very worth it.
Might be nice to have a hardware cloth covered portion of the floor to put a waterer over...wet is stinky.
OK there's my book!

And yes they are worth all of this!

 

[CityChook]

Wire your coop with electricity in the building stage. Much easier than running extension cords.

PRIME FIRST and then paint your interior with several coats of a light colored exterior paint. It withstands changes in temperature (as well as moisture) better than interior paint.

Don't skimp on your ventilation. Sure, it will let some heat out, but it also lets the moisture and ammonia out too. Make sure the coop is draft free and it will be warmer inside than it seems.

Create ventilation that can be opened/shut depending on weather. When a bad snow storm rolls in, or abnormally cold weather, it's nice to be able to close up the coop until it passes.

 

[dancingbear]

I'm about to remodel my roosts. Somebody posted awhile back that she had hinged roosts attached to the ceiling that she can lift up, out of the way. This sounds like a fine idea to me, and I'm going to try it out. It would make cleaning the coop so much easier!

Edselpdx, thank you for sharing about your results with the lino! Now I gotta find some! My plank floor is a real PITA to clean, and has gaps between boards, so deep litter doesn't even work, the small bits fall through.

JJconcepts, we have hawks here, I see them all the time, but they haven't bothered my chickens. Maybe because they're not the really big hawks. But a guy I know told me he makes a thing he calls a "scoot 'n hide". It's just a piece of roofing tin, plywood, or whatever, with the corners up on cinder blocks, and weighted down so it won't blow off. The idea is to give the birds a low cover to run under if they spot an aerial predator. They're good at keeping watch and sounding alarms. They have different vocalizations for different kinds of predators, too. The "ground predator" noise is very different from the "aerial predator' noise.

Old satellite dishes work, too, (the bigger ones) just put them face down on the ground. Most have a curve on each side, that makes a hole the birds can run through. But if not, you can set it up on blocks.

 

[jjconcepts]

excellent... never thought of that... simple - straightforward.. thakk you
-joe-

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
Or make them removable. You could bolt them and undo the nuts, but that could get nasty. Consider driving a nail through the top member, drill a hole in the bottom member to receive the nail. Needs to be tight enough it does not get much movement. I intend to try this.

Might make it easier to treat the undersides for mites if you can haul them outside.

 

[ZRider10]

As for removable roosts, I just used some old curtain rod and bought some of the cheap plastic mountings like you have in closets. One side is a full and the other is a half circle. If you them to be snug, you can yank them out, but the chickens can't.

 

[PortageGirl]

Well, I use flat 2x4's because of my climate so their little toes can be warm, and I'm only waiting for nice weather to remodel them so they are like a waitress' pass through with a hinge on one side, and a notch to rest across on the other side, so I can lift them up ... or maybe a notched board on both side so they set in and are easily removable that way too... hmmm, take em outside for cleaning and disinfecting etc... Now you guys got me thinnin'.