Help the newbies.....post your mistakes

[elmo]

Oh, boy. How long do you have?

Don't start building your coop in the garage, then once it's almost complete realize it won't fit through the only gate to your back yard (had to dismantle a fence panel and only just barely managed to squeeze the thing through).

Don't put your summer coop/run where it's going to get afternoon sun and heat up like an oven. That's the biggest oops for me, because it gets very hot here in the summer, and this coop/run is too large to move easily.

Don't assume that 2" by 2" by 8' boards that you buy at the store are 8' long: some are, some aren't. Measure them all before you start building.

Remember to allow for the width of the boards themselves as you're figuring out your design. Oh, and dimensional lumber is less than its dimension. Why do they do that!

Screws are better than nails when you make a mistake.

These are only a few recent mistakes that come to mind...I always goof up as I build. That's what shims were invented for!

 

[chris deiss]

Long list and it seems to get longer every day lol
#1. 3 ft tall fence right next to the pop door ramp. { the diy coop plans called out for only 3 ft }
#2 no bird net above coop . Lost 7 birds in one weekend
#3 coop too small.
#4 bougght a mite infested chick from the neighbor farmer
#5 not doing any research on chickens before getting them
#6 not knowing how to get rid if mites before I got them { de killed them in less than 1 week}
#7 not joining BYC sooner

 

[Tdub4chiks]

1. Not sure if insulated good enough.
2. Location, Location, Location. Built it to be convenient for electric, snowblowing etc. But, put it in muddiest part of my yard. Yuck.
3. Insist on dimensions you want - not what the builder wants. The pen is way to small for 4 girls.

 

[Kat's Silly Chickens]

I'm a Newbie and was wondering how well we should winter protect our coop.

We have a total of 5-5 wk old chics

(hopefully hens) 2 Barred Plymouth Rocks, 2 Partridge Cochins, 1 Sultans so far, and in a week will be adding 2 Silkie and another Sultan

.
We will be raising the 3 new babies on the sun porch where the 5 are at the moment. The 5 will be ready to go out to the coop soon and colder weather is on it's way.
We chicken wire sectioned off our old horse barn/trailer shelter. The area is 6'Wx12'Lx8'H inside and 6'Wx12'Lx6'H outside chicken wired all around.
My question is how to enclose the inside to make it mostly draft/cold free... We were thinking using plywood walls there that can be removed in the summer for better ventilation.
And we saw a kerosene barn heater at TSC can that be used to keep the inside of animal barns warm during the coldest days, but is it safe with chickens?

If I could some insight on how we are doing so far it would be much appreciated...

 

[chics in the sun]

1.Always buy in pairs/ threes so they have buddies. It has taken MONTHS for my solo Marans to be accepted into the flock, and with how beautiful she is I am kicking myself for not also taking her sister with us.
2.Pay attention to the area you have for your ramp, and make sure it will not be too steep before you put the coop together.
3. Build big. Having a small coop to start with did not, in fact, make me stick to the four chickens I planned to have. Instead I have added on twice, the second addition being a little broody coop area where I have one girl sitting on 8 eggs. I think I will be expanding along the back this time. It's pretty ghetto looking at this point with the ramshackle additions.

 

[joebryant]

Moi?
Mistakes?

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:

 

[cfdf]

I had to add a screen door to my Lowes Quick Shed Coop due to the heat we have here. We put the door on so that it opens inward.....big mistake....make sure your doors open outward. When I open and shut the screen door the shavings get scooped out. I will be changing this in the spring if not sooner.