Coop Ideas ...

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Okay, I will try to describe what my current status is.

We have an old barn and there are quiet a few rooms in the barn. We made 2 rooms into pens for my chickens.

The first pen is pretty large, it has around 60 grown chickens. The only problem is it's infested with Mites/Lice.

They're ALL over my poultry and I can not get rid of them!

I have tryed tons of times to clean out their coop but the people who had it before us had something else in it so there was already hay/poo in the pen .. and before that we had about 5 + goats in there ... if you've ever had goats you'll understand what a mess they make!

Anyway, there is about 4 ft + of gunk in the bottom ... it's almost inpossible to clean out .. plus it isn't a very secure pen. My chickens are in horrible condition ... I just want to get this point over before we go on ...

I LOVE MY CHICKENS!

I just dream of the day when I can have a nice clean coop like everybody on BYC has ... my family just doesn't understand my chicken addiction!

My 2nd pen is right next to the 1st coop, it is a little smaller in size, but I have have trouble with it not being too secure, I've already lost a few birds to a coon or something.

It has about 40 - 50 chickens + 5 Guineas. It ( Thankfully ) has a simi-clean floor .. it just has dirt but it's clean-able. Sadly those have mites bad, too!

I have a small roost at the back of the pen and a large 21 nest box on the wall.

I was free ranging ALL of my poultry but recently something has been killing 2 - 3 everyday I let them out, my younger chickens would go way out in the pasture so it's possible.

Needless to say I was Sick and Tired of loosing my pullets that were fixing to start laying!

I locked up my younger birds for awhile, my mom made me let them out a few weeks ago, pretty sure I lost a few.

I have been letting my grown birds out everyday, because they don't go very far out and they're pretty good about going back to the coop BEFORE dark! ( Unlike my younger birds.

)

Soooo you kind of see my problem?

We have all the supplies to build a LARGE COOP/RUN but .... the boys are never home and when they are home they wonna rest.

It doesn't help none that they kind of dislike my poultry addiction ...

We have a large stack of wooden concreate ( Sp?

) forms that aren't being used, we don't have the right kind of wire, but I think we could get that.

I've seen someone that had a run area that I really liked, they just kind of build a fence and then put the square wire on the fenceing posts. I really liked that idea!

I have also considered a Cotton Trailer Coop ... would LOVE to have one of those!

So just start throwing ideas my way!

( Wouldn't mind seeing pictures of your coop, if you have one of the coops listed above.

)


Will Post Pictures later ... we just had a huge rain so kind of Muddy!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

If you have any coop suggestions or anything, I think if I can get all my ideas together I might be able to get the guys to "Start" making something but ... Who knows?

 

[FlipFlopFarmer]

I would hire out some local guys, or young boys with FFA style carpentry skills, that might inspire your own guys to help OR, the hired help could do it entirely, either way, youve won. Having enough carpentry skills to build a coop, or even convert an existing building is easy, its knowing where to start thats hard. Once someone shows you a little bit, im sure u will gain confidence and jump right in. You might inquire at a local feed store about cheap hired help. Possibly you have a "day worker" center or odd jobs office in conjunction with the local unemployment office that could offer a place to find help.

I build all my own coops, barns, runs, etc, and am pretty good at it now, but my animals have seen plenty of UGLY shelters over the years, as I was learning. good luck!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Um, I don't think you quiet understand, they're my dad and brothers!

I'm only a Teen ... we don't go to town much.

 

[sben451]

We are in the process of expanding--I have 17 guinea keets that have almost outgrown the brooder. We are building a pen using landscape timbers for posts and what we call dog fencing (welded wire with 2" x 4" spaces). We have three other pens all built similarly, and they are sturdy and offer secure protection from predators. We use the fencing on the top of the pen also and have a covered and enclosed area (usually sheets of tin roofing) at one end of the pen for a roosting and nesting area out of the weather. It's fairly easy to build and fairly inexpensive this way. Maybe this will give you some ideas depending on what you have on hand.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Here are some pictures:

Please forgive the tarp and stuff on top of the hutch!

It had just rained so..

This hutch is in the front-yard. I used this hutch for rabbits in the past, but I don't have rabbits so we converted it into a "Guin-Guin Hutch" as I like to call it. It has wood floors, the whole top opens for easy cleaning, and there is also a smaller door that I can slip into if need be. Also has a ramp. It has 6 guineas and 1 chicken ( their momma

).

This is my Small Green Hutch, Mrs. Fluffy Puffy is currently in this hutch with "Her" baby she adopted. This is the Only thing that I'm very pround of that my dad made me for Christmas last year, he can make me anything, just doesn't want to.

"Quail Building" this has all my poultry supplies and my 19 Button Quail inside .. I would have shown you a picture of the inside, but it hasn't been clean in about a week.

This is my "Big Chicken Pen" as I like to call it, it has around 60 chickens ...

This is the 2nd Pen, it was a smaller room, not even half the size of the Big Chicken Coop. It has around 40 - 50 + chickens.

These are 2 other rooms that are on down from the chicken pens.

This is the "Used to Be Run" behind the Big Chicken Pen, the horses had access to the run and well .. they somehow got all the wire off and tore down the boards ...

We weren't able to put a top on the run because pf the stupid tree that was in the way!

These are the Concreate Forms, and abunch more "Flooring" ....

Soooo any ideas?

 

[Rozzie]

I can't give you any ideas about how to persuade your family to build you the coop that you want.

However, while growing up on a big farm, I mucked out many a barn. You "can" get in there and clean the four foot of old bedding and manure from the pens that your chickens are in. It is not going to be easy work. In fact, it will be downright hard work. However, you CAN do it. You will need to spend many hours to do it, but your birds will be healthier for it. Then it will be easier to reduce the mite population, too.

You'll need a wheelbarrow or a good garden cart, a shovel, and maybe a rake to break things up. If there is a lot of old straw or hay down in there you may need to break thins up with a pitchfork or garden fork. Perhaps if your brothers and dad see you working hard at tasks like this in order to do the best for your birds they will pitch in and help you. It might even be a way to show that you are willing to do some super hard work for your girls and might help you get the coop that you want sooner!

Edited to add: It's not a job you will do in a day, or maybe even a week with the size of your pens. Start on the end closest to the door and clean out a section at a time -- maybe a 3x3 foot section. That way, you'll see progress!

 

[FlipFlopFarmer]

mayber try to put that "flooring" edgeways around where your "used to be run" is, to keep the horses from pushing the wire in, then put more wire at the top. you could trim up the branches on that tree and just attatch the wire over head to the trunk as far up as the lowest branch will allow. Mucking out those big pens will be crazy hard, but determination will see u through, and maybe enlist the help of your county agent, or 4-H agent about your mite problem, u can do it, and by the way, COOL OLD BARN!!

 

[PineappleMama]

Mrs. Fluffy Puffy :

We have all the supplies to build a LARGE COOP/RUN but .... the boys are never home and when they are home they wonna rest.

It doesn't help none that they kind of dislike my poultry addiction ...

Pfft. Who says you have to wait on the guys to build a coop/run? If I'd waited on DH we'd have NEVER gotten it done. Not that I don't understand, between work and school he's lucky to be able to walk, but still. It's not perfect, and I did have to call in the troops for the final assembly (heavy) but mostly I did it myself. Just like the shocks in the truck... boy oh boy the look on my FIL's face... priceless.

Think about what you want, add in your skills, and hop to it.

On the mites thing check out the threads, there are tons of ideas around here... though it sounds like your case is scary. Maybe just getting all of them out for X time would do it. Without a food source they'll die... figure out what that timetable is and do the do.

That's about all I've got... not much, but hope it helps.​

 

[chicksbestfriend]

I am going to agree with what Rozzie stated in her post. Just start working at it section by section, your dad and brothers will see how hard you are willing to work for it and might just pitch in to help you out. Thats what happened with me. I had my "dream henhouse" in my mind for the longest time and I couldnt get my son or husband motivated to build it for me because there were around 100 banana trees that needed to be dug out, the trees needed to be replanted, and the ground would need to be tilled before constructing. I knew it was going to be alot of hard work digging out those trees, so I started digging them out, one by one, day by day. All the men in the family realized how badly I wanted this henhouse and were ashamed to see me work so hard so they all pitched in and within two days, all the trees were removed and replanted. They still werent motivated to help me further, so I rented a tiller and started to plow the area myself; again, they all pitched in and took turns helping me plow. At that point, my husband realized how much the "dream henhouse" meant to me, but since he lacks carpentry skills, he hired someone to build my henhouse, and within a week, my girls were moving in! Lucky for you, your dad and brother have the skills to rebuild yours.

Like you, I was having issues with how I had to keep my chickens housed, and though my chickens were healthy, they looked terrible! I had individual coops for each of my 30 birds where they were only housed at night, they would free range all day; but they would try and get out of the small hole in the mornings that held their feeder cups and all their neck feathers were missing. When it would rain, which wasnt too often, I would have to leave them cooped in there all day. It was so depressing to me, can you imagine how the chickens felt? Today, they have a big beautiful 20 x 8 henhouse to retire in after a long day of ranging, and the only chickens without their neck feathers are my Turkens!