Critter Question

[Poultry Home Companion]

I would think in Utah you'd want to go deeper against frost heave, tho it is just a chicken coop - so no codes. But 8" may not be deep enough to deter rats and other rodents
The beauty of the apron is that the animal digs at the foot of the wall and hits the apron, moves down a bit and tries again...never thinks to back up to edge of apron and go under it.

BTW love your screen name, play on Prairie Home Companion?


Here it is...just searched user JackE then his topics started:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/woods-style-house-in-the-winter.445004/

Thanks again!
Yeah, I'm really persuaded by the mesh apron idea. I'm going to do it. So, I guess it doesn't matter much how deep I go with my curbing at that point, but I'm glad I'm doing it so that it will contain the contents of the coop (brick pavers under wood shavings) and the run (sand). It looks like you can't see the mesh at all once the grass fills in through it. Pretty cool.

 

[aart]

If the mesh is laid down good and flat, it does become pretty invisible.
Just make sure you get it flat and well pinned down at corners.
I had a couple places I got lazy and paid later with the mower blades.

Is the coop going to be 10x18 or the run and the coop?
If it's the run, how big will the coop be?
Not sure why you need pavers under shavings.
I'd rethink the sand too...most folks regret it and go with a deep litter.
Might depend on if your run will be covered,
and you like to scoop poop multiple times daily.

 

[Folly's place]

The brick pavers will heave in winter and be way more trouble than they're worth. Just go with the dirt floor, with shavings. Shoveling out shavings on an uneven brick surface will make you crazy!
The same with the run; have good drainage and use shavings, plant clippings, and stuff. The best thing we did here way roof the entire structure, 24' x'14'. No snow, no rain, wonderful! Mary

 

[Poultry Home Companion]

If the mesh is laid down good and flat, it does become pretty invisible.
Just make sure you get it flat and well pinned down at corners.
I had a couple places I got lazy and paid later with the mower blades.

Is the coop going to be 10x18 or the run and the coop?
If it's the run, how big will the coop be?
Not sure why you need pavers under shavings.
I'd rethink the sand too...most folks regret it and go with a deep litter.
Might depend on if your run will be covered,
and you like to scoop poop multiple times daily.

Thanks. I'll make sure to tack down the mesh really well, then.

The building will be 10'x18', with a 4'x10' coop and a 14'x10' run. All covered.
I had heard good things about sand in the run. Why do you think I'll regret it? And what is a deep litter?

T

 

[Poultry Home Companion]

The brick pavers will heave in winter and be way more trouble than they're worth. Just go with the dirt floor, with shavings. Shoveling out shavings on an uneven brick surface will make you crazy!
The same with the run; have good drainage and use shavings, plant clippings, and stuff. The best thing we did here way roof the entire structure, 24' x'14'. No snow, no rain, wonderful! Mary

Thanks, Mary. You're making me glad that we decided to put a roof over the entire operation. Our old setup had a roofless run, so it turned into a muddy mess whenever the rain and snow came, and the tarp over the top (a hassle) didn't look very classy, either.

 

[Kusanar]

Thanks. I'll make sure to tack down the mesh really well, then.

The building will be 10'x18', with a 4'x10' coop and a 14'x10' run. All covered.
I had heard good things about sand in the run. Why do you think I'll regret it? And what is a deep litter?

T

The bad things I have heard about sand are that if it gets wet it stinks because it is impossible to get every little bit of poop out of it when you scoop, it can also get wet and freeze in the winter and get REALLY hot in the summer (ever been to the beach?).

Deep litter is a method of using a variety of different bedding types at the same time and letting them compost in place in the coup and/or run. There are some massive threads on here about it. But, if you know anything about composting, you know that there is a carbon to nitrogen balance that needs to be correct for everything to break down and if the compost gets too nitrogen rich then it will stink.

Chicken poop is nitrogen, and you use a variety of bedding that are all carbons (wood chips, chopped straw, dry fallen leaves and twigs, shavings, etc), so when the chicken poops, the nitrogen will fall onto carbon and will start decomposing however much of the carbon that the nitrogen in the poop can break down, so, the easiest thing to do, is to start with your mix, then if the coup gets stinky (it will do it a lot less with the deep litter than with just shavings or sand), you just take your pitchfork and flip over the top layer so that the poop is now buried under bedding. The good microbes will go to work breaking everything down. Over time, your bedding will break down into beautiful compost, and you will need to add more bedding, rule of thumb is to look in the coup and whatever material you can see the LEAST of still in there is what you add so that you keep the mix going. You can remove the bottom layers once or twice a year if you want the compost for the garden, but never clean it all the way out or you will have to start all over getting the microbes happy so that they will break everything down quickly. If you have the litter on a dirt floor, you can simply leave it and it will eventually sink down into the ground without having to be removed, on a solid floor, you will have to remove some every now and then (once or twice a year) to keep the litter from getting TOO deep and ending up in the ceiling.

 

[Folly's place]

Forty sq. ft. is tight for your flock as it is, never mind any spring additions. BUT if you consider your entire roofed structure as a coop, you're good! Mary

 

[aart]

The building will be 10'x18', with a 4'x10' coop and a 14'x10' run. All covered.

Forty sq. ft. is tight for your flock as it is, never mind any spring additions. BUT if you consider your entire roofed structure as a coop, you're good!

Yes, that 4' is tight to work with.

 

[CapricornFarm]

The brick pavers will heave in winter and be way more trouble than they're worth. Just go with the dirt floor, with shavings. Shoveling out shavings on an uneven brick surface will make you crazy!
The same with the run; have good drainage and use shavings, plant clippings, and stuff. The best thing we did here way roof the entire structure, 24' x'14'. No snow, no rain, wonderful! Mary

Yeah, i wanted to do that but husband balked at the price. What a pill.