Desert Chicken Retreat, Anyone?

[CoulterMiniFarm]

What was supposed to be a simple chicken coop and run that took a weekend to put together ended up being a desert chicken resort of sorts that, to date, has taken us 5 weeks to complete (this was a "spare time" build) and is nowhere near simple...at least not for us. .

Because of the heat, we added a sail over the coop for shade, a chicken pool for the girls to cool off in (complete with ice occasionally dumped in it for them), and a misting system that runs along the front fence. You can see the wet area by the front of the run due to the mist. The girls LOVE this area!

We've added a dust bath for them (the round "fire pit" looking thing), but I'm not done with it yet. I've ordered some dust bath to mix in it that should be here in a day or so. The bath didn't turn out to be as big as I'd hoped, so I'll probably need to add a few blocks to increase the diameter as the birds mature.

We have a ton of hawks and other predators around, so there's predator netting around the entire run (from the eaves of the house to the fence, and front to back), completely closing it in. It makes the run more like a chicken aviary

. I'm not gonna lie - it's one of my favorite features.

The coop has plenty of ventilation, but we went ahead and added a fan on one of the vents to increase air flow on the hottest days. Because our temps still drop into the mid to low 60's at night, there's also a heat lamp in the coop that turns on at midnight and off at 7 AM. The floor of the coop is flex sealed to protect from moisture and to make it so we can wash out the coop if we need to (but I'm hoping we don't need to).

My wife insisted that I add a hinged roof for cleaning and easy access. I was just going to add another door at the opposite end, but I'm glad I went with her idea. It was a totally different engineering direction from my original plan, but my bride was right - the hinged roof is a game changer!!! It is sturdy (I could sit on it), water tight, surprisingly light, and opens wide for access and ventilation (it's a coop with a convertible roof!). I was also able to design in a couple of feet of additional ventilation with the new roof structure, which is a nice plus. The roof locks down tight with clips on both ends. When the door is shut and everything is locked for the night, the coop very secure, and will protect the ladies well against any nocturnal predators that might try to force their way past the run netting.

The girls seem to love the place so far. They are healthy, happy, and growing! Now, can we just get some eggs?!

 

[DobieLover]

It's cute but in your climate, I would convert it into an open air coop. I would install some fly rafters on the roof and make an 8" minimum overhang then remove the side walls and cover them with 1/2" hardware cloth.

I would also build a covered feeding station and get the food and water outside. If you are concerned with it attracting rodents, bring the food into the house/garage at night.

The roost needs to be at least 1' away from the wall. When those cute girls get bigger, they will poop all over that wall. And they will scratch away at everything you have out there and wreck it. You need to satisfy their instincts.

I would get as many of the stones out of there as you can. They are not a good substrate for chicken feet. You want to use something organic and and dry. I think you'll have the dry part covered living in the desert!

Then install some stump arrangements, wood pallets leaning against the fence, anchor branches for roosting about 2' up, add some old wood chairs/stool for perching on. Lots of 'clutter' for them makes a much better environment.

Otherwise, it's a solid structure. Just a few tweaks to make it appropriate for your climate and the chickens.

 

[CoulterMiniFarm]

It's cute but in your climate, I would convert it into an open air coop. I would install some fly rafters on the roof and make an 8" minimum overhang then remove the side walls and cover them with 1/2" hardware cloth.

I would also build a covered feeding station and get the food and water outside. If you are concerned with it attracting rodents, bring the food into the house/garage at night.

The roost needs to be at least 1' away from the wall. When those cute girls get bigger, they will poop all over that wall. And they will scratch away at everything you have out there and wreck it. You need to satisfy their instincts.

I would get as many of the stones out of there as you can. They are not a good substrate for chicken feet. You want to use something organic and and dry. I think you'll have the dry part covered living in the desert!

Then install some stump arrangements, wood pallets leaning against the fence, anchor branches for roosting about 2' up, add some old wood chairs/stool for perching on. Lots of 'clutter' for them makes a much better environment.

Otherwise, it's a solid structure. Just a few tweaks to make it appropriate for your climate and the chickens.

Thank you for your response to my post, and I love these ideas!

I thought about opening up the side with wire, but the issue we have with an open air coop is that we also get quite a bit of snow and low to freezing temps for much of the winter. But that’s where the genius of the hinged roof comes in, because on really hot days, we open the roof for them. They still have ample shade, but tons of ventilation!

We can’t do much about the rocks, because this is a rented home. They’ve allowed us to make some cool changes, but getting rid of the rock wouldn’t be one of them. However, once the chickens are full grown, we’re going to let them into the rest of the yard as well, and we have a lot of dirt, grass, trees, bushes, etc for them to explore!

The roosting bar is over a foot from the wall, and I’m kicking around the idea of putting a “poop guard” of sorts on that wall. It would just be scrap wood paneling that we could change out as needed.

I really like the mixed environment idea! I’ll have to think through a good way to do that without also creating an environment for snakes.

Again, thank you!!!

 

[DobieLover]

we open the roof for them. They still have ample shade, but tons of ventilation!

If the roof is open, how do you prevent the birds from hopping out or a raccoon from climbing in?

we have a lot of dirt, grass, trees, bushes, etc for them to explore!

Not for long! They tear landscape up pretty fast.

 

[CoulterMiniFarm]

If the roof is open, how do you prevent the birds from hopping out or a raccoon from climbing in?

during the day, the birds could hop out (although they're too small right now), but I'm not sure that this is a real issue. Birds of prey are kept at bay by the predator netting, and as for raccoons, we close the coop up at night. We're at about 3,700 ft, so we cool off at night fairly quickly, even on the hottest days. It's not unheard of for us to have a 40+ degree swing from daytime to overnight temps in the late spring and late summer. Right now we're only sitting at about a 20+ degree swing with daytime temps being in the mid to upper 90's and nighttime temps being in the mid to low 70's. Although a temp spike is possible, we should be past the worst of our high temps, which are almost always in June.

Not for long! They tear landscape up pretty fast.

Man, do I know that! We had chickens when we lived back east. Our 10 bird flock wrecked their run in a very short time! We have a fairly large yard, and quite honestly, it will be hard for them to ruin it. Desert landscaping is fairly hardy and not as ornate as what we had back east. The grass is bermuda, the landscaping is rock, and all the plants have stickers and fight back! LOL!

 

[igorsMistress]

Super cute! I use a pool for ice blocks for my crew daily right now. They take longer to melt than cubes. FWIW I’ve had chickens in the desert for roughly ten years and you will be surprised what they’ll eat. Also, I have no weeds or grass in my backyard so except where my chickens don’t have access. When I got my first flock there was good sized patch of weeds and grass back there but it’s all gone. Don’t underestimate their destructive abilities.

 

[CoulterMiniFarm]

I've thought of trying the oat grass trick and just sewing that in a patch of rock. Have you tried that? If so, does it work?

 

[CoulterMiniFarm]

I use a pool for ice blocks for my crew daily right now. They take longer to melt than cubes

I love this idea! Putting water in the freezer to make an ice block right now!

 

[igorsMistress]

I forgot to address the open air coop. You can use wire for three out of four walls of your coop, leaving it open when it’s really hot, then just attach the solid walls when the temps start to cool. We use window screen mounts to attach the solid portions of wall to the coop in winter for more protection from the wind. I’m currently opening up my coop even more than it was because I think we were over protecting, but having lots of air flow in summer is much better.