Fort Cluck - First Time Building Coop

[aart]

Nice size, but yeah, needs some work.

and the fact it’s all plywood

That's not plywood, it's OSB and definitely needs to be protected from the weather,
either with siding or several coats of a really good paint.

I'd have top hinged the windows, so they could be propped open for rain protection.

Only need 1 nest for every 3-4 birds, and yeah sizing could be improved.

The roost is what struck me first, looks too close to the wall. 12-18" away is best.

Here's some tips about heights:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

 

[cluckingheck]

Nice size, but yeah, needs some work.


That's not plywood, it's OSB and definitely needs to be protected from the weather,
either with siding or several coats of a really good paint.

I'd have top hinged the windows, so they could be propped open for rain protection.

Only need 1 nest for every 3-4 birds, and yeah sizing could be improved.

The roost is what struck me first, looks too close to the wall. 12-18" away is best.

Here's some tips about heights:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

The roost is definitely not too close to the wall, the angle I took the picture at doesn’t do it justice. It’s probably a good foot or more from
the wall.

We were going to put paint and siding on it, so that’s covered. I didn’t want to use the stuff either way, so I’m kind of mad he even bothered buying the OSB when we already had all the oak barnwood we needed from where my papaw tore down some of his old barns.

Anyways, I think it’s probably too late to do anything about the windows, so hopefully the roof has enough overhang that the rain won’t be too much of an issue.

As for nesting boxes, I figured they would like more because my girls can be picky. I don’t think they like these ones too well at all, though, because their old ones were huge. So, I’m just going to take measurements of their old ones and redo these new ones. Should’ve done that in the first place, but didn’t.

 

[cluckingheck]

Fixed the roost

 

[cluckingheck]

Well...had the first loss in the new coop. Ghost, my 6 week old blue rock broke her neck somehow. I think it was from where we fixed the roost yesterday. My mom found her flopping on the ground this morning and she died not long after. She didn’t have any marks on her or feathers missing, but she had some blood coming out of her vent. It didn’t look like it was pecked out, so I don’t know why she had blood. Maybe something internal?

 

[Yakisugi Coop]

Looks nice. One thing I'll add is that chickens prefer roosts that are 2'' wide and it looks like yours are 1.5''. Your chickens might prefer a slightly wider roost. You could lay the 2x4s flat and cut them down a bit and round the edges so they're closer to 2'' wide.

 

[aart]

She didn’t have any marks on her or feathers missing, but she had some blood coming out of her vent. It didn’t look like it was pecked out, so I don’t know why she had blood. Maybe something internal?

Bummer
Huh...really hard to say...even with a DIY necrospy it might not have been obvious.

 

[Isadora]

So sorry about Ghost

Well...had the first loss in the new coop. Ghost, my 6 week old blue rock broke her neck somehow. I think it was from where we fixed the roost yesterday. My mom found her flopping on the ground this morning and she died not long after. She didn’t have any marks on her or feathers missing, but she had some blood coming out of her vent. It didn’t look like it was pecked out, so I don’t know why she had blood. Maybe something internal?

 

[cluckingheck]

Bummer
Huh...really hard to say...even with a DIY necrospy it might not have been obvious.

The only thing that makes sense is she slammed into new roost. They’ve been in with the hens for over a week and this isn’t the hens’ first time around chicks either. Though, I’m going to be putting a camera in the coop. I wasn’t the one that put them up last night, so I don’t know if she made it up on the roost before dark or what.

I just buried her. By the time I got home, she was already stiff and had been dead for some 4 hours or more. I don’t have the heart to do that anyways.

 

[cluckingheck]

the camera’s set up

 

[rosemarythyme]

Sorry about Ghost, could've just been some weird freak accident. I lost one of my first chicks due to her toe getting caught in a crevice and she panicked herself to death.