Green Roof chicken coops?

[floridagirl13]

I've got some ideas for upgrading my chicken yard and an addition to the coop. I saw a website that sells the plans for their design of a green roof coop and loved the idea! I'm trying to recycle as much material as I can, honestly that's what fits best into my budget and we have access to plenty of scrap wood and what-not.

The only thing that stopped me from planting a veggie garden this year is how much space I have available where I live. So I figure, why not incorporate some kind of a raised bed into the whole Coop & Yard Design?

There has to be someone who can chime in on this, there's no way that im the only one interested in this concept! I'd love to read about or see pics of yall's ideas. I want a good, solid plan before I pick up the drill!

My chickens love lettuce, so I Have to grow that. what do yall's chickens like?

 

[sandspoultry]

I did this totally by accident but last fall I cut down all the brush, weeds and wild blackberries from around our 2 pheasant pens. Of course, this spring the blackberries grew back and I was to busy with the garden and everything going here to cut them back. We ended up with a bumper crop of blackberries, they grew up over the top of the pen and were so easy to pick. The pheasants must like them to because there is never any on the ground and they are all pooping purple.

 

[cstronks]

I have heard of coops with garden box tops...I even pondered building my coop this way...However two things turned me off. The first was the integrity of the structure. The coop would have needed to hold a whole 4' x 6' x 12" box filled with wet dirt and plants. I just got nervous that it may give way. My second concern was the planting potential. The garden box wouldn't be all that big and would only hold so much. In NJ the growing season isn't that long, so for most of the year the coop would simply be supporting a box of dirt on top of it (Sept - April). All of this ultimately made me decide against it. It works for some people, but I made the focus of the coop the chickens, and chose not to add a garden box.

 

[floridagirl13]

Hmmm blackberries... I've been wanting to plant some for a while now. I'm thinking if I plant some around their run I might be there all afternoon snacking on them

I was concerned about all that weight on the coop too. I might do a planter on top of their run, to give them some shade/shelter outside. I thought about pond liner for the planter box but im wondering if it would be better to come up with some kind of drainage though. This time of year here in Florida it rains Every Day! I love the idea of having a raised bed for veggies but it would be a pretty small veggie garden. Maybe only enough to grow treats for the chickens, I would still have to buy my veggies :/

I would love to incorporate the idea into or onto their new enclosure somehow but im still not sure if it will be worth the trouble

 

[floridagirl13]

Hmmm blackberries... I've been wanting to plant some for a while now. I'm thinking if I plant some around their run I might be there all afternoon snacking on them

I was concerned about all that weight on the coop too. I might do a planter on top of their run, to give them some shade/shelter outside. I thought about pond liner for the planter box but im wondering if it would be better to come up with some kind of drainage though. This time of year here in Florida it rains Every Day! I love the idea of having a raised bed for veggies but it would be a pretty small veggie garden. Maybe only enough to grow treats for the chickens, I would still have to buy my veggies :/

I would love to incorporate the idea into or onto their new enclosure somehow but im still not sure if it will be worth the trouble

 

[nellynelly]

it is too tall (6' off the ground) for an effective garden bed. the roof decking is metal signs, joints sealed with henry's. then pond lining rubber. make sure that it can drain (you dont want a bathtub). i used 1/2 coir, 1/4 small lava rock, 1/4 compost. even with the light soil mix, it is much heavier than a normal roof, so the structure has to be built with roof in mind.

 

[floridagirl13]

I love that you used old signs! That's really neat! I have to ask, is that a kind of gutter on the left side of the planter?

I was thinking about making some kind of run-off for the planter box, but still with lots of drainage in the bottom of it. Maybe packing peanuts or any styrofoam really. I really want it to work out and I would hate for it to rot and give way.

I have very limited space available so I want to make the very best with what I Do have. Right now, the dimensions I have in my head are roughly 6ft L × 5ft W × 4.5ft H. It will be attached the the front of the coop, with access to the roof/lid and nestbox from the outside.

I might have a support "beam" or two under the planter, just for support. Since they would be in the run area, I suppose I could use them to also support some dowels for perches ...

Yall are getting my creative "gears" turning

Anybody every use a rain barrel (where it isn't illegal) to water your chickens? Its one more thought I had for my little slice of Paradise, to water my container garden too.

 

[nellynelly]

yes. the flow enters into a wooden gutter. although, the roof acts like a sponge, so not much run off. the roof garden is contained on 3 sides with 2 x 4 (covered in pond liner), the 4th is a 2x2, so water can exit. the dirt is kept back with a line rocks.

 

[floridagirl13]

That's so neat! I love your design! I originally was thinking I would have to have the box at an angle to encourage it to drain properly, I was stumped on how to craft a coop-sized gutter. I was afraid it would just be an eye-sore and not work at all!

 

[nellynelly]

the roof should have a slope of at least 5% to encourage drainage. mine is only 2%, but i really wanted a cube.

the gutter is an old redwood gutter that was being removed from a neighbors house.