Inside of coop design; need your help with ideas!

[FirewifeJess]

Need your help all you BYCers, if you can spare a few seconds to reply!
Here's the inside of my coop. The current roosts and the hanging feeder are temporary since I plan to keep the feed/water outside. See the shelf in the back of the coop? I was thinking about making the roosts above the shelf (since it is closer to the top of the coop, heat rises and we live in chilly climate). The shelf has linoleum on it now and I could dust it with DE or some sand to make scooping up the poop easier. I'd probably do that 2-3x a week...ish? I could put a 2x4 across the front to keep droppings and sand from spilling down below onto the litter. Their roosting boxes will be under the shelf, raised up about 18", also creating more floor space instead of taking up precious room for them to walk around. My question is how will the girls get up to their roosts and get down again? I want something installed in the coop that can be moved around or taken out so cleaning out the litter will be easy (as will spreading more litter and DE). I guess I just need some suggestions on placement of a ladder for them to climb or something of the sort. If you look at the left wall of the coop, there is a piece of board attached to the wall with hinges, and it can be swung upward; if something were placed underneath it, like a pole, I think it would be a nice halfway point for the girls to jump to and then jump up top, but I don't know if full size birds can jump and flap up that high safely. Help!

 

[Aeropennchick]

Looking good!

I would definitely add a 2x4 to make the poop board a tray, and use a mixture of sweet PDZ with some DE mixed in. You can use a cat little scoop to clean it, and it will make the place smell a lot better and cut down on bugs, too.

No suggestion here about the roosting situation, though. My coop isn't that tall.

 

[texas75563]

I got an idea. Principle is similar to a dowel rod in a closet. Use 3 electrical conduit hangers. 1 on each of your 2 x 4's. You can use conduit and drill through it to attach your ladder going down or a dowel rod. Plus side to this, come time to clean, lift it up and tie it off to the side somewhere.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I am going to want to caution you about adding 2 x4 edge to that shelf, or, even having a shelf for poop to collect on...do you really want to be scraping poop off a shelf two or more times a week? It will get old really fast, I prefer to let em poop all the way to the floor where its much easier to shovel up and into a wheel barrow and dump in the compost. My brooder and chick areas have no edge and all I do is rake the pine chips off and onto the floor. As for access to the roost I just made a ladder and screwed a board onto the wall, I just hang the ladder there and move it whenever I want. You could also just add more roosts at decreasing heights from floor to ceiling, I think you might want a thicker roost...I use tree limbs that are at least 6 inch diameter. Good luck with the remodel, besides you can always change it if you don't like it.
Oh,as,for,flying, my layer hens can get about 2 feet off the ground, some of the others can fly 18 feet straight up.

 

[ScottM]

Here's my plug for poop hammocks, I too am a little tired of scraping off my boards and think this will be the solution!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/534564/poop-hammock-rocks

http://communitychickens.blogspot.ca/2011/07/clean-keeping-of-coop.html

/Scott

 

[FirewifeJess]

Thanks Scott, I really love that idea!

 

[FirewifeJess]

OK so here's the plan: I think I will put the nest boxes about 18" up on the right side wall, that way there isn't any direct light shining into them from any of the "windows"; then I can put the hinged board up with something so they will have something to jump to that is halfway up, and roosts on top of the shelf on the back wall. I should be able to have a dozen chickens (which we plan to get two more pullets and lose the rooster we have) roosting easily on a 2 tiered roost above the shelf. I may or may not use a canvas for a poop hammock but that will come later because right now I just need something functional. Upgrades can always be made later

 

[aggiemae]

I was considering putting my nest box up and out of the way too but someone who knows lots more about coops that I do told me that the pullets will roost in the nest boxes are higher than ground level and that it's hard to stop it once they start so the eggs would get poopy and/or broken.