Coop set up

[ninafe]

Hello! First time chick owner here…I have four 3 week old ISA browns and we have just assembled the coop for them to move into in a few weeks. It is low profile and we plan to have it on our covered patio for the time being at our suburban house. We are pretty close to the neighbors and aren’t quite sure what they think about us having chicken yet so we are taking it day by day. The plan is to keep them on the patio during the day when we are at work and then let them free roam in the evening in our yard so we can supervise. Does it sound like a feasible plan?

My other questions are-
1) Per my research on this forum, I can put straw in the two nesting boxes. How would a 6 week old chicken know those boxes are for laying eggs? As oppose to sleeping? Or does it not matter?

2) Is a mixture of pine shaving and PDZ okay for the dropping board below the two roosting bars?

3) For the run, I was thinking some water proof material on the bottom ( since it will be on the patio), and on top pine shaving and PDZ again? A patch of fake grass?

Thanks guys! And sorry for obvious questions. I’ve been reading as much as I can on this forum but wanted to see if my plan is actually feasible.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Hello! First time chick owner here…I have four 3 week old ISA browns and we have just assembled the coop for them to move into in a few weeks. It is low profile and we plan to have it on our covered patio for the time being at our suburban house. We are pretty close to the neighbors and aren’t quite sure what they think about us having chicken yet so we are taking it day by day.

Congrats on the chicks!

The plan is to keep them on the patio during the day when we are at work and then let them free roam in the evening in our yard so we can supervise. Does it sound like a feasible plan?

To me it does! However, I would consider renovating the coop a bit. I’ll add more on that later.

1) Per my research on this forum, I can put straw in the two nesting boxes. How would a 6 week old chicken know those boxes are for laying eggs? As oppose to sleeping? Or does it not matter?

You could put straw in there, but the chicks will think it’s a cozy sleeping cave. This will end up later having poopy eggs.
So no, they won’t really know the difference.

2) Is a mixture of pine shaving and PDZ okay for the dropping board below the two roosting bars?

I believe so. I’m just working on adding my poop boards, and I’m planning on just PDZ, but that should work.

3) For the run, I was thinking some water proof material on the bottom ( since it will be on the patio), and on top pine shaving and PDZ again? A patch of fake grass?

Pine shavings or dirt would work. It seems like a lot of PDZ, but I’m guessing my that’d work too. I would steer clear of fake grass, they might try to eat it and it wouldn’t serve much of a purpose. However, you can add some fun things: Article: Run clutter and coop extras

Thanks guys! And sorry for obvious questions. I’ve been reading as much as I can on this forum but wanted to see if my plan is actually feasible.

Don’t worry about it! We’re all here to learn.

About my earlier mention of the coop...

I don’t know the dimensions, but generally speaking you want 4 square feet per hen in the house, and ten square feet in the run. Each. I have a feeling that coops not quite cutting it. You’ll also want a lot of ventilation-chickens create massive amounts of poop and ammonia. Even just 4 of them.

How handy are you? I’ve seen some people convert pre-fabs into better coops-you can find some here on BYC, or is it possible to convert something like a shed to a coop? Or can you build one yourself? This section will have lots of ideas. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/small-coops.18/

Good luck! Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with.

 

[Yardmom]

6 week old chicks will see nests as a place to roost. At 6 months or when they are ready to lay they will hopefully see them as great places for eggs. If you want clean nests for eggs you want to discourage them from hanging out in the nests before they are ready to lay. Roosts that are higher than nests are helpful. My setup is very different from your so I don't have experience with your other questions.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Here’s a link to someone’s renovated pre fab. The coop is different dimensions, but maybe you can make something like that work. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-renovated-prefab-coop.1440258/

Unfortunately that style of renovation won't work on this coop design, it's intended for the sort of prefab with a small coop unit in and above a slightly larger run unit. Basically it takes advantage of the full foot print of the unit plus uses the mesh walls to help add ventilation.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Unfortunately that style of renovation won't work on this coop design, it's intended for the sort of prefab with a small coop unit in and above a slightly larger run unit. Basically it takes advantage of the full foot print of the unit plus uses the mesh walls to help add ventilation.

That makes sense. Didn’t think of that before. (I’m tired and should head to bed soon anyways...)

Maybe they could get some sort of shed and convert it?

 

[rosemarythyme]

That makes sense. Didn’t think of that before. (I’m tired and should head to bed soon anyways...)

Maybe they could get some sort of shed and convert it?

Yeah I'm struggling to think of how to improve a prefab like this and coming up blank at the moment. It's just tough since there's not really any extra space above or below to work with.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I know you probably don't want to hear it but that coop is pretty problematic, especially given that you live in a hotter environment. I don't see any ventilation in it, plus I don't see any way to raise the roosts much higher than the nest boxes, to encourage them to roost instead of sleeping in nests.

1) They don't know that the nest is for laying in. Due to the fact that the roosts are so low, they will very likely want to sleep in the nests. You'll probably need to cover/block the nests for the time being.

3) I don't use either of the materials you're considering so can't advise on those. Just don't do fake grass, you're risking that they'll ingest some of it. Chickens really want some sort of substrate they can dig down into.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Congrats on the chicks!

To me it does! However, I would consider renovating the coop a bit. I’ll add more on that later.

You could put straw in there, but the chicks will think it’s a cozy sleeping cave. This will end up later having poopy eggs.
So no, they won’t really know the difference.

I believe so. I’m just working on adding my poop boards, and I’m planning on just PDZ, but that should work.

Pine shavings or dirt would work. It seems like a lot of PDZ, but I’m guessing my that’d work too. I would steer clear of fake grass, they might try to eat it and it wouldn’t serve much of a purpose. However, you can add some fun things: Article: Run clutter and coop extras

Don’t worry about it! We’re all here to learn.

About my earlier mention of the coop...

I don’t know the dimensions, but generally speaking you want 4 square feet per hen in the house, and ten square feet in the run. Each. I have a feeling that coops not quite cutting it. You’ll also want a lot of ventilation-chickens create massive amounts of poop and ammonia. Even just 4 of them.

How handy are you? I’ve seen some people convert pre-fabs into better coops-you can find some here on BYC, or is it possible to convert something like a shed to a coop? Or can you build one yourself? This section will have lots of ideas. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/small-coops.18/

Good luck! Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with.

Here’s a link to someone’s renovated pre fab. The coop is different dimensions, but maybe you can make something like that work. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-renovated-prefab-coop.1440258/

There’s also tons of renovated sheds out there.

 

[ninafe]

6 week old chicks will see nests as a place to roost. At 6 months or when they are ready to lay they will hopefully see them as great places for eggs. If you want clean nests for eggs you want to discourage them from hanging out in the nests before they are ready to lay. Roosts that are higher than nests are helpful. My setup is very different from your so I don't have experience with your other questions.

Thanks! I will block the two nesting boxes for now until the chicken come of age.

 

[ninafe]

Rut roh! That’s not good…. There is a little window behind the coop for ventilation and there is a ceiling fan right above the coop. I must have looked at thousands of different coops online before getting this one. It seems to me that all of the premade coops are built kind of like this in terms of coverings and I don’t recall any of them being particularly airy. What they all boast is predator proof.

Neither my husband nor I is handy, at all. So building things from scratch is out of the question unfortunately.

If I start the chicks early in warm weather, are they hardy enough to just get used to it?