Awesome thread!
I am planning my new coop to be 8x10 but it has a 40 by 40 yard on it, with free access day and night and it will only be for sleeping (as I close the yard up at night and the coop is really just the sleeping area and the yard the outside coop 
...right now their coop in that yard is only 3x3x8 and is just for babies, I have 30 chicks 3-5 weeks old the yard has two sides that are actually my house so I can look out any window and see them ...but they are all also allowed to free range all day outside of the 40x40 yard... I raise Great Danes that came and go as they please with their doggy doors and I have very, very few predator problems because of this even though we live on 50 aces in the middle of nowhere
they are excellent guard dogs for chickens
...if they are raised with them anyways!
I use pine straw right now as litter...and it has worked very well, would leaves be even better? also how far are your roosting bars...they look close?
I like the idea of your poop hammock, my coop will come off the side of my house so it will only be 8' tall ... I was planning on putting a slanted floor at 3' (because I was planning on using the bottom for my ducks and geese (they are all raised together and like to flock together) and I would add a layer of leave and straw first and then I could also add to it every day (so it would stay fresh) and then once full to 6" or so I planned on having a sliding door the entire length so I could just open it and with the slant it should just fall right out...I may have to use a rake some...but it should still work well...I was going to put the roost bars 1-1 1/2 foot above it (so 4-4 1/2 feet high total) about 14" -18" apart...and maybe a few higher ones at 6-7' feet for my smaller chickens that can fly some and like to roost higher....I was thinking about another slanted board under them but the poop hammock seems like it will work much better
What do you think?
...right now their coop in that yard is only 3x3x8 and is just for babies, I have 30 chicks 3-5 weeks old the yard has two sides that are actually my house so I can look out any window and see them ...but they are all also allowed to free range all day outside of the 40x40 yard... I raise Great Danes that came and go as they please with their doggy doors and I have very, very few predator problems because of this even though we live on 50 aces in the middle of nowhere
I use pine straw right now as litter...and it has worked very well, would leaves be even better? also how far are your roosting bars...they look close?
I like the idea of your poop hammock, my coop will come off the side of my house so it will only be 8' tall ... I was planning on putting a slanted floor at 3' (because I was planning on using the bottom for my ducks and geese (they are all raised together and like to flock together) and I would add a layer of leave and straw first and then I could also add to it every day (so it would stay fresh) and then once full to 6" or so I planned on having a sliding door the entire length so I could just open it and with the slant it should just fall right out...I may have to use a rake some...but it should still work well...I was going to put the roost bars 1-1 1/2 foot above it (so 4-4 1/2 feet high total) about 14" -18" apart...and maybe a few higher ones at 6-7' feet for my smaller chickens that can fly some and like to roost higher....I was thinking about another slanted board under them but the poop hammock seems like it will work much better
What do you think?
