Coop "Must Haves"

[alaina_ray]

Hello Everyone!

We have been given an old coop building and we are going to be working on fixing it up. It has good, solid bones. We have many coops at work, but this is our first home coop. I know a lot about keeping predators out, but what I want to know are your "must have" items for a chicken coop. Do you have anything fun in your coop your chickens like to play with? Do you use solar lights or electricity? I'm looking for any unique ideas and functional ideas that coops should have. Any advice in general is appreciated about home coops.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Presnell5]

Must have: plenty of roost room! I wish I’d have made more roosts.
I don’t use any lights. I just give them the winter off.
Mine all use the same box so don’t think you need a nest box for each hen lol

 

[rosemarythyme]

Ventilation and natural light. Even with 5 windows on my coop I kinda wish I'd sprung for another.

 

[alaina_ray]

Must have: plenty of roost room! I wish I’d have made more roosts.
I don’t use any lights. I just give them the winter off.
Mine all use the same box so don’t think you need a nest box for each hen lol

Thank you! I've been back and forth on whether to use lights. I want it to be a safe coop, but don't know about leaving lights on for them. This one came with nesting boxes that are in great shape. I'm going to sand them a bit. I thought about staining or painting them too. What do you use in your nesting boxes for the chickens to lay on?

 

[alaina_ray]

Ventilation and natural light. Even with 5 windows on my coop I kinda wish I'd sprung for another.

I have been looking up ventilation options this week! I found a solar powered fan on Amazon that can use solar power or be plugged in, plus rust-proof vent that can go in on the other side of the coop. What do you use for ventilation?

We were just talking about windows this morning. It only currently has one, but we want to add more!

 

[Presnell5]

Thank you! I've been back and forth on whether to use lights. I want it to be a safe coop, but don't know about leaving lights on for them. This one came with nesting boxes that are in great shape. I'm going to sand them a bit. I thought about staining or painting them too. What do you use in your nesting boxes for the chickens to lay on?

I actually buy these cool pre made nesting pads. They’re on amazon and they are pretty cool. I’ve used just shavings also. So sometimes I’ll put shavings in one box then The nest pads in another and they can choose what they like.
Painting is a good idea to keep bugs out. Mine aren’t painted but they should be lol

 

[tralfaz]

+1 for ventilation. Take note how the air flows on your property where the coop will sit. I put larger openings on the sides which have less access to a breeze

 

[alaina_ray]

I actually buy these cool pre made nesting pads. They’re on amazon and they are pretty cool. I’ve used just shavings also. So sometimes I’ll put shavings in one box then The nest pads in another and they can choose what they like.
Painting is a good idea to keep bugs out. Mine aren’t painted but they should be lol

I just saw those nesting pads on amazon yesterday! I wondered if they were worth it or not, we will definitely try them out and see what they prefer when it comes time for them to start laying! Thank you!

 

[alaina_ray]

+1 for ventilation. Take note how the air flows on your property where the coop will sit. I put larger openings on the sides which have less access to a breeze

Thank you! I just scored a few windows with screens today that we are going to add to it!

 

[rosemarythyme]

What do you use for ventilation?

We were just talking about windows this morning. It only currently has one, but we want to add more!

I have 5 windows, a ridge vent, gable vent, 2 floor vents, and 40 under eave vent holes, totals up to around 32 sq ft of ventilation which is close to 3x what I'd need. If I were to build another coop though, I'd add even more!

Thumbs up on picking up some new windows!