Indispensable Features?

[Mac14]

For me the one thing that I could not live without on my coop is the storage! It's on the other side of the coop.

 

[boogiedog]

My two favorite must-haves - 1. I have a solid coop floor (raised coop, urban location) and covered it with linoleum. I use deep litter - linoleum flooring makes sweeping it out a breeze, and shavings keeps smells to zero. 2. auto-waterers. This was an afterthought, and there was some localized flooding (sorry peeps) while we figured out water pressure. Not have to schlepp 5 gal waterers for two runs and two coops has simplified our lives exponentially.

 

[blueberrychickens]

Make sure you have plenty of ventilation in your coop. Poop boards are great, till you have to clean them...

Deep litter is wonderful, an elevated coop make for a nice dry shady place underneath for the chickens to escape the rain/snow/heat. Covered runs are a godsend, (wish I had one!) I have perches in the run so the girls can preen in the afternoon & not have to be on the ground. My coop has electricity & wouldn't have it any other way.
Something I wish I had planned a little better was placement of windows/doors in regards to usable floor space.
Once I had placed feeders on the wall (food, grit, oyster shell) & the waterer on the floor, that was when I realized that the window was in the way of the feeder & there was no good place for the waterer to go that wasn't beneath a perch (poop in water is gross!) If my DH had listened to me & built it to the size I wanted in the first place, this would have been a non issue.....
Good luck w/ your project!!

 

[mickey328]

The number one essential IMO is ventilation, and lots of it. Have it up high so it'll clear the condensation but not blow ON the birds at their highest point (usually when on their roost) and you'll go a long way to having a less smelly, more healthy coop. Most of the other stuff (besides enough space for the number of birds) is personal preference or cosmetic...certainly very nice but not absolutely necessary

 

[my urban barnyard]

As someone else mentioned, I like using 2x4's (mine are actually 2x3's since they are cheaper locally) as roosts and I hang them using metal joist hangers, just setting the boards in - not nailing. My roosts are staggered to allow the birds to climb easier, and using the joist hangers allows me to just lift the roosts out of my way when I clean the coop. I only have 7 hens, so crowding in not really an issue.

Do put in as many windows as you can. My coop is only 4 by 6, but I used two small double hung windows (additional ventilation in summer) and a $20 shed skylight. I cover the inside of the skylight in summer to cut down on heat, but in the winter it is a big boost to both light and passive heat.


Put in as many doors as you can, too. Having the door from the coop into the run is a big help when rounding up birds. I regret not having added one from the back of the run, behind which is where I ended up locating the compost heat. I'll get one retrofitted in there someday.

I love the dutch door idea given. That makes total sense. I installed two in my house to control the dogs, but don't know why I didn't think about that with the chickens.

My covered run is a big asset. It does help a lot.

And don't just hang your waterers, hang them high where the birds have to jump up on a perch to drink from them. I think you can see how I have mine in the first photo. That cuts down on the debris that ends up in the drinker dramatically.





I keep the inner door locked open during the summer to keep the coop cooler.

A view of the skylight and the decorative fence that act as both privacy shield from the alley (before privacy fence went up) and keeps the hot sun from the west off the run.

 

[milo1108]

I saw that you posted something about a rain barrel. I have an idea for an automatic waterer for a rain barrel which I hope to install in the near future. I am going to put a rain barrel connected to the gutter with a screen to keep mosquitos and debris out. Then I figure to put chicken nipplers on the bottom (after lifting it high enough for them). I would stay very clean and the chickens would have access to clean rain water. I also suggest keeping part of the run covered to keep rain out!!! It is very important to keep the coop and run from getting very wet. It can cause the chickens to get sick if exposed for a period of time.

 

[aoxa]

As someone else mentioned, I like using 2x4's (mine are actually 2x3's since they are cheaper locally) as roosts and I hang them using metal joist hangers, just setting the boards in - not nailing. My roosts are staggered to allow the birds to climb easier, and using the joist hangers allows me to just lift the roosts out of my way when I clean the coop. I only have 7 hens, so crowding in not really an issue.

Do put in as many windows as you can. My coop is only 4 by 6, but I used to small double hung window (additional ventilation in summer) and a $20 shed skylight. I cover the inside of the skylight in summer to cut down on heat, but in the winter it is a big boost to both light and passive heat. 


Put in as many doors as you can, too. Having the door from the coop into the run is a big help when rounding up birds. I regret not having added one from the back of the run, behind which is where I ended up locating the compost heat. I'll get one retrofitted in there someday.

I love the dutch door idea given. That makes total sense. I installed two in my house to control the dogs, but don't know why I didn't think about that with the chickens. 

My covered run is a big asset. It does help a lot.

And don't just hang your waterers, hang them high where the birds have to jump up on a perch to drink from them. I think you can see how I have mine in the first photo. That cuts down on the debris that ends up in the drinker dramatically. 





I keep the inner door locked open during the summer to keep the coop cooler.

A view of the skylight and the decorative fence that act as both privacy shield from the alley (before privacy fence went up) and keeps the hot sun from the west off the run.

I love your coop, it is so cute!

 

[kathychick]

I am SO glad you asked the question - now we also have a great list to make to our plan (our winter activity).

 

[Brookliner]

I can't believe there is anyone who has built them that doesn't think poop boards are the best thing since sliced bread. It takes me 5 minutes to scoop and shake the poop (my board is 6 feet long and 18" wide). Most of the poop is generated while the birds are roosting. If you spend that 5 minutes a day your coop and run will stay clean. I use pine chips on the coop floor they stay quite clean because I add to the chips weekly. I also use PDZ and DE on both poop boards and in the pine chips. There is next to no smell in the coop or the run. I also have a covered run. Anytime you add water to chickens you can have problems. Coccidia is always lurking in the coop. I will be adding an automatic waterer to my old coop and including it in the design for the coop I am building. I would beware of a wire floor the poop sticks to it instead of dropping through. Love your ideas. I will love to see your final product when it is built.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I don't think you will be happy with deep litter unless you allow the litter to be churned by the chickens. If they won't have access to it the poo will pile up and not be covered by the litter. Mesh screens collect poo as not all of it will fall through- even d'Uccle poo. So you periodically have to hose it off. But you can sure give it a whirl and take it out if you don't like it.

I agree that if you are going to use a poop board sweet PDZ powder is awesome (comes in granules also) as it coats the poo when you stir it and you can use a kitty litter scoop to get the poo out. What I have done recently in my two shed coops is to throw sweet PDZ THICKLY on the floor (I used to just sprinkle it and scrape the whole floor daily, burying the poo each day with a shovel).

Now the chickens stir up the PDZ for me, and I only give it a stir every few days. Then, every few weeks I scoop out quite a bit of the poo and throw it where desired after loading it into a bucket. The downside is that it is very dusty and when they all flap their wings in there, oh my! So I don't know if I can recommend this system yet to anyone (I have only been doing it a few weeks).

The indispensable features of my coops/runs are:
Covered area in run with roosts under it (rain/range shelters) as they will stand in the rain to avoid having to go back in the coop
Hawk shelters (Pallets elevated on concrete blocks) to dive under if they spot trouble
Auto Door opener!
Timers for lights, door opener, and fan
Fan in hot weather
ventilation not blowing on chickens directly (vents up high)
Hutch for separating chickens or brooding chicks on hand at all times
Water hose that will reach out to the coops (or at least the run) to fill waterers
Woodstove ashes in a pit in the ground (or you can use a tub) to help keep away bugs (they love to eat them too)
Perches in the run for them to get off the ground
Grass or being given grass clippings or other greens (they need greens for vitamins- grass works fine).

I have two shed coops and two runs since I keep my bantams separate from my large fowl.

Have fun with your chickens and don't forget to treat for mites/lice/worms as needed. I dust mine every 4 months, repeating in 7 days. I worm every 6 months since I have had a worm problem in this soil.