Sunflowerparrot, I have my nest boxes about 18 inches from the floor & there is a board all the way across the coop back there that they hop up on to get to the nest boxes & the roosts if they want. There is also a perch across the front of the nest boxes on both levels since this is a bank of 6 boxes. My chickens actually use both levels in mine. I wasn't sure if they would or not, but I see some in the top ones all the time. You need a box for each 4-5 hens, they share them. My main roost in the coop is on the same level now because when they were using the ladder one they constantly fought over who was going to get the top level, so when I built the new one I just made two in a rectangular shape across most of the whole side of the coop. I'm going to do the same on the other side when it gets cool enough to work in there again. I bought some extra 2x4s when we bought lumber again so I could do that. My chickens really like that roost & they have certain spots they have picked out on there & if another chicken gets in their spot there is a ruckus over it. My roost is 40 inches tall, so just over 3 foot. I don't know why it ended up that height, maybe that's just how long of pieces I had for the legs because I used some used lumber from the habitat re-store for it. If you're going to span that far for your roosts, 12 foot, you will need some kind of support I would think in the middle or it will eventually sag there. I think mine is just 8 foot long.
HEChicken, I sent you a PM with pics of the pen, I hope it helps & you get it figured out. I know that is frustrating when you can't figure out how to put something together. I just kept trying different things until it all started fitting together because I didn't have instructions either. I sure hope they included all the parts for you. I thought at first one of my corner poles was missing, but it turned out to be rolled up inside the fencing & then I had to unroll the whole thing to get it out & then roll it all back up because you need it rolled to start putting it around the frame. Let me know how it goes.
The chicks in the pen have started eating the new feed & the guineas & peafowl like it OK, so hopefully the turkeys will start eating it too. I haven't fed it to the laying hens yet because their feeders aren't empty.
I'm kind of waiting to see how the dynamics change with Big Red gone & him being the alpha rooster as to who will take over as alpha. I really think Speckie will since he is the oldest of the two remaining roos, but then it will all change again when the breeder coop is done because Spec will be going in there with his hens, so Rusty the BC Marans boy will be the roo for my general laying flock. When my DH told our granddaughter last night in the car on the way back that Big Red was gone she said, "Well good." She wasn't fond of him because he spurred her & I can't blame her. She is afraid of the chickens anyway & that didn't help. Maybe now that he is gone I can get her to help me gather eggs when she's here. I want to overcome her fear of the chickens if I can. I just found out my son is coming to see me for my birthday next Sat. so that will be nice, I haven't seen him since we went down the last time to get the tooth fixed the first time.
Oh & Sunflowerparrot, I forgot to say congrats on Fern doing such a good job with the chickens, good puppy!
I agree with the rest about the litter in the coop. Don't start out too deep, I just start out with a couple inches to start with & then as the poop starts to build up about once a week I add another thin layer on top. It does add up fast enough, so you don't want to get carried away putting it in at the beginning. I had about 10-12 inches deep when I cleaned it out at the 6 month mark. It has been so dry this summer that I don't think I'm going to have to clean out the coop again until next spring. I had thought I may have to do it in the fall, but I'm not thinking now I will need to. If the system works correctly you really shouldn't have to clean it out very often. The only reason I did this spring early was because I had some moisture in there & I felt that it was starting to smell too strong of ammonia, which is not a good thing for the chickens because it can cause respiratory problems. Once I got it cleaned out it was so much better & the chickens were happier.
HEChicken, I sent you a PM with pics of the pen, I hope it helps & you get it figured out. I know that is frustrating when you can't figure out how to put something together. I just kept trying different things until it all started fitting together because I didn't have instructions either. I sure hope they included all the parts for you. I thought at first one of my corner poles was missing, but it turned out to be rolled up inside the fencing & then I had to unroll the whole thing to get it out & then roll it all back up because you need it rolled to start putting it around the frame. Let me know how it goes.
The chicks in the pen have started eating the new feed & the guineas & peafowl like it OK, so hopefully the turkeys will start eating it too. I haven't fed it to the laying hens yet because their feeders aren't empty.
I'm kind of waiting to see how the dynamics change with Big Red gone & him being the alpha rooster as to who will take over as alpha. I really think Speckie will since he is the oldest of the two remaining roos, but then it will all change again when the breeder coop is done because Spec will be going in there with his hens, so Rusty the BC Marans boy will be the roo for my general laying flock. When my DH told our granddaughter last night in the car on the way back that Big Red was gone she said, "Well good." She wasn't fond of him because he spurred her & I can't blame her. She is afraid of the chickens anyway & that didn't help. Maybe now that he is gone I can get her to help me gather eggs when she's here. I want to overcome her fear of the chickens if I can. I just found out my son is coming to see me for my birthday next Sat. so that will be nice, I haven't seen him since we went down the last time to get the tooth fixed the first time.
Oh & Sunflowerparrot, I forgot to say congrats on Fern doing such a good job with the chickens, good puppy!
I agree with the rest about the litter in the coop. Don't start out too deep, I just start out with a couple inches to start with & then as the poop starts to build up about once a week I add another thin layer on top. It does add up fast enough, so you don't want to get carried away putting it in at the beginning. I had about 10-12 inches deep when I cleaned it out at the 6 month mark. It has been so dry this summer that I don't think I'm going to have to clean out the coop again until next spring. I had thought I may have to do it in the fall, but I'm not thinking now I will need to. If the system works correctly you really shouldn't have to clean it out very often. The only reason I did this spring early was because I had some moisture in there & I felt that it was starting to smell too strong of ammonia, which is not a good thing for the chickens because it can cause respiratory problems. Once I got it cleaned out it was so much better & the chickens were happier.
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