I'm a eggcited newbie and thought I'd share! Opinions!

Date sort Score sort
9281022

9281022

In the Brooder
Joined
Mar 31, 2016
Messages
78
Reaction score
3
Points
43
Location
Ohio
Hi everyone! I will become an official chicken mom on April 18th! I also have an order for April 20th as well.
I am so eggcited I can hardly stand myself!!
Last night my boys put my first coop together and I made an addition for my recently built brooder. What do you guys think?

For their breezeway I still have to fill in the gaps on the side, I did not want to permanently affix the breezeway so that I can easily break it down and store it. Also, I am going to move the dowel that has their swinging roost down to the other side of the grey tote. Thinking I will keep the blue tote heated and the grey one will be food, water and play!

Being as the coop is sitting in the garage I was toying with using that as their brooder! If I do once it warms up outside I have to paint the coop, of course I'd have to transfer them to the totes for that. Would they adjust? I am thinking the coop will be in the garage for the 16 weeks it will take them to get ready to go outside. Plus we are building them a huge run that will encase the coop.

I wanted to use legs bands, so I came up with this idea. Duct tape! I folded it over to make it thin & super strong, I left them long so that I would have an easier time adjusting them to their little legs, then I will take a thin piece (probably two to make it strong) to close up the back slit!

What is everyone's opinions?

700

700

700
 
I happened to notice your coop and wanted to make a comment from my experience. When I first got my Guinea keets about 3 years ago, I had a coop very similar to the one in your picture. I'm not sure where you live or what your weather is like, but I live in southeastern Iowa. My land is flat surrounded by a bunch of cornfields and it can get very windy here. One day during high winds, my little red coop blew across the yard and smashed in little pieces. The coop was sitting on a concrete slab and was not tied down to the ground. (Not very smart of me but I was new to the whole thing
1f62c.png
!) Luckily, my flock had outgrown it and it was not being used at the time. If it gets at all windy where you live and it will be outside, you may want to secure it to the ground in some way.
Also, as for the duct tape leg bands, I would make sure they are not too snug so that it doesn't constrict their legs as they grow bigger.
Good luck and enjoy your new chickens!
 
Ya know, I did have that thought about securing it to the ground. But then questioned myself. Thanks for bring that up! I am in OH and have a pretty open backyard with one giant maple tree. There are trees all around us though. The coop will be near our maple plus inside a huge run. So the run should block heavy winds. But you never know if a really bad storm comes through what will happen, so I will figure out a way to secure it, because yes it is super light. That is why the boys built it in the garage, they figured they would just carry it out to the yard.
I did intend to leave some room for the leg bands.

Thanks much!
 
I think duct tape will be too hard to remove when it is necessary. I would go with regular legbands for chicks/chickens. Are you going to fill in the rest of the coop with wood or wire? If wire, chicken wire is useless. It keeps chickens IN but doesn't keep predators OUT. The best predator protection comes from 1/2" hardware cloth, securely affixed to frame. If costs more, last longer, and will stop 'most' predators from getting through( I don't know about bears or cougars)


ps. none of the bycers ( I know of) have any stock shares in hardware cloth. It's just what works best.
 
I plan on putting pine shavings inside the coop. Flooring (ground) will be a mixture of sand & hay. The coop itself will be totally enclosed inside a 15 x 31 run. I planned on using hardware cloth (1/4) on the bottom of the run so many inches up, and will bury some too. The upper part of the run sides will be chicken wire. (for cost reasons) And the roof of the run will be plywood, so I can protect the run floor from elements and attacks from up above. I probably am going to line the outside of the run with cinder blocks as well. But haven't fully decided, don't you think cinder blocks would be a wonderful hiding spot for snakes (garter) though? I was just trying to think of something to line along the outside of the run that was heavy enough to lay on top of the wire in/on the ground. There is going to be a small side of the run that has to get the wire skirted rather than buried because of the maple tree roots.

I don't have to worry about big cats or bears, thank goodness! But we do have coyotes, raccoons, opossums, hawks, bald eagles, vultures and fox. I haven't seen a fox as of yet, but have seen them not far from here. I'm sure once they get a whiff of the chickens it won't be long before they show up too! I also have a groundhog living under my shed, although he's not a direct threat to the chickens I worry about his fuzzy butt digging under the coop to get to feed smells. Lots of deer, for the same reason.

I almost forgot, since I plan on sand/hay floors do I even need to worry about making them a separate box for their dirt baths? Won't they just use the sand on the floor?
Would it be okay to put chicken wire on the base floor and put the sand & hay on top of it? The wire won't hurt their little feet will it?
 
Last edited:
I found this run online, I love it! Think I will have hubby do it like this. That way the bottom is a bit more safe guarded than just using wire.



 
I really like the run that you posted a picture of; it's very nice and looks pretty secure! My Guineas free range during the day and are in a coop with a run at night. I've never had anything dig under the fence line so far. The only predator I have had a problem with is fox and it's always during the day. I've had them come right into my yard in broad daylight and grap a Guinea and run off with them. It doesn't help that the Guineas stand up to the fox and try to fight them off, rather than run or fly away. They are too brave for their own good! They do sound the alarm and are very loud when there is danger, so you may be able to intervene if you're home. If yours are in an enclosed pen, you shouldn't have to worry too much about predators. I noticed your comment about the garter snakes too. My Guineas have actually surrounded and killed a garter snake before, so hopefully yours will keep the snakes away. As for the chicken wire on the floor of the coop, I would worry that it would get uncovered and they would somehow get caught up on it or get a foot stuck in it. For dust baths, I think the sand would work. I pour a pile of sand in one of the corners of my coop and they use that if they can't go outside.
Good luck with your coop/run....it looks like you have some great ideas!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom