Help with the run....??

[DarleneE]

Yes that's what I'm thinking. I think that's easier and cleaner than pine shavings. I was planning on just raking it out with a fine rake that we have.

 

[aart]

Yes that's what I'm thinking. I think that's easier and cleaner than pine shavings. I was planning on just raking it out with a fine rake that we have.

Scooping and sifting might keep the sand inside better.
Some folks wire 1/4 or 1/8 hardware cloth onto a bedding fork.
I use this basket and hoe for my roost board:

 

[DarleneE]

Aaaaah I see!!!! Great idea!! I'll show this to my husband for sure!! Thank you!!

 

[azygous]

See? Told you! Great ideas!

Back to what to put down in the run: wood shavings or sand? Why not try the wood shavings first? They could work out very well. I use wood shavings when I brood chicks. I get them when they're two days old and they stay in the brooder for the next five or six weeks. I never completely change out the entire litter as some people do. The same wood shavings remain the entire time.

What I do, though, is remove the poop and wet, soiled shavings, and I add new litter as I remove the soiled stuff. It's not as hard as it sounds. In fact, I do this every morning in my coop. During the night, most of the poop lands on the poop boards underneath the perches. But the hens are usually down off the perch, pooping in the wood shavings before I manage to get outside in the morning to open the coop and let them all out. We're talking a dozen hens in one coop and eight more in the second coop.

Even the messiest poops tend to cause the wood shavings to "clump" much as clumping cat litter does. I use salad tongs to grab up all the soiled clumps, and the wood shavings are clean and free of poop in just minutes. They go into my compost pile and since I don't change out the entire coop full of wood shavings except for once a year, it doesn't overwhelm the compost. Since you just have the two girls, keeping their run and coop clean isn't going to be a whole lot of time consuming labor.

After giving the wood shavings a fair trial, say three months, if it's not working out, just sweep them all up and install sand. You may love the wood shavings, though, and be perfectly happy to keep it up! Like I mentioned on the other forum, I wouldn't have anything else in my coop but wood shavings. I can see it working out very well in your run, also.

 

[DarleneE]

Well it certainly sounds easy enough!! We're currently in the process of deciding which route to take. Both the wood shavings and the sand sound like they'll work fine without too much work. What do you mean by "poop boards" under the roost?? Do you have something special under their roost?? I'm thinking of putting either straw or shredded newspaper under their roost and nest areas.

 

[azygous]

Poop boards are the most essential element in your coop!

Most of a chicken's pooping occurs at night. To be able to dispose of it and clean it up quickly, many of us employ poop boards. Any scrap of wood will do, as long as it's at least two feet wide and long enough to cover the area beneath where the chickens roost. Since I have a lot of chickens, I tried to find the thinnest, lightest material I could. I found a cedar closet remnant at the lumber yard for $10 that I cut up and covered with linoleum scraps. Or your husband can varnish them. You can use 3/8" plywood or any sort of paneling.

I pull the poop boards out of the coops every morning, scrape the poop off into the compost pile, and then wash them down with Lysol and water, and air dry them. (except when I have to do this in a blizzard, but you won't have that problem - no gloating!) I pluck out stray poops in the wood shavings and I have coops that are perfectly clean and odor free.

People here have lots of other fantastic ideas for collecting poop under the perches, including permanent, fixed boards a few inches under the perches constructed to hold Sweet PDZ. Find one that sounds best to you.

 

[DarleneE]

Oh MY!! I think we messed up here then.. big-time!!?? Our roost is enclosed with NO door in THAT section of all things!! Don't know WHAT we were thinking!! I thought you just put straw or something there and just pull out and change everyday.. I wasn't thinking that poop was going to go thru that into the wood underneath it!! Let me understand clearly here PLEASE.. in the roost, basically their sleep house.. you should only put a stick across for them to stand on and is THAT how/where they sleep?? I thought they would sleep nestled down ON the straw?? They don't?? So then why are other's saying to put straw in the roost and in the nest?? Ooooh I'm feeling SO dumb right now!! I'm just SO confused and amazed at how little I know about all of this!! I am thinking that my husband is going to have to alter his design by putting a door in the roost. That's the ONLY area that we did NOT put a door in!! There's only a small window there on THAT section!! WOW.. we messed up!! Guess because they both lay nestled up together on the floor NOW, I assumed THAT was how they'd sleep in their roost?? But guess they only sleep this way NOW because they have NO stick inside in their little temporary coop my husband threw together for them and second because they're still young??!! They are now STILL inside.. in a spare bedroom that has wood flooring on it and my husband threw together a small coop with wood scraps and cardboard!! I'll put up a picture of it!! SO..in summary (and I apologize for my ignorance!) ALL they need in their roost is their stick going across side to side, with a piece of wood covered with linoleum or anything slippery that's easy to clean that slides in and out easily UNDER their stick?? NO straw.. as they will sleep ON the stick?? THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your help in "learning" me about chicken "rearing"!!!!!!

 

[azygous]

Chicks sleep the way they do because when they're first hatched, they need to have body contact with either the mama hen or other chicks for warmth until they grow in feathers at age four weeks. After that, they sleep on the floor out of habit, not necessity. Some of us actually introduce a small perch in the brooder to train them to roost. That way when they move into a real coop, they will roost instead of sleeping on the floor, which soils their feathers when they poop all night long. When I move them into the coop, I place them on the perch for a few nights until they pick up the habit. The sooner the better for their health and well-being.

So, yes, chickens "roost" on a "stick" in their coop. The "stick" should be at least 2 inches in diameter to maintain healthy feet and posture. My perches are natural pine branches I cut off trees and sanded and are two to three inches in diameter. Many folks use 2"x4"s for their roosting perches. I like round ones since they seem more natural. The reasons chicken roost instead of sleeping on the ground goes back to their origins in the wild. They are safer from predators, and even in your urban setting, you have predators. Snakes and rats are the most common things that can find their way into chicken coops at night. Chickens sleeping on the floor are more vulnerable. Also, they're more likely to pick up parasites by sleeping on the floor in the litter. This is an issue you may have living in a humid climate. A clean, dry coop will stay free of parasites.

The roosting area of a coop is the dirtiest part, so easy access is essential. And you need to make doubly certain no snakes, rats, mice, or larger predators can get into the coop or you will have to endure the heartbreak of going out one morning only to discover an empty coop.

 

[JanetS]

Oh MY!! I think we messed up here then.. big-time!!?? Our roost is enclosed with NO door in THAT section of all things!! Don't know WHAT we were thinking!! I thought you just put straw or something there and just pull out and change everyday.. I wasn't thinking that poop was going to go thru that into the wood underneath it!! Let me understand clearly here PLEASE.. in the roost, basically their sleep house.. you should only put a stick across for them to stand on and is THAT how/where they sleep?? I thought they would sleep nestled down ON the straw?? They don't?? So then why are other's saying to put straw in the roost and in the nest?? Ooooh I'm feeling SO dumb right now!! I'm just SO confused and amazed at how little I know about all of this!! I am thinking that my husband is going to have to alter his design by putting a door in the roost. That's the ONLY area that we did NOT put a door in!! There's only a small window there on THAT section!! WOW.. we messed up!! Guess because they both lay nestled up together on the floor NOW, I assumed THAT was how they'd sleep in their roost?? But guess they only sleep this way NOW because they have NO stick inside in their little temporary coop my husband threw together for them and second because they're still young??!! They are now STILL inside.. in a spare bedroom that has wood flooring on it and my husband threw together a small coop with wood scraps and cardboard!! I'll put up a picture of it!! SO..in summary (and I apologize for my ignorance!) ALL they need in their roost is their stick going across side to side, with a piece of wood covered with linoleum or anything slippery that's easy to clean that slides in and out easily UNDER their stick?? NO straw.. as they will sleep ON the stick?? THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your help in "learning" me about chicken "rearing"!!!!!!

Here's a picture of the inside of our coop. The coop is what they sleep in. The roost is what they sleep on and the nesting box is where they lay their eggs.

We use a 2' x 4' as their roost and we built a ramp to help them get up there. We have 3 nesting boxes for laying eggs. They should roost on a piece of wood or branch at night in the coop. When they are young they do sleep on the floor but should start roosting when they get older They shouldn't sleep in the nesting box. They poop a lot at night and you don't want that where they lay their eggs. We have windows and fans to help keep them cool during the summer. You also need a door for cleaning out the coop. We lock them up at night to keep them safe from predators(raccoons, bobcats, foxes, etc)

Picture of outside of coop.

The closed in area outside the coop is called the run. Don't worry there's a lot to learn about keeping chickens but you are in the right place.

 

[DarleneE]

Yippppeeeeee then we're doing good cause that's exactly how we designed OUR coop. The only thing is.. our coop is not a "walk-in" coop. It's not as big as that! Not as tall really.. the "run" itself is 10' long. We have a roost enclosed for them which my husband JUST told me that it WILL have a thin board covered with linoleum that will slide in and out so I can clean it every morning. We also have a nest area that has a divider in between and which I plan to put either shredded newspaper or straw in. So I think we're on our way and it's nearly completed!!!! Yah!! I think by next weekend my girls will be introduced to their new "condo"!!!! Thanks SO much for your post, pictures and words of encouragement!!!!