Elevated commercial coop

[GTR ranch]

My family owns a small ranch in central California and started with chickens last year. We're currently running approximately 130-150 birds and supply local restaurants and farmers markets. We free range them on a 5 acre section co-mingled with sheep and goats. I'm posting these images just to give back to this community because I found it to be a great resource for our coop design. We decided to elevate the coop to save on foundation work, control predator loss, and to easily harvest excrement for fertilizer. I hope these images help anyone who is thinking of building their own coop. Thanks for the Intel that this site provides.

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[BlueJuniper]

Hi

That is so cool that you run a small farm and supply local restaurants, and I think it is really special that you put so much care into the design of the coop to make sure your birds were happy!
Thats a really cool coop by the way.

 

[donrae]

Thanks for the pics.

what is your flooring?

 

[Maeschak]

My family owns a small ranch in central California and started with chickens last year. We're currently running approximately 130-150 birds and supply local restaurants and farmers markets. We free range them on a 5 acre section co-mingled with sheep and goats. I'm posting these images just to give back to this community because I found it to be a great resource for our coop design. We decided to elevate the coop to save on foundation work, control predator loss, and to easily harvest excrement for fertilizer. I hope these images help anyone who is thinking of building their own coop. Thanks for the Intel that this site provides.

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Wow, that is great! Do you mind telling me what that flooring is? I have been looking for something just like that-

 

[GTR ranch]

Dura-slat. I screwed it down to 2X6 floor joists

 

[Maeschak]

Dura-slat. I screwed it down to 2X6 floor joists

Fantastic, thanks so much!

 

[aart]

Nice stuff there!!

How long have you been in operation?
I assume your pics were taken before the birds took up residence?
Other questions might be unanswerable if you've only just begun.

How exactly do you harvest the excrement and how often?

Looks like you might hose off the dura-slat?

Feed fillers seem high/hard to reach......any rodent infiltration around spaces where feed tubes go thru wall?

How are roll away nests working?
Looks like egg troughs might be exposed to a lot of sun, and maybe rain, is temperature or dampness a concern?

 

[GTR ranch]

Nice stuff there!!

How long have you been in operation?
I assume your pics were taken before the birds took up residence?
Other questions might be unanswerable if you've only just begun.

How exactly do you harvest the excrement and how often?

Looks like you might hose off the dura-slat?

Feed fillers seem high/hard to reach......any rodent infiltration around spaces where feed tubes go thru wall?

How are roll away nests working?
Looks like egg troughs might be exposed to a lot of sun, and maybe rain, is temperature or dampness a concern?

We've only been in operation this year. Your correct in the cleaning of the dura-salt. I put a 50' hose on the pressure side of the supply line to hose down the interior when necessary. The pictures were taken just prior to completion of the coop. I used "great stuff" expanding construction foam to fill all the gaps between the tubes. (Not shown) The rollaway boxes work great! I read a review that someone couldn't get their hens to lay in them. I haven't had that problem at all. They fill up every day. A pretty even distribution as well. Daily chores ensure that the eggs aren't left out extended periods. It's an easy trade off considering I don't have to enter the coop. The only drawback is the height of the tubes. Currently I leave a ladder inside the coop, (first three feet inside the man door is for storing feed) with a scoop. I might consider building a platform under the tubes in the future due to the height. The saving grace right now is that each tube holds about 25 lbs of feed. We let our hens free range all day and supplement with organic produce that is thrown away by local markets. So, I don't have to refill the tubes very often. I harvest the excriment via shovel on the low areas and tractor bucket under the high. I placed the roosting bars over the highest area as I figured this would have the highest concentration and doing it with tractor is always easier. I hope this helps.

 

[aart]

Quote: Yep, thanks, covered everything....sounds good!
I was curious how the hosing down effects the odor and the harvesting.
How often do you hose down and is that the only way to get errant poops to go thru the dura-slat?

I imagine that folks who have trouble with the beddingless nests are ones who previously used bedded nests....chicken don't like change.

 

[Maeschak]

Hello @GTR ranch-

I realize this post is old, but do you have any updates? What worked/didn't work etc? I'm starting to think about building a coop this spring and love your design. Also, do you still have plans around?