Chicken Newbies--coop related question

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vachick15

vachick15

Crossing the Road
9 Years
Aug 14, 2015
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Rapscallionville
Hello from Spotsylvania VA! My husband just finished building our coop (as soon as he moves his truck out of the way I'll post pics!) we have 5 Golden Comets that are roughly 5 months old, maybe 1 or 2 are now laying, thank goodness IN their nest boxes! My question is since they seem to know to lay in the nest boxes, is it OK to lay straw in the main "coop house" or might they think that area is for laying also? Thanks for any help, I love this site!!
 
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They will PROBABLY continue to lay in their nest boxes. If they pick a corner to lay in, just put some nest eggs or golf balls in the nest boxes as an enticement.
 
Well Hello!
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Welcome! How eggciting to have your coop finished!
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Waiting for pictures. I'm going to pass on answering your straw question (bump) I use sand in my coop area.
Here's a great forum area for questions on bedding, etc.https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/9/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance
Also, for egg laying stuff, this forum is great. https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/18/chicken-behaviors-and-egglaying
If you haven't visited the Learning Center yet, that's a great start. https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
Enjoy your chickens!
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Thank you everyone! It's been a couple of weeks and now we're getting 3 eggs daily all being laid in the boxes so guess all is well. Trying now to let them free range a bit as they've already scratched away the grass in their run! Also attempting to load photos of our coop...will keep trying!
 
Ok finally here are pics of our coop! As of now 4 of the 5 are laying so maybe that one isn't quite as "old" as the the others?? They are about 5 1/2 months so I know still on the young side even for Golden Comets. And yes my husband is a Hokie so it's maroon and orange but we haven't come up with a name yet! Right now it's just the Hokie Roost!



 
Well, let see.....housing and an outdoor exercise area. How about the Hokey Pokey? I know, get back into the corner, Blooie.....

Nice job! You might consider some adding some more hardware cloth around the bottom perimeter to deter digging predators. You can make it like an apron, extending it out a couple of feet and securing it to the ground with landscape fabric staples. Looks like plenty of cover for the little (or big) predators to hide until dark.
 

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