Coop Interior Help/Thoughts, Please: Sketched ideas on page 2

[NightingaleJen]

It will help block the wind too.

Our thoughts too. Some of the interior dividers were finished today. The birds will be here in just over a month! I'm starting to get a little antsy. We've been waiting for such a long time! Hubby will probably have to insist I sleep in our actual person bed instead of beside the chicks.

 

[NatJ]

I couldn't tell in the interior photos: does the inner door swing into the birds' space, or into the people space? Because you want the door to swing away from the deep bedding/litter on the floor of the birds' space.

Also, to control that bedding or litter: put a board across the doorway, about a foot high, so the bedding does not fall out. BUT, make sure you can remove it for cleaning! (Two screws at each end works well--nice and secure, but comes out easily)

Do you have a human-size door from outside, directly into the chicken section? You might want one. Even if you only use it once or twice a year, to move big things in or out (like piles of bedding material.)

Feeders and waterers: if you have not yet decided, I suggest you get a hanging tube-style feeder, and a hanging waterer. (Both being the style where the chickens get food/water from a pan at the bottom, and there's a top part that holds extra water/feed.)

Hang the waterer and feeder from the ceiling, with one piece of chain for each, and use some kind of clip that fastens the chain to the hanging handle, so you can adjust them up or down easily. (Chickens grow? Raise it up. Add baby chicks? lower it. Bedding gets deeper or shallower? Adjust height.)

No matter what you start to use for feed and water, you will discover something that you wish was different. So start with something that's quick and easy to get/install, to save yourself effort

 

[NightingaleJen]

@NatJ Actually, I had initially wanted it to swing into the people area instead...we fixed it, thank you for the reminder. We will put boards up to keep the litter inside the bird area, too, thanks!

We do not have a human-sized door into the bird area...there is a horizontal opening in the back, though, for cleaning and the like, that is big enough (maybe 4-5' x 3'?) to get into if necessary.

We have been planning on a vertical nipple waterer for the chicks (boy, those nipples are out of stock 'til August in many places!) and the grown birds, eventually. Figure we can cover it to keep the water cleaner. Someone has suggested using one of those birdbath heaters to keep it unfrozen come winter. What kind of opening is in the hanging feeder? From what you describe I am picturing a 5-gallon bucket with some sort of opening near the bottom, and I've seen those around. TBH, right now I'm getting antsier and antsier about feeding the chicks, mostly!

Have more photos today:



Hubby set up a nice pulley-and-cleat system so I can easily open the windows as much as I like from outside the coop—though considering the side (and back!) ones will be 'in the run', we will need to lengthen those cords so they can be reached without my absolutely having to go in and push back tiny tyrannosaurs in order to do so. (I'm 5' tall. The cords will have to be very long...)

We still need to put a 'fascia' board over the front rafters...



Sorry about the construction detritus. It is coming along! Alas, with humid summer here, we probably won't be able to paint the exterior 'til fall, unless we get a cool stretch (I've done a lot of painting in my life, and it seems to me that paint applied during the hot, humid months never quite cures correctly).

 

[NatJ]

What kind of opening is in the hanging feeder? From what you describe I am picturing a 5-gallon bucket with some sort of opening near the bottom, and I've seen those around.

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Plastic-Hanging-Poultry-Feeder/dp/B000HHHCAM

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/harris-farms-chicken-feeder-7-lb

https://www.strombergschickens.com/product/40-pound-galvanized-poultry-feeder

Links to three different examples of the style of feeder I mean.

They look like a fat tube or bottomless bucket with a pan suspended just below, and come in plastic and in metal. The feed runs out into the pan on all sides and the chickens can get it. Some also have a lid that keeps chickens from roosting on top (or you can improvise with a piece of cardboard or plastic.)

I like that they hang, that the height is adjustable (hang it higher or lower), that chickens can eat from all sides, that chickens do not have to be taught how to use them, and that they can hold a lot of food (depends on size).

Also, depending on where you get it-- often fairly cheap.


Coop looks nice so far!

 

[NightingaleJen]

@NatJ Yes, that is what I was thinking of! That or a PVC pipe with holes in it—but then I'd be worried that the wee fluffballs would get into the holes, somehow. I like the sort you've posted better, TBH.

Thank you! A Flickr pal says that his first house wasn't as nice as this coop. ;P

 

[NightingaleJen]

Getting the brooder ready...We ended up with an Ecoglow plate. (Hubby gifted it to me.) (Less for him to build, ha!) Obviously we still need to cut a little chick-sized door into the brooder so they can get into the 'expansion' area.

The flooring is there just to keep the moisture from getting to the actual floor. Left over from the house, it'll be covered with bedding (and we all know what else...) soon enough!

How much, if any, bedding do people put beneath the heat plates? I was going to just go with a light layer of bedding covered with paper towel at first, per the hatchery.

Obviously we'll put some HC atop the bales too. Just wrapping things up!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Don't need a huge amount of bedding under a heat plate - you want enough for the chicks to snuggle in but you don't have to go crazy building up a thick amount. Make sure that once the plate is in, that there's still adequate clearance between the plate and the bedding itself - I use a heat pad but the frame its on does sink into the bedding an inch or two.

 

[aart]

Don't need a huge amount of bedding under a heat plate - you want enough for the chicks to snuggle in but you don't have to go crazy building up a thick amount. Make sure that once the plate is in, that there's still adequate clearance between the plate and the bedding itself - I use a heat pad but the frame its on does sink into the bedding an inch or two.

Ditto Dat!
Also needs access from at least 2 sides, 4 is best
Not seeing the plate?

 

[NightingaleJen]

@rosemarythyme @aart Thanks to you both! I really appreciate the help.

The plate isn't there yet, will put it in tomorrow or Monday AM. I do plan to set it up so there's access on two sides for sure—not sure we can swing four, but I might be able to do three. How much space is necessary all around to make that happen, @aart? Would 3-4" be good?

If Hubby can get that 'door' made before the birds arrive then it won't be so difficult to pull off, since they'll have more room to roam.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The plate isn't there yet, will put it in tomorrow or Monday AM. I do plan to set it up so there's access on two sides for sure—not sure we can swing four, but I might be able to do three. How much space is necessary all around to make that happen, @aart? Would 3-4" be good?

3-4" is fine, it's to ensure that chicks can get out from as many sides as possible so no one gets trapped under there. I think I had less than 2" on one side this last time, chicks could still squeeze out from there with no problems while very young.