Coop and run questions..

[Klemrick]

So we are in the middle of setting up our first coop and run. So I have a few questions for those of you who are more experienced..

1) Do you line the floor of your coop and nesting boxes with vinyl, paint them, or anything to make it easier to clean?

2) What's your preferred bedding material for the floor and nesting boxes? I have seen that a lot of people do a mixture of straw and pine shavings.. is this the best? Also, how deep do you layer it all?

3) Do you run a fan in your coop during the summer? We are in SW Idaho, so it tends to be pretty warm in the summer.

4) What do you suggest for putting in the run? Straw?

5) Do you have food/water located in both the coop and run?


Sorry for so many questions, I just want to make sure I am setting it all up the best possible way I can for easy cleaning and being the best for our chickens.

Also, any other tips you have would be greatly appreciated!

 

[skylavaulter]

Take this for what it's worth. We are almost finished building our first too, have 12 four week old chicks ready to move outside. THEY STINK AND IM OVER HAVING THEM INSIDE! LOL.

1) Do you line the floor of your coop and nesting boxes with vinyl, paint them, or anything to make it easier to clean?
Yes, line it with linoleum. Cut your linoleum to allow for a 4"ish overhang on each side so you can staple it up the wall a bit. We actually used roofing nails to nail our linoleum down and they worked really well. I'm sure others have other ways, but...

2) What's your preferred bedding material for the floor and nesting boxes? I have seen that a lot of people do a mixture of straw and pine shavings.. is this the best? Also, how deep do you layer it all?
After reading a LOT on here about this, there seems to be 2 preferred methods in the coop for the floor. #1- Pine shavings with a poop board tray built under the roosting bars lined with some sweet PDZ. Change pine weekly or as needed. #2- Sand in the coop; clean it out every day/few days with kitty litter scoop. The poop will get coated with sand and sift easily. The sand will last for a long time before it needs to be replaced. I've heard straw and pine shavings work well in the nest boxes.

3) Do you run a fan in your coop during the summer? We are in SW Idaho, so it tends to be pretty warm in the summer.
I think the key here is adequate ventilation. Make sure you can air out the coop - windows covered in hardwire cloth that can be covered with plexiglass or wood in the winter will do. I'm sure some people in hotter climates have fans in the summer. But if you can vent it well, it will help with the temperature.

4) What do you suggest for putting in the run? Straw?
3-6" of sand or deep litter method. Straw will mold and start to stink unless mixed with something else (shavings, etc) - look up deep litter method in the search bar on here and you'll find tons of info. Make sure you build up your base AT LEAST a foot around the bottom of your run if you choose this method. Sand will help to soak up rain moisture but some people complain that it gets hard in cold weather. We are planning on using sand since our coop and run are located at the base of a small downward slope and I don't want water issues. Plus it keeps the smell down= less flies and bugs!

5) Do you have food/water located in both the coop and run?
You don't have to if your cooping them from dusk until dawn. We are placing their plastic chick feeder and waterer in there just as a back up in case for some reason they do want a drink or snack during the night. But not a full size feeder/waterer.

 

[Blooie]

I just built the coop and the run right on the ground. Then I use deep litter. The little bugs, pathogens and earthworms can come right up into bottom of the litter and break it down into compost. I started mine wrong last year - relying almost entirely on pine shavings which don't break down that well - but have since corrected that. Mine consists of pine shavings, a little straw, dried leaves, whatever trimmings and weeds come out of the gardens, and grass clippings when they are available. I toss leftover or old veggies in there and the girls (and Scout) do a pretty good job of cleaning it up - what they don't eat just gets buried along with the rest of it to break down. I have had odor in the run once, when my daughter-in-law watered the yard while we were out of town,forgot to come back over and shut it off, and the little lawn watering tractor jumped the hose and got stuck against the run. But even though the feeder and the dust bath were so full of water they literally ran over, it took just a couple of days of removing the wettest stuff at the top, keeping the remainder turned over and exposed to the sun and breezes, and a fresh layer of dry stuff to clear that up.

I just finished spring cleaning the coop. If cleaning a coop gets any easier than removing some of it and replacing it with fresh material once a year, I haven't tried it!

 

[PapaChaz]

good questions and good answers so far. Not a lot left to say really, great job skylavaulter and Blooie!

I will add just a couple things for options. Several people coat their coop floor with a roofing cover called blackjack 57. once it sets and dries it's super easy to clean. Think 'spray in truck bedliner look'. I personally went with some cheap vinyl flooring installed similar to what's already been mentioned

as for bedding in the coop, it can be either/or with pine shavings or straw. Or a mix. My personal preference is straw, to me it's just easier. I wonder if the majority here don't use shavings though. Depth - well, some will say start with just a few inches and as it begins to smell, add more on top. Throw in some scratch and let the chickens stir it up for you. If you read long enough, you'll see some will change them out weekly, monthly and some once a year.

Remember when building your coop and cutting the openings for the pop doors to take into consideration how deep you'll be doing your bedding so it will stay in

Now the run. I've always just left mine dirt, filling in with wood chips and or leaves from time to time. If you bag your grass clippings, or rake them up some, they'll have a ball with those as well. Just nothing that's been fertilized or treated with bug poison. You can go by the landscaping section of most of your big box stores or a nursery and get a couple squares of sod from time to time, make sure it's not been treated with bug poison or fertilizer first though. your chickens will love you for it! But you can add shavings, wood chips, straw sand.......it doesn't really matter, any and all of those choices work quite well!

edit to say, I was typing while Blooie was, and she obviously types faster than me, or she started first, HA. either way OP, you can take it to the bank if Blooie says it