Indispensable Features?

[gardendufus]

One of the best things I did. My coop and my garden are side by side, separated by a 3' walkway. I planned to, and it has worked very well, connect the two in the fall by making the gates (I have 2 gates on opposite sides of the run) open in opposite directions. The garden gate opens and latches to the run, one of the run gates opens and latches to the garden fence, making a 3' entry from run to garden. The girls will have the run of the garden from fall til spring. Happy poopy chickens in my garden.

 

[marlo1968]

Thanks. I am planning to do a raised henhouse with a substancial iron mesh floor that can be removed to hose it down. The hope is for the excrement to pass through the mesh to the deep litter below. Smell is a HUGE consideration. Thanks for weighing in on that.

As to the staggered height...
I fully expect the bantams to take the highest roosts, but thought that they might need some help getting there or down safely in an enclosed area. The staggered heights serve as a ladder. Plus, the added tree branches give me a little more visual interest. While the henhouse is enclosed, I was planning to incorporate some small windows so that I could peek in.

If doing windows, try to get them in on the south side, as this will allow more sunlight in during the short winter days. You may even consider some "pot skylights" if you are in a more northern area. I have made the south wall of my hen house almost all window, seems to help so far, we've had some cold days and freezing nights already. You might even consider getting a mini weather station with a remote info gatherer. I put one in mine and it makes me feel better to be able to look at the thermometer in the living room to know what the conditions are in the hen house.

 

[n8ivetxn]

Done and done on the shrubbery and path. I was thinking Rosemary and Santolina along the coop length with a few other herbs to counteract any smell that might fight its way to the surface.

Guttering is a fantastic idea! I was already constructing the roof with shingles demoed from my house renovation; gutters will fit right in. While we're at it, let's throw a rain barrel underneath the spout.

I was planning to use smooth-barked natural tree branches for the roosts. Do you think that 2x4's are a better choice?

Sand for the run has been added to the shopping list. Easier maintenance is what I am trying to design for under the "ounce of prevention" theory.

Thanks

We used the natural tree branches for roosts. I think the rounded edges would be easier and more comfortable for them - its what they hang onto in "the wild."

I like the shrubbery idea

 

[bruceha2000]

Thanks in advance for any help. Gnawing questions like these are why I became a member rather than continue to lurk in the shadows.

I have an 8' round rail roost at 2' and two 8' roosts at 4' (18" horizontal spacing) and 12 chickens. All are connected perpendicularly to the right wall of the coop (parallel to the back wall). The rear roost is about 1 foot away from the back wall. They basically never sit on the 2' roost but use it for an intermediate step (except the Cubalayas who are happy to fly straight to the 4'), My concept is: if you have enough 'TOP' roosts, there won't be chickens lower in the pecking order being relegated to a lower and therefore less desirable roost. They still jostle for position on the 4' high roosts of course.

At the moment (things change weekly if not daily) 5 birds roost on the back round fence rail up against the right side wall, 5 on the forward 2x4 on the flat, also against the wall and 2 at the opposite end of the back round rail. There is about 4' of open space from that side to the left wall.

We had trouble counting to 12 one night until I picked up the bigger Astralorp that was sitting on a Chantecler. Hopefully she was standing OVER the other girl, but with only a head sticking out, it sure looked like the BA was brooding over a pullet the same age.

One thing I WOULD change is to design a "drop in" system to hold the roosts. They are screwed in so I CAN take them out but it isn't a "do it frequently" design. Kind of dicey for a 6'+ guy to work under the roosts. Fortunately I do fit between the two top ones.

Bruce

 

[bruceha2000]

Using the deep litter method, there is no need for poop boards (which IMO stink a great deal).

I am also doing deep litter. I was doing some work (barriers against small rodents) under the horse mats on the floor (old horse stall) right under the side most of them sleep on. I didn't finish in 1 day so I flopped the mat back down for the night but didn't rake the shavings back over the mat. AMAZING amount of poop on it the next morning. Seems to me you either do deep litter and rake it now and then or you put in poop boards or hammocks that you WILL be cleaning daily. I don't have that kind of time EVERY day.

Bruce

 

[bruceha2000]

While the hen house is enclosed, I was planning to incorporate some small windows so that I could peek in.

Incorporate BIG window openings that are covered with hardware cloth. Probably on the north side if you live in the south, south wall if you live in the north. My twelve 4 month old girls are the only chickens I've ever had but this isn't a surprise to seasoned chicken owners: They are incredibly curious! The birds LIKE to look out. These aren't egg factory chickens that don't even know there IS an "outside". If they are going to be "cooped up" for some reason, let them have some visual entertainment.

Plus, it probably doesn't matter where you live, during some parts of the year you will want the extra ventilation. You can design it with wood doors or even glass doors you make yourself for when you want it less open (rain, direct hot sun, etc).

Bruce

 

[bruceha2000]

Overbuilding and allowing for future expansion from the outset will make it far easier if a few chickens are simply not enough.I would rather build it right the first time when I am still in the honeymoon stage, with a flood of energy for a new project.

There is nothing wrong with super fancy or super basic or anything in between as long as it keeps the chickens safe and is something you like. You are the one doing the work and you are the one that has to look at it for the next 'X' years. If you don't like it you don't want it to be because you shorted where you didn't need to.

I think the one "truism" is that no matter how much you over think it, there will be something you wish were different once you have chickens in it. I initially hinged the chicken door (an insulated replacement window pane that I framed) on the bottom. GREAT IDEA! When open, it made a nice ramp for the 1 month old chicks. When closed they could see out. And of course the chicks grew and have no need for a ramp to get over the 6" deep litter retaining board. They probably didn't when they were a month old either given they kept getting up on the edge of the bathtub that was their brooder. Have I mentioned how much chickens POOP? They poop ANYTIME and EVERYWHERE. The door is now hinged on the side. No more poop on it and they can see outside through it again.

I don't think the coop can be too big, but it can be too small, especially if chicken math kicks in. So build it bigger than you think it needs to be. The chickens won't complain about having too much space. And do things in a somewhat modular way rather than having every little thing fit perfectly in it's place. You might find it wasn't the right place after all. I've seen pictures of coops that looked very nice but they had roosts or perches that crossed over each other. Do you really want the top of the pecking order pooping on those below?

Bruce

 

[bruceha2000]

Thanks! I would not have enough space for all that in my current blueprint, and would have kicked myself down the road. I will play with ideas to incorporate more storage into my existing plan.

I think you can use your "wheelbarrow will still live in the garage" concept for a lot of things. For all the discussion elsewhere as to whether one should heat a coop, you live in Texas, there is ZERO need to even contemplate winter heat. So, IF you have tons of storage space integrated into or near the coop, great, load it up. If not, you can keep the heat lamp elsewhere, you only need it for a few weeks with newly hatched chicks anyway. Same with any other brooder "accessories". Plus, once you have adult chickens, any new chicks you get will be brooding somewhere other than in the coop. Store the "Might use it a few weeks a year" stuff away like winter clothes.

DOH! winter clothes, in Austin? OK, stupid analogy.

 

[bruceha2000]

Another item that will go in my next coop is a PVC nipple waterer - I'll still have a bucket waterer for the winter when I may need to heat it to prevent freezing, but for 3/4 or more of the year, I'd prefer a PVC nipple waterer.

+1 on the nipple waterers.

Mine is a 5 gallon bucket on a shelf outside the coop, easy to fill and clean, no spilling IN the coop if I get sloppy; Clear tubing goes from a shutoff near the bucket to 5 saddle style nipples in a 3' long piece of 3/4" PVC pipe in the coop along the wall on the opposite side from the bucket. There is a tube and a drain on the far end of the pipe, the tube going back up to the pump in the bucket. I have a 250W stock tank heater and a small pump to circulate the water from the bucket through the pipe and back to the bucket for the winter (Will have to report later on how well this works, never had chickens before June).

This takes up virtually no space in the coop though I do have a narrow trough under it since the birds don't always get every drop. When they start laying, I think I'll just dump the oyster shell in the trough.

The only thing hanging in the coop is the feeder I made out of a plastic flower pot saucer and a length of 3" PVC pipe.

Bruce

 

[galefrances]

Quote: Bruce, do you have any pictures of your watering system?