Designing the “ideal” coop....

[lazy gardener]

Yes, you can do it. It's helpful if you have an experienced person to help you through your first cull and processing.

I tend to be a "pair of scissors in every drawer" person as well. My disorganization leads to lots of frustration and lots of lost time.

You might consider doing a soil floor in both coop AND run, if such will fit your construction plan. IMO, a soil floor, with a nice buried skirt is the ultimate in ease of maintenance, and actually results in a coop which does not need to be cleaned. If you do deep litter in your coop with a soil floor, all you will have to do is add extra bedding (leaves, grass clippings, garden debris, wood chips). The chickens, beneficial bacteria and fungi, worms, and beneficial insects take care of routine maintenance. The end product is a fantastic black compost which you can harvest as needed for your gardening pleasure.

 

[we3ernes]

Slaughtering is definitely one of the steepest learning curves(of the many).
Took me all winter with lots of research on equipment, techniques, and anecdotes to get the nerve up for my first. I don't think I've ever experienced the full body adrenaline tremors like I did when I killed my first bird. After a dozen it got much 'easier' from experience and tweaking my set up and process. You can do it.

This makes me feels better. I appreciate your candor!

 

[we3ernes]

Yes, you can do it. It's helpful if you have an experienced person to help you through your first cull and processing.

I tend to be a "pair of scissors in every drawer" person as well. My disorganization leads to lots of frustration and lots of lost time.

You might consider doing a soil floor in both coop AND run, if such will fit your construction plan. IMO, a soil floor, with a nice buried skirt is the ultimate in ease of maintenance, and actually results in a coop which does not need to be cleaned. If you do deep litter in your coop with a soil floor, all you will have to do is add extra bedding (leaves, grass clippings, garden debris, wood chips). The chickens, beneficial bacteria and fungi, worms, and beneficial insects take care of routine maintenance. The end product is a fantastic black compost which you can harvest as needed for your gardening pleasure.

Our homestead will be in a new place for us. I am hoping to find mentors there, but being married to the military has taught me that it can take awhile to make those connections. In the meantime I have Backyard Chickens and Google to get me through!

When my husband and I first married he was amazed at the number of duplicates I had, after 20 years he has learned to appreciate the convenience!

I had wondered about a dirt floor. It seems like it would be the ideal pairing with the deep litter method, but you don’t hear a lot about people using dirt floors. If I used them I imagine I would need to be very careful about drainage and water.

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes, you do need to set your coop up with good drainage. But, that's necessary with your set up anyways, since the run is usually adjacent if not surrounding a coop. A wet soil is a perfect invite for disease and parasites. A well functioning DL, especially on a soil floor, actually works to keep pathogens in check. I'll see if I can find Beekissed video about her DL in her hoop coop. Blooie has also done very well with DL in her hoop run. My first coop was a hoop coop with a loft. The bottom was 8 x 12, soil floor, DL management. To this day, my birds make a bee line when ever they are let out of their traditional stick built coop. They love to hang out in the hoop coop.

 

[Peter.J]

Lazy is right, if you don't have any experience cleaning/butchering animals you definitely want a tutor initially. Try not to name them, maybe just name the roosters. And if you have a big enough flock you may not get attached to them individually. Roosters, despite being named are easy to cull after they've become aggressive and chased your wife etc around.
I have a known egg eater in my flock that I think i may cull this week. There has been a real lack of eggs lately, although not much evidence (shells) of egg eating, but i'd rather be on the safe side before she teaches this behavior to the others...

 

[we3ernes]

Yes, you do need to set your coop up with good drainage. But, that's necessary with your set up anyways, since the run is usually adjacent if not surrounding a coop. A wet soil is a perfect invite for disease and parasites. A well functioning DL, especially on a soil floor, actually works to keep pathogens in check. I'll see if I can find Beekissed video about her DL in her hoop coop. Blooie has also done very well with DL in her hoop run. My first coop was a hoop coop with a loft. The bottom was 8 x 12, soil floor, DL management. To this day, my birds make a bee line when ever they are let out of their traditional stick built coop. They love to hang out in the hoop coop.

I do have plans for water management, it IS Texas, so we need to be careful with water use and plan on collecting alll the rainwater we can into cisterns. I also have plans for how to handle their waterers to keep the floor from getting soggy, but I think the payoff of the deep litter method is worth the extra preliminary work!

 

[lazy gardener]

@Blooie has had great success with DL management in her hoop run. Beekissed has been doing DL in her hoop coop for years. Both soil floors. My first coop was soil floor, hoop coop 8 x 12, and it worked incredibly well. That coop has a built in loft, and to this day, when ever my flock are let out of their traditional stick built coop, they make a bee line for the old coop. I looked for Beekissed excellent video showing her DL, but couldn't find it. Perhaps Blooie might have better luck.