Here's My Coop Plan but a Few Questions

[21hens-incharge]

I totally get the mud issues you could experience. Here it is more like a desert. We go months with not even a sprinkle.
Very different chicken keeping needs for sure.

I do hope things work as planned for your group.

Side note.....
My hens really like dusting in peat moss.

 

[RichM]

Someone brought up a great point, that you can always pour concrete if it turns out that you need it. I see you live in Washington, and I know in the Seattle area it rains pretty much every morning. If you go in the woods though, the ground isn't that muddy. If you put it in a place with good drainage and find some good substrate (pine needles?) I bet the issue won't come up. Skipping that step could save a ton of effort and money.

 

[Patinas]

Someone brought up a great point, that you can always pour concrete if it turns out that you need it. I see you live in Washington, and I know in the Seattle area it rains pretty much every morning. If you go in the woods though, the ground isn't that muddy. If you put it in a place with good drainage and find some good substrate (pine needles?) I bet the issue won't come up. Skipping that step could save a ton of effort and money.

I live about 70 miles north of Seattle but rains just as much here. The woods around the property are very wet as they are wetlands with creeks running through them. Lots of boggy areas and skunk cabbage. Not really usable woods. They serve more like a buffer between neighbors and pretty thick so not the type of woods you can easily walk around in.

I just heard on the news the other day that this is the 10th wettest March in this area since they've been tracking. It's raining as I type this! Suppose to be nice tomorrow though so we'll start building and possibly start this afternoon if the weather lets up. I'm focusing on the structure while we sort out what to do about the yard.

 

[Poppy Putentake]

On the nest boxes -- if you provide the kind of roosts they like, they will not sleep in the nest boxes and will not poop in them. My nest boxes are painted wood. They have a liner on the bottom of sheet plastic, but it doesn't seem really necessary. I'm using hay for bedding and the nests have stayed clean all this winter.

One thing I do suggest is having outside access to the nest boxes for your own convenience in collecting eggs.

 

[Patinas]

On the nest boxes -- if you provide the kind of roosts they like, they will not sleep in the nest boxes and will not poop in them. My nest boxes are painted wood. They have a liner on the bottom of sheet plastic, but it doesn't seem really necessary. I'm using hay for bedding and the nests have stayed clean all this winter.

One thing I do suggest is having outside access to the nest boxes for your own convenience in collecting eggs.

I think I'm going with tubs and cut out the fronts at this point. I will make sure the roosts are higher than the nest boxes and I've decided to treat the roost boards with boiled linseed oil.

And definitely, I will build access to the nest boxes from outside the coop.

So over the last couple days I bought more stuff to build the coop. I started out thinking I wanted primered metal doors but when I was at Lowe's, I found windowed storm doors w/screens. I ended up going with the windowed storm doors. They add light! I can easily staple hardware cloth over the screens which I don't think I would actually ever need to open because I'm using gravity vents and will have 3 windows w/ screens which I will also cover with hardware cloth.

Today, the rain broke so we started building the platform but then the rain started again. <sigh>

I'm taking pictures and will start posting them in the coop forum soon. The weather is a huge problem.. Turns out we have the wettest March here in 120 years!!!

 

[KoopersCoop]

Can't wait to see pics as you go! Darn weather is a problem! We've had so much rain here too in Northwest Indiana!
I'll be watching your post.

 

[Patinas]

So we started building the coop and I'm taking pics as we go. We have the platform built at this point and I thought I would start posting the pics but I assumed they should go under "Coops", large coops to be exact since ours is 8 X 12.

I didn't see anywhere to start a coop build on the coop page. Can someone tell me how they get put there? Do I need to start a Member Page and put them there? Do I just post them under this thread or start a new one specific to the build? Help?

 

[Pats Poultry]

I would post under this thread so we all can follow the progress as I am sure that a few of us have already subscribed to this thread.

Just my 2 Cents

 

[ChickAsThieves]

I've not made my coop. I'm in UK & we got a Granary from Flyte so Fancy. One of the good things about the Granary is that you get a tarpaulin for the floor. We added catches to keep Tarp in position. Then when cleaning you unhook and pull out & unload straight into compost bin. Hose and brush down with broom, leave to dry & pop back in. You do need to brush some debris out from corners of coop but not too difficult. I bought extra Tarp so can put one in while washed one dries. Shame they didnt do similiar system for lift off nest box but I just did my own version. Saves a lot of scraping.

THIS IS THE BEST IDEA!

My coop is a converted garden shed, and it's such a pain in the butt to clean out. I have droppings trays, but the silly chickens just poop wherever they want! On the tray, on the edge of the tray, nowhere near the tray... it's a disaster. A tarp floor covering that I can just drag out, shake off into the compost pile, and hose off sounds like such a good solution! How did I not think of that???

 

[PraiseGod]

Putting a poop board under the roost is must have. Make sure it's wide enough and have lips on both sides. Use any brand of horse stall freshener. I use PDZ or sometimes Zeo. It's will absorb the ammonia. I use the granulated kind and scoop it up daily a litter scoop.