ok, well after posting that i needed help with my coop, i figured out what i need is help with my hubby! god love him, the man is not very handy!! so after some consideration heres my idea,i have these cages in what will be the coop. they are about 11 feet long and 3 feet wide,divided in the middle. what im thinking is..... put the roosts in there. i plan on penning the chicks in there for a few weeks so they get the idea then let them out in the rest of the enclosure. idealy id like to make a sort of slidding draw under the cage for easy clean up,but idk if im going to be able to do it myself, my hubby cant do it and im having trouble finding anyone else. so if i cant get that done,i was thinking of doing chicken wire on the bottom. it has wire sort of like youd use on a rabbit pen, small and square and the poop is not going to fall out,i thought with chicken wire it would. good or bad idea? second i plan on leaving it divided so i can put my 2 week old chicks in other side once they are old enough to go out. that way they get used to each other. then i want to take down the divide and maybe put the nest boxes right in the pen? i really dont know lol.heres a pic if that helps,with my son being goofy
Love the pens. Wire floors is bad for their feet so keep it solid. Put down several inches of pine shavings and use the deep litter method. Stir the shavings once a week to keep them fresh. Resign yourself to raking it out as needed every few months. Those pens would make excellent breeder pens if you added some fenced run for outdoor access.
I wouldn't use chicken wire,way to sharp and large opening. How about making the bottom solid and using shavings?