I don't understand

[Jason38]

(Wow, a bluejay? I thought chickens were tough, lol. )

This is so helpful. I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing before I experience it. Coop too smelly to be near the house? Coop too vulnerable away away from the house? Will I be up at nights with a .22 rifle to defend my chickens? Oh my, our cats are going to be a problem? Do they need shade? Does the coop need all the latches and doors I see? Don't they eat grasshoppers, because we have tons?

I have a graded concrete slab I'm told was for pig pens. Is that something to think about using in the design?

I'm overwhelmed with ignorance.

 

[tntchix]

Jason, please go to the Learning Center tab on the top of the page. It is where I was directed when I started this journey. It was an immense help to me.

Security really is the most important thing to consider first. Once they are secure, everything else falls into place. I have learned it is a work in progress, always adjusting and changing and trying new options.

I was nervous too, but someohow we have only lost 2 out of 30 chickens. One to a barn cat on first day outside the other a 2 day old chick died. (inside house)

Things will happen, lessons will be learned, just have fun with it.

Oh by the way, mine LOVE grasshoppers. They have to fight the barn cats for them.

 

[Wxguru]

Here is the thread to my pallet coop build: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/924964/pallet-coop-time
I havent worked on it in 10 days, but will be working on and finishing it hopefully this next week while on vacation. I will be posting updated pictures.

 

[RavenGemini]

Tntchix..... Ours loves anything smaller than them that moves... I've seen mine go after a small mole, a snake, every spider they can reach (and others they can't) and I have had to refill holes before where they have dug and dug at ant hills! It seemed like I had bugs, then I got chickens, then I had A Lot Less bugs...... As long as they leave the beneficial bugs alone we're good, but that is not always the case..... Naggie took on a praying mantis one day.

 

[tntchix]

Tntchix..... Ours loves anything smaller than them that moves... I've seen mine go after a small mole, a snake, every spider they can reach (and others they can't) and I have had to refill holes before where they have dug and dug at ant hills! It seemed like I had bugs, then I got chickens, then I had A Lot Less bugs...... As long as they leave the beneficial bugs alone we're good, but that is not always the case..... Naggie took on a praying mantis one day.

non toxic pest control is definitely a bonus.

 

[LindaSmith]

As a home builder I used most of the stuff I had left over from that including 2 incorrectly sized windows that the vendor didn't want back but I get many people stopping by who ask for left over sheathing, lumber, etc. for dog houses, coops, even their own remodels and I gladly give it to them so I don't have to pay to haul it away. One guy sided his whole coop with Hardie Board from 1 job I was doing. They were all small pieces but he came back and showed me the pictures and it looked great. Keeps this stuff out of landfills, too. I do not offer this on Craig's List as I did once and they decided to come back later and clean me out of all my sheathing. It doesn't hurt to swing by a project and ask. Other than the hardware cloth and the doors which I got from second use everything else was from the worksites including the architectural composition roofing shingles (had to buy 1 pack as I was a little short).

 

[ridemcowgirl]

(Wow, a bluejay? I thought chickens were tough, lol. )

This is so helpful. I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing before I experience it. Coop too smelly to be near the house? Coop too vulnerable away away from the house? Will I be up at nights with a .22 rifle to defend my chickens? Oh my, our cats are going to be a problem? Do they need shade? Does the coop need all the latches and doors I see? Don't they eat grasshoppers, because we have tons?

I have a graded concrete slab I'm told was for pig pens. Is that something to think about using in the design?

I'm overwhelmed with ignorance.

If your coop has good ventilation and you scoop out the poop about once a week, it won't smell at all. A lot of people also use the deep litter method and that doesn't really smell either. You could use the concrete slab if you want but I wouldn't because you want good drainage or it will smell bad.

Now for security, make sure any holes are covered with some type of strong wire mesh and use good latches on any doors because raccoons can and will open them. Oh and your cats will only be a problem if you allow them to be a problem. It only took our barn cats getting sprayed with a hose once to learn that if they go near the chickens, they're gonna have a bad time.

Now as far as doors, you will need a door for them to go in and out of. We also attached the top of the nesting boxes to hinges so I don't have to climb in there to collect eggs and we also put a hatch on the side that opens so it's easier for me to clean out. You don't have to do all of this but it will make things a lot easier on you.

And lastly, if you let them free range during the day you won't have grasshoppers anymore

 

[aart]

My chooks are fully confined....too many predators around my place and I didn't want to assume that risk, I also didn't want chicken poop all over everywhere.
There's as many different ways to keep chickens as there are chicken keepers, it's your choice how you'd like to keep them.

Read thru the predator forum for an hour and then see what you think.

Here's one of my concerns justifying my mesh roofed run 2 days after letting the chooks out into the run.
The first but not the last time I've seen this, the chickens are all under the coop being very, very quiet.

 

[Jason38]

So there's no easy way to go this, is there?

I've been pouring over all the coops, and I have more questions than answers.

Do you shut the sliding for every night? If so, why so much attention paid to enclosing the run?

Why do the nests stick out the side of the building?

I can't fathom the necessity for a walk-in building.

Must it be insulated?

I know I'm obviously wrong, but it seems like the coop itself is overkill.

I still don't understand

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

So there's no easy way to go this, is there?

I've been pouring over all the coops, and I have more questions than answers.

Do you shut the sliding for every night? If so, why so much attention paid to enclosing the run?

Why do the nests stick out the side of the building?

I can't fathom the necessity for a walk-in building.

Must it be insulated?

I know I'm obviously wrong, but it seems like the coop itself is overkill.

I still don't understand

It's easy to get overwhelmed with information - if for no other reason than there really is no one right answer or way to do things.

Some close the coop, some don't. The reason to do so even with a secure run is that night is a time when your birds are most vulnerable and a time when predators are most active and most likely to strike. Even the most "predator proof" run can fail, so the closed door puts one more layer of security between the birds and potential harm. *I* close the pop door dusk to dawn because I haven't gone crazy with the security of my run. I know the weaknesses of my run and do not feel it is secure enough to leave the pop door open at night. It has been inadvertently left open a couple of times (ie I have been out of town and the kids forgot) and nothing happened, but it is not a risk I feel comfortable taking on a regular basis.

Not all nests do - our's do not. Those that do are often done so to preserve as much floorspace inside the coop and to make for easy access for those who have coops that do not have walk-in access.

IMO, no. You will get lots of opinions on that, but to me it is an unnecessary step and, yes, I have kept flocks in very cold climates.

Perhaps part of the issue is the type of coops you are looking at. At its most basic, all the chicken needs is shelter to get out of the elements and a place that will keep them dry and out of direct drafts -- there are plenty of very minimalist approaches to coop construction that meet these needs without being overboard. The "bells and whistles" that may seem like too much to you are not necessarily "needed" so much as wanted by the flock keeper - those little things that they choose to go ahead and add to their design whether for their own convenience, to give the birds more than just the bare necessities or because they just like them.

Personal preference - I can't imagine not having walk in access - I feel it makes life easier and have never had a flock so small that the overall need for building space didn't make having it be "man sized" be pretty logical.