Inexpensive coop litter options

[Nyhillbillies]

they only have that little box inside of that whole shed?

do you use the rest of it for storage? any way you can compress your storage down and divide the shed in half for a larger coop area?

The shed is 10x12. Their area is 4x10. The only think they do is lay eggs and sleep there. They free-range if we’re home all day. If we’re not going to be home all day, they’re in their fenced pasture (100x70 ish).
Do you think the coop is too small??
There’s 10-12ft of roosts there.

 

[DickMidnight]

The shed is 10x12. Their area is 4x10. The only think they do is lay eggs and sleep there. They free-range if we’re home all day. If we’re not going to be home all day, they’re in their fenced pasture (100x70 ish).
Do you think the coop is too small??
There’s 10-12ft of roosts there.

that doesn’t look like 4’ deep. if the boards on the wall of the shed were 12” wide, then the coop area is a little over 3’ front to back, at best.

but they look more like 8” wide boards, maybe 10”, meaning your coop is somewhere between 2 and 3 feet from front to back.

by square footage, it seems like enough space. but if you have a huge shed, why not give them more? frame a wall with a door and divide the shed into two 6x10 areas. one for storage and one for a coop that goes all the way up to the ceiling.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

that doesn’t look like 4’ deep. if the boards on the wall of the shed were 12” wide, then the coop area is a little over 3’ front to back, at best.

but they look more like 8” wide boards, maybe 10”, meaning your coop is somewhere between 2 and 3 feet from front to back.

by square footage, it seems like enough space. but if you have a huge shed, why not give them more? frame a wall with a door and divide the shed into two 6x10 areas. one for storage and one for a coop that goes all the way up to the ceiling.

Thanks for your input! I greatly appreciate it!
I don’t know about the size of the boards. I know that I definitely cannot reach to the back of the coop without difficulty from the entry doors.
I would like to see the coop morph into what you described. We’re thinking of hiring an Amish gentleman to help us (we have an unfinished homestead and we’re getting up there in age) so that could be on the list! Very useful, since it looks like our little flock may be growing by 4 hens & maybe a rooster (runaways from a local farm).

 

[aart]

They free-range if we’re home all day.

They probably won't once the snow starts piling up

 

[RoyalChick]

You probably have everything you need from others but just in case it is helpful this is what I do.
In the coop I use leaves - mainly oak and not shredded unless the chickens shred them.
I have a few white pines that drop lovely soft pine straw so I rake that up and use it too.
I use a combo of pine shavings and shredded paper in the nest boxes and if anyone soils a nest box I just empty it out on the floor and it mixes with the leaves. I make that easy by having dish washing bowls in the nest boxes.
I do not scoop.
My coop opens into a run and the chickens seem to move a fair amount of bedding from the coop into the run when I leave the person door between them open.
Now and then (maybe yearly) I rake out the bedding from the coop into the run.
No smell, little work and essentially all for free.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

They probably won't once the snow starts piling up

That’s where the tractor and snowblower cone in. We like to play in the snow!

 

[aart]

That’s where the tractor and snowblower cone in. We like to play in the snow!

That's good.
But it's during the days long blizzards and/or frigid temps I learned why not to overcrowd the coop. ChickenCabinFever is real and it can be ugly.

 

[gtaus]

What about sand fleas?!?

I don't know anything about sand fleas. I never noticed anything like that, but I imagine a sand flea would be very small.

The issue I had with sand as litter is that I had to constantly clean it up and still it would smell to me, so I would replace it. Sand is heavy, and was a lot of work for me. I prefer deep bedding. Just clean out my coop once or twice a year and put in new litter. Dry deep bedding works much better for me.

 

[gtaus]

But it's during the days long blizzards and/or frigid temps I learned why not to overcrowd the coop. ChickenCabinFever is real and it can be ugly.

Yeah, living in northern Minnesota, my chickens do not go outside for as much as 6 months of the year - they don't like to walk on snow. So, in anticipation of that fact, I built my chicken coop with about twice the recommended space per bird (~8 sq ft per chicken). My chickens have survived pretty well in the winter months, living only in their coop 24/7, but I really think it is because they have so much space. It's still a long winter for them, but they manage not to kill each other - literally - as I might fear if they were in a more confined coop.

 

[McChooky]

You might mock up a section to see if the poop will go through that consistently. I've seen posts here from people who tried it and said enough lands on the wires or where they cross that it builds up.

Is a wire floor bad for a chicken's feet? I had rabbit cages with wire bottoms, but the wire was 1/2 by 1 inch, and a rabbit's foot is much bigger/wider than a chicken's foot.

I can imagine the benefits of a wire bottom in a coop for some locations, but where I live, I really need a thick layer of litter to keep the floor insulated from our cold winter tempicks s. It's not uncommon for use to get -35F to -40F for a week or so in the dead of winter. I don't think an open bottom wire floor would work where I live. ed in linoleum.

Thank you! The coop will have a wood floor to prevent cold air (draft s)and keep predators out. The purpose of building a hardware cloth floor above the other floor is to to keep the chickens out of the poop I collect.The raised floor will only be under the roost bars .I will try to find the galvanized hardware cloth that's coated with pvc to make it less likely to injure their feet(it makes the 1" mesh smaller too)
EDIT: I will have several poop trays underneath the hardware cloth.