(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens? New. Few months.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now? 6
(3) What breeds do you have? A mixed bag including Mystic Black Onyx and Wyandotes. My wife knows that aspect of the hobby. I'm just the handyperson.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens? Coop design
(5) What are some of your other hobbies? Gardening. I casually collect old fans. Esoterica. Indie rock and Motown (vinyl).
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share. Live in the country a safe distance out of town so I can get to work (physician) but also be isolated. Wife, 2 kids, 1 dog, 2 cats and an opossum under the porch who the dog "kills" once weekly.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community? Seemed the best place to get tips and tricks. Next project may be a coop to raise pheasants (melanistic?) to stock my surrounding community. I appreciate any tips on coop design so I can do coop #2 even better. I still am not fully happy with my insulation-ventilation mix but am hopeful the use of a "smart" inline fan allows me to compensate.
Location: Mid-East Minnesota (Saint Croix River Valley)
General set up: 4' x 6' elevated coop (maximal interior head room ~5 1/2 feet @ ridge) with 22' x 5' run (5' tall with 1/2 inch hardware cloth) with 2' horizontal apron surrounding run. Once chicks fully trained to come in with sundown, will allow them under the coop to expand range. 2/3 of coop interior has poop tables with 2 x 3 roosts (poop tables have removable nonstick oven sheets to allow feces cleanup), which essentially affords an additional level. One day I may add more roosts to see the impact on "pecking order." Timed LED coop lights and automatic door (JVR), mounted internally to preserve hardware life and maintain aesthetics. Wood shavings. Will gradually evolve to deep litter approach.
Insulation: 2 inch extruded polyfoam all 4 sides with double radiant barrier bubble insulation interior to foam on interior walls (pleasantly the hens do not peck it...yet, but I put this up knowing it may fail and require a hard barrier). Additionally, floor has a 3/4 inch rubber horse stall matt for both added insulation and protection (in hindsight, I would have got less thick for easier removal/cleaning). Sealed cutouts in foam and radiant barrier allow ventilation. Obsessively sealed/weather-stripped. Anything wood interior is oil-based enamel paint with mold-resistant primer.
Heat: Not planning on doing it unless I really need to.
Passive ventilation: 4' ridge vent, two 16" x 4' vents, one 6" diameter, automatic door, and in warm weather, two 8" x 6" window vents.
Active ventilation (exhaust): Gorilla 6" inline fan with temperature and humidity sensor linked to a 10" filter box to better preserve fan life. Filter box close to where traditional soffits would be so aside from south-facing automatic door and East-facing windows, intake and exhaust are in the upper 1/3 of the coop. I have yet to fiddle with this but planning on micromanaging temperature and humidity settings.
Pictures: I'm waiting for a sunny day for finals but here are some early pictures prior to completion.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now? 6
(3) What breeds do you have? A mixed bag including Mystic Black Onyx and Wyandotes. My wife knows that aspect of the hobby. I'm just the handyperson.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens? Coop design
(5) What are some of your other hobbies? Gardening. I casually collect old fans. Esoterica. Indie rock and Motown (vinyl).
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share. Live in the country a safe distance out of town so I can get to work (physician) but also be isolated. Wife, 2 kids, 1 dog, 2 cats and an opossum under the porch who the dog "kills" once weekly.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community? Seemed the best place to get tips and tricks. Next project may be a coop to raise pheasants (melanistic?) to stock my surrounding community. I appreciate any tips on coop design so I can do coop #2 even better. I still am not fully happy with my insulation-ventilation mix but am hopeful the use of a "smart" inline fan allows me to compensate.
Location: Mid-East Minnesota (Saint Croix River Valley)
General set up: 4' x 6' elevated coop (maximal interior head room ~5 1/2 feet @ ridge) with 22' x 5' run (5' tall with 1/2 inch hardware cloth) with 2' horizontal apron surrounding run. Once chicks fully trained to come in with sundown, will allow them under the coop to expand range. 2/3 of coop interior has poop tables with 2 x 3 roosts (poop tables have removable nonstick oven sheets to allow feces cleanup), which essentially affords an additional level. One day I may add more roosts to see the impact on "pecking order." Timed LED coop lights and automatic door (JVR), mounted internally to preserve hardware life and maintain aesthetics. Wood shavings. Will gradually evolve to deep litter approach.
Insulation: 2 inch extruded polyfoam all 4 sides with double radiant barrier bubble insulation interior to foam on interior walls (pleasantly the hens do not peck it...yet, but I put this up knowing it may fail and require a hard barrier). Additionally, floor has a 3/4 inch rubber horse stall matt for both added insulation and protection (in hindsight, I would have got less thick for easier removal/cleaning). Sealed cutouts in foam and radiant barrier allow ventilation. Obsessively sealed/weather-stripped. Anything wood interior is oil-based enamel paint with mold-resistant primer.
Heat: Not planning on doing it unless I really need to.
Passive ventilation: 4' ridge vent, two 16" x 4' vents, one 6" diameter, automatic door, and in warm weather, two 8" x 6" window vents.
Active ventilation (exhaust): Gorilla 6" inline fan with temperature and humidity sensor linked to a 10" filter box to better preserve fan life. Filter box close to where traditional soffits would be so aside from south-facing automatic door and East-facing windows, intake and exhaust are in the upper 1/3 of the coop. I have yet to fiddle with this but planning on micromanaging temperature and humidity settings.
Pictures: I'm waiting for a sunny day for finals but here are some early pictures prior to completion.
Glad you joined.
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
