Finished my Coop

[Pine Roost]

What do yall think about my coop? It is 8' long 4' wide and 5' tall and seems to be plenty of room for the growing birds. The tin roof has a few holes that need patching...that is the reason for the blue tarp. I have two roosting bars and all 6 birds are sleeping on them every night. The back of the nest box has a hinged door, which allows you to get the eggs without getting inside the coop. I really do not have anything set up for a run, but plan to move the coop every month or so to give them fresh grass to peck in. For those more experienced than I am....any suggestions for things I could improve?

 

[mickey328]

Welcome to BYC! I'm assuming you're in a warm climate where they won't need winter protection? And...it looks like regular chicken wire, from what I can tell. Depending on the sort of predators you may have, it may not provide enough protection...raccoons laugh at chicken wire

As for moving every few months...by that time, you'll have nothing but poop and dirt in the run, sorry to say. We have a portable coop/run and have found we need to move it about every 3 to 4 days to keep the grass from getting beat up past the point of no return. And, until we put in a couple of boxes for dust bathing, filled with dirt, sand and peat moss, they quickly dug holes in the turf.

Also, if it doesn't sit in the shade of a tree or fence or something, I'd recommend tarping a portion of it so they can get out of the sun when it's too hot. Although in the pix it does look like it gets some very nice shade And it looks good and sturdy!

 

[Pine Roost]

Thanks for the response. Wow, I did not know that I needed to move it that often. If I was not worried about the grass and raked the coop clean every so often, would there be any issues with leaving it in one spot for a long period of time? As far as predators go....I will say this, I had a have-a-heart trap set for a few weeks before I got my chickens and never got any activity. Not to say that there are no coons or possums in the area, but I really don't feel that they will be a huge threat...I guess only time will tell. I would like to eventually fence in a 12'x12' or so area for them to use during the days, but have not gotten that far yet. I am in SC and we have fairly mild winters, so I was hoping that an "open" coop would keep them warm enough.

 

[scooter147]

I will bet you do have coon and possum in the neighborhood and it's only a matter of time before they discover your birds. I stronly recommend that you replace the chicken wire with 1/2 in heavy guage wire with lots of staples to hold it on and a 2 foot skirt to prevent digging under.
Honestly if you don't there is a 99% chance one morning you will awake to dead half eaten birds.
Sorry to be so harsh but that's the reality of chicken wire vs coon, they will rip through it like it's cardboard.

 

[Pine Roost]

I understand about the coons/possums. Unfortunately I would have to completely disassemble the coop and start from scratch. I guess I should have done a better job researching before I used the chicken wire. Anyways, I will have to hope for the best, because at this point rebuilding it isn't an option. I guess I could always fence in an area using the stronger wire and put the coop inside there.....

 

[Fred's Hens]

Correct on the grass lasting only a couple of days. They'll all likely use just one nest, that's the way that goes, as a rule. I've got 11 hens insisting that one box is far more special than any other. LOL

These tractor coops tend to get really heavy, really fast. Have you tried moving it much yet? How did that go?
Go right over the top of the chicken wire with a heavier gauge, 2x2 or 1x2 type wire. You don't need to actually take off the chicken wire first.

 

[Pine Roost]

Yes, it took four of us to move it from where it was built to the spot in the yard. It was not very easy to maneuver. That's why I was asking about the possibility of leaving it in one spot, as long as I kept a clean coop.

 

[bantamgirl]

everyone says the grass will all die in a couple days but one of my hens moved into a small run in mid July, then a week later 2 pullets moved in with her for the week, and she is living in it with my other hen now and there is a bare spot but the rest of the grass is fine and growing well. it stays around 1-2 inch.

 

[DeSey Bulldog]

Hey Pine Roost, and

also from SC. Greenwood here, what town are you from?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I have to agree you will have trouble with coons, opossums,
coyotes, skunk and even dogs! Dogs will be your worst enemy.

This can happen even in the city!
You said you put out a trap before you got the chicks. There was nothing to attract the predators
now there is, so you might need to put your trap back and bait it, at least until you reinforce the wire!

I might would leave what you have on it there and buy some 2"X1" welded wire fencing and use this
on top of what is there! Smaller wire will help with small critters and the other wire will make it stronger!
Good luck neighbor, and I am also a newbie here!

DeSey Bulldog

 

[mickey328]

It's entirely possible that you've seen none of those critters because before now, you didn't have anything "interesting" in your yard...now you do.

Fred's is right...you can put the hardware cloth right over what you have and it will just provide that much more protection. We tried to build ours as lightweight as we could...used 2 x 2's instead of 2 x 4's and thinner plywood except for the floor. It's not going to win any races, but one person CAN move it.

We've had the girls about 6 weeks now and you can see in the yard every place the run has been previously. There have been no more holes in the sod since we put in the dust bath boxes, but they do scratch and look for worms and generally trample it. I'm sure by the time it gets back to the place it was first, the grass there will have recovered, but I'm also sure that if we left it for 2 weeks the grass would take a very, very long time to come back...probably the better part of the whole season.

The coop itself only needs to be cleaned when it gets poopy and/or smelly. We mix some Sweet PDZ with the straw bedding and it keeps it smelling amazingly nice. We are able to scoop poop and add bedding for quite a while before the whole thing needs to be cleaned out. So leaving the coop stationery would probably be okay...but if you want actual grass, you can count on having to move the run at least weekly. We built the run and coop separately in such a way that the run butts up against the coop. It's easier to move in two pieces than one. One person can do it, but it's a bit unwieldy and is easier with two. The whole process takes DH and me about 10 mins max.