coop advice

[fallenweeble]

brand new chicken person here . . .
i'm building an area for my chickens and i'd love some advice. i'm using one end of my enclosed patio as a coop space and adding a run that will be attached to the porch so that the chickens can dig in the grass and sunbathe and such.
i'm trying to figure out the details for the coop area.
i am planning on building a raised box inside the larger porch coop so that the birds can be in a more enclosed space to roost at night. should i mount t a 2X4 inside that box as a place to perch/roost or will they stand flat-footed on the bottom of the roost box? it looks like most folks with small flocks only have one nesting box . . . do the chickens NOT sleep in the box, but rather only lay eggs inside of it? and do they all use one box to do this?
do chickens prefer to have individual boxes to roost in or do they like to snuggle next to one another to sleep? if anyone has photos of how they have set up these areas please post them or send me a link to where they are posted . . . i'd really like to see them!
thanks in advance for ya'lls help!
f. weeble

 

[arlee453]

Provide the roosting pole for them to sleep on and to discourage them from sleeping in the nest box.

They will snuggle next to each other on the roost and sleep together quite nicely!

Put the nest box a little bit lower than the pole for roosting to keep them from sleeping in there - if they sleep in there, they will poo in there, and it is no fun to collect poopy eggs! You only need one nest box for every 3-4 chickens or so.

Enjoy your chickens!!

 

[SeaChick]

Hi fallenweeble,

here are pics of the inside space we have for our 6 girls.
The 2x4 (flat side up) is the roost for sleeping. They all snuggle together on one end when its cold (like now!!!)
the nest boxes are ONLY for egg-laying. We have 2 boxes for 6 girls. Our girls use both boxes. They have slanted roofs to keep them from roosting on top of them (more poop to clean). We use a "droppings board" under the roost to catch most of the poop, and scrape it off each day. Keeps the bedding on the actual floor much cleaner.
Roost should be higher than nest boxes.

here is the coop page with more photos and explanations. https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1766-Our_Garage_Coop

Good luck!
Stacey

 

[CarlaRiggs]

Stacey,
I've never written to let you know what a great coop/run you have.
You've done a wonderful job of using the space you have, and the esthetics are wonderful, also.

Love the blue colors and the painting inside. If you don't have happy chickens, then nothing can make them happy!

 

[fallenweeble]

thank you for the pics and advice!

 

[CountryFresh]

Stacey, you have a cute coop and I love the painting on the wall..

Thanks for the advice..

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Stacey - i've been wanting to say also that i love your coop. i've looked at your pics and design many times. Putting the sleeping quarters and laying boxes inside your garage is a great idea. i'm going to use yours as a model for our next chicken coop and run. (We may be moving soon, so this is a great time to use everyone's good ideas and inspiration to do i right this time around).

Colleen

 

[s6bee]

I will ask advise to get see why my hens won't sit on thier roost at all to sleep. They huddle together in a corner of the coop. Is this bad, will it discourage them to lay? They are 22 wks. and not laying. We did just recently add an interior light that turns on at 3 a.m. so that gives them just about 13+ hrs. of daylight.

Stephanie

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Stephanie - What breed of hens do you have?

 

[s6bee]

Austrolorp, Silver Laced, Deleware and a Barred Rock, no bantams.