Coop Ideas - Flooring, Size, and Position relative to run

[tori729]

Alot of things concern me about this project one being the cloth covering the run. It might , might keep a not very hungy hawk out but if a racoon gets up there it will fall through and let the buffet begin. This happened to my neighbors and how I attained their lone survivor out of 6.
Please , please read the Predators and Pest posts and you will find out a lot from other folks losses and how to prevent them.

Thanks! I've been reading a lot about predators. I'm not sure what more I can do other than making a fully wood framed run which would be smaller and more expensive than sticking with what I have. We plan to have some kind of framing for the netting so it won't just be lying on there. (We are using bird netting for the top) And they will be in the coop closed in at night at least.

 

[paintedChix]

Looks like others have addressed coop issues. No one seems to have addressed the trampoline run...

How will you do the 15' diameter run? Also small for 8 full size chickens. How will you clean it? Get sick or injured birds out?

I have a trampoline that mat rotted off of & grandkids no longer use. Found some really neat pics/ideas on Google & Pinterest. BUT I had a series of 4 pens on our property that are slightly taller than trampoline. After just a few months of getting in/out while bent almost in half - my back & shoulders "said no", not to mention my head when i ducked wrong going through the gates a few times. Feeding & watering are very difficult - especially in winter (when it does freeze)or during/after hurricanes (Sandhills of NC). Getting eggs not in nest boxes almost impossible to reach - though better w/ long handled grabbers. Can't easily clean build up of manure or remove DLM - while "bent in half". These pens are approximately 8x8' or 64' square. Since these are open air coop/run - this allows for 6 chickens in a breeding group when mature. W/ free ranging time, I could possibly do up to 12, but honestly that's way to many...

So... are you putting a domed roof up w/ a walk through door?

When I do use the trampoline frame, will be cutting in half & using the two halves like hoops for a coop or run. Currently a project far down the list & hopeful to do before the frame completely rusts out. out... OR I'd consider w/ a domed roof with PVC, conduit or even cattle panels...

Those pens? They now have CP hooped roofs over them. Still a PITA to duck down through the gates. Currently no chickens in them & will do different feed/water situations when I do have them occupied again. New nest boxes will be on front of pens so won't have to enter to get eggs unless they are laid on ground.

You can see how I did our coops & those pens + some other uses for CP.

Coop, CP & Sheds

You can see how I do DLM & what some of the pens were like before they were hooped. Before you go through these pics - nothing fancy. Worked well for us, but we aren't in an HOA or a neighborhood. We sit .7 miles down a dirt road & even when in our driveway, most of these are not easily seen/noticed, LOL. I used materials on hand or could afford. Now, w/ more funds available & due to predators finding us, refurbishing/updating again...

DLM

Well, this is a bit all over, but for some reason, on this new phone or in the BYC app, can't copy & move things around unless I select all. Posting before I accidentally delete this detailed post while trying to change it around...

 

[tori729]

Looks like others have addressed coop issues. No one seems to have addressed the trampoline run...

How will you do the 15' diameter run? Also small for 8 full size chickens. How will you clean it? Get sick or injured birds out?

So... are you putting a domed roof up w/ a walk through door?


You can see how I do DLM & what some of the pens were like before they were hooped. Before you go through these pics - nothing fancy. Worked well for us, but we aren't in an HOA or a neighborhood. We sit .7 miles down a dirt road & even when in our driveway, most of these are not easily seen/noticed, LOL. I used materials on hand or could afford. Now, w/ more funds available & due to predators finding us, refurbishing/updating again...

These pictures are GREAT, thank you so much! Easy to view too, much easier than attaching here.
So the plan is to use the frame plus a tree, a current post and another additional post as framing - so really it will be more than 15' diameter - over 200 sq ft. It's a big corner area so I'm not too worried about the space. If they start seeming like they need more space, I can let them free range, we just have hawks so I don't really want to lose any. They really enjoy hanging out under a large fir tree in our yard! It's completely fenced 6ft high wood.

We plan to use the upper poles as well so it's at least adult height and a full sized metal door to get inside. We are going to have some extra frame pieces on the top and string bird netting on it.
Since our yard is completely fenced, I'm not worried about aesthetics. Sure, some people can probably see into our yard from their second story windows/decks but they'll survive. The coop/run will be situated in the far corner of our yard bordering two neighbors.

Forgot to mention the run area - we will do deep litter. We plan to use pine mulch, leaves in fall/winter, grass clippings in spring/summer. We also use horse pellets w/ our cats so we will probably use either those or PDZ in coop; since coop is still being built, I need to get a good feel for the inside before I decide.

 

[kashepard]

Depends on the measurements - you need at least 12 sq ft of ventilation open all year round. Summers, if hot and humid you're looking at 24 to 36 sq ft of open venting throughout summer. I don't live in your climate but other folks in the Carolinas have advocated for open air coops, so I have to imagine heat and humidity is an issue there.

You're still not addressing the fact that this coop is way too small overall. Maybe you'll be lucky and things will work out, but odds are higher you'll be asking in 6 months to ask why birds are missing feathers or are being bullied out of the coop at night, and then at that time you'd have to pay to expand the coop anyhow. It's harder to fix issues than to address them before it ever happens.

You are so right on this. I have a coop that is l0'4' and have 8 chickens in there. The size is fine but I made a huge mistake of having a wood floor and have sand over the wood which is the most highly recommended to use for chickens. It should have been built with the dirt floor and cover the dirt with sand so they can dig and poke around like they need to do. I do have my chickens missing half of their feathers because I have a bully and if they get bored, you have nothing but problems. Which I have had. The whole coop is framed with the thick wiring so nothing can get in. I have a metal roof so will never wear out. But the floor is the most important change I would make if I could. Now I need to get a run so they can be in that part of the time to keep themselves busy. So live and learn and my coop builder could have told me about the dirt floor with sand because he had 80 chickens so alot of chicken experience. I hate to see anyone else go thru what I have. Good luck.

 

[tori729]

Thanks for the input. We have done well with the coop we have with 8 chickens. They are only in it at night and when they lay. I also just got 5 chicks and the mama was able to sit in the coop, hatch one egg out and then raise her babies (4 of which are from TS since the rest of the eggs didn't hatch). She stayed in there with them for a few days before bringing them out in the run.

As far as the floor in the coop, it's wood with chips at the bottom. I just clean the whole thing out every few months, buy a $7 bag from TS and dump it in. Easy peasy. It sounds like for you though all you have is the coop. My chickens dig around a bit in the coop but not that much because they have a run and the yard to dig around in. I would never keep my chickens in our coop 24/7, they wouldn't do well at all. It's also never cold enough that they stay in there. They always come out and if they are cold they huddle together under the coop. I'm very glad it's raised to give them shelter!