Coop in progress...bad planning?

[Compost King]

oh yeah, coops only dry out when you remove wet bedding not when you add it lol. Sometimes Brother In Laws are too busy knowing everything to realize they are wrong. I even avoid putting waterers in my coops, chickens have to go outside to drink. Moisture and manure in an enclosed area is bad, very bad.

I am going to look up information on Cedar and chickens and post it in here, who knows.. maybe what I read and heard about Cedar is incorrect. I can be so overly cautious over a rumor that I get down right paranoid.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/who-says-cedar-is-bad-for-chickens.99738/ I found this thread when I did my search, I am reading it now.

 

[aart]

What is bad about using cedar wood for mulch?

Aromatic cedar shavings in a coop can cause respiratory issues.
Not all cedar is of the aromatic type.

 

[thecreekhouse]

We have a sloping yard and our coop and run work well. Here it is.

 

[Compost King]

View attachment 1606668 We have a sloping yard and our coop and run work well. Here it is.

One of the better tractors I have seen, provided it moves easily.

 

[Kris5902]

Well after reading through that thread, I have to say I can’t wait to get my babies out of their pine shaving filled brooder! The last bale of shavings I got from my feed store was overpowering in the pine aroma area.

I think I’m ok with what I’ve been giving the cooped up girls, as it’s sat out for a year or so in the weather, then I rake it up, spread it out on tarps in the summer sun, fluff and turn it a few times over usually 3 days of sun baking before I bag it in old feed bags.

The tractor I’m building will have cedar siding, but again it’s fairly old material and not heavily aromatic anymore... We have western red cedar, Douglas fir, grand fir, maple, and alder on our farm, and a wood-mizer sawmill. Though for my first tractor I’m using store bought SPF lumber, I planned on using cedar for the rest, because it’s light in weight compared to our other woods, and free!

 

[Compost King]

I believe Cedar Siding should be fine because its on the outside, confined spaces where there is little or no air flow is what I would worry about. Or that is what I found out reading about it today. I avoid cedar but if it comes up and its on the outside its looking like it should ok.

 

[Kris5902]

My coop is coming along, but I'm trying to figure out if there are flaws in the design before we get too much further....

There is not a level spot anywhere in my yard, so one side is elevated. I know for sure that it's sturdy, but how long will wooden legs last? I worry they will rot and collapse the coop on the one side.

Deep litter doesn't work on a wood floor, right? Is it possible to make the coop level and critter proof with a dirt floor on a slope? My yard sucks. If you can think of a better way to do it, I'm more than happy to hear it.

View attachment 1601663

That is quite some slope! If you haven’t addressed the legs yet... you could use some scrap lumber or several pallet boards and stakes to make a concrete form... sort of the same as a post block, flared at the bottom and as as deeply set into the soil/rock as you can... buy a bag or two of premix concrete and make little footings around the legs with that?

 

[SomeChickinTN]

That is quite some slope! If you haven’t addressed the legs yet... you could use some scrap lumber or several pallet boards and stakes to make a concrete form... sort of the same as a post block, flared at the bottom and as as deeply set into the soil/rock as you can... buy a bag or two of premix concrete and make little footings around the legs with that?

Yeah, everything I put in my yard is going to have to be reinforced with concrete. I can't even put up a swing set.

And yesterday, someone brought me what I thought was going to be a second coop, but it turns out to be a chicken tractor, so I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to turn it into another permanent coop.

 

[Kris5902]

One other suggestion I can think of, if it’s possible, I see you’re using two pallets to make a rectangle? If you can orient the rectangle so it runs across the slope lengthwise rather than with the slope, it would reduce the height of the down slope legs by about half which might improve stability.

I would also suggest (can’t tell from the pics if you already have this) some sort of reinforcement on the bottom of the pallets. Like 4x4 beams running lengthwise, if you don’t have 4x4 you could laminate 2 2x4’s together... glue and screw as well as nail them together.

Screws pull together the two pieces together nicely, but don’t have good shear strength. I hate using nails because my shoulder is a mess with a repetitive strain injury from my last job, which makes using a hammer or nail gun hell... but you would want them there for shear strength. If you use a good exterior wood glue or construction adhesive that also adds a lot of strength to the joint.

 

[SomeChickinTN]

One other suggestion I can think of, if it’s possible, I see you’re using two pallets to make a rectangle? If you can orient the rectangle so it runs across the slope lengthwise rather than with the slope, it would reduce the height of the down slope legs by about half which might improve stability.

I would also suggest (can’t tell from the pics if you already have this) some sort of reinforcement on the bottom of the pallets. Like 4x4 beams running lengthwise, if you don’t have 4x4 you could laminate 2 2x4’s together... glue and screw as well as nail them together.

Screws pull together the two pieces together nicely, but don’t have good shear strength. I hate using nails because my shoulder is a mess with a repetitive strain injury from my last job, which makes using a hammer or nail gun hell... but you would want them there for shear strength. If you use a good exterior wood glue or construction adhesive that also adds a lot of strength to the joint.

Thanks. I didn't think of doing it that way, but now it's almost finished, and probably way too heavy to turn. But will remember for next time.

Yeah, there are beams running down the inside of the pallets. They were screwed together with lag bolts, and on the long side they are screwed into a beam with more lag bolts, if that makes sense.

Will there be too much draft if I don't cover the pallet holes?