Coop design, should the floor be., BYC page up! please comment! )

[Davaroo]

Quote:
I wouldn't recommend it where you use a permanently sited coop. Too many critters can easily dig/tunnel in, unless you use cinder blocks, concrete aprons, wire mesh skirts etc. to prevent it.
For a movable coop, one that is regularly re-sited twice a week, it would be okay - but you may still be thought wise to screen the bottom.

In MN, if it were me, I'd raise a permanent coop a foot off the ground on piers, and add a floor. Then, I'd place bags full of leaves around the inside perimeter and screen the opening to prevent mice and other small critters from getting under.

 

[sparkles2307]

Thanks, DH and I are planning to use an old garden shed (its like 12x12 feet) for the 30 hens I'm getting... and the floor is dirt. I thought we would need to do something with it, thanks for the confirmation.

 

[patandchickens]

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What David said.

Temperatures in the minus single digits or minus teens Celsius are not a problem for (well chosen, well kept) chickens per se... but you DO NOT want that temperature draft blowing up the birds' backsides, for sure.

So if you want to have a mesh floor for summer, cover it with something for winter to make it effectively a solid floor.

Personally I would not be comfortable with a coop having a mesh floor in temperatures below 45-50 (at least not on a regular basis); dunno what part of your year that spans.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

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Yup, you really want to predatorproof it somehow (see David's list) but it is quite doable.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat, who doesn't really think 'doable' should be a word but I keep finding myself using it anyhow

 

[Shared Acres]

In your coop you have like a white bedding. Is that he newspapery kind of bedding? I bought some from Target that was meant for like hamsters and such and used it on my chicks and HATED it. They would poop, walk it in and then have wads of the stuff stuck to their feet and I would have to pull it off--taking feathers with me!

 

[Davaroo]

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Chickens have some nasty toilet habits. Unlike dogs or cats, which are rather fastidious, chickens think nothing of traipsing around in their own feces. So, a word on bedding may be in order.

You want bedding that is light, granular, and absorbent. It must bind itself to the moisture in the feces and then dry it out fast. Things that have been used run the gamut from the sublime the ridiculous. A short list would include these:

Crushed corn cob
Crushed peanut hulls
Crushed cane/stalks
Wood shavings
Mulch
Compost
Vermiculite
Sand

This is by no means a complete list, either. But you will notice that each of these has the 3 attributes I mentioned. They are all absorbent and allow the feces to dry out quickly. They are all made up of small grains/chunks/bits. They are all light in weight and not prone to compaction.

As soon as the birds are old enough, at about 4 days, I get them off sheet bedding and onto shredded wood or paper. They never see sheet bedding thereafter.

 

[stir-fry]

what is DH? darn husband?

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Depends on the husband, I suppose.

But generally, it is an acronym for "dear" husband.
You'll also see people add "D" to all sorts of relationships:

DS - sister
DB - brother
DBF/DBG - boyfriend/girlfriend

Then there is the ever popular:

MIL = mother in law
FIL = Father in law
SIL = sister in law

and my favorite -
SO = "significant other"

...well, you get the idea.

 

[stir-fry]

I got a page and half of replys for the other newbies question, but nobody commented on our temp coop

 

[CoopCrazy]

I think your coop is VERY nice. It's effective, well put together, and darn cute..