Just built my first coop!

[farmin-family]

I just built my first coop & i'm new to rasing chickens. so any help would be greatly appricieated. My coop is 6'x6'x8' & i got 3 hens & 3 rootsters I'm gonna get some more hens real soon. But i wonderin if anyone had any ideas or plans that I could use for the inside of my coop, to get the most out of my coop till i build or buy a bigger 1. PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[chickflick]

Pictures would be great so we can see how it's laid out. You'll need nest boxes and roosts. Make sure the roost is higher than the nest boxes. Are they standard size chickens? How old are they? You'll need 10 hens for every rooster, and with that size of coop, it's not big enough to hold that many chickens. You may get by with less, but the hens get stressed out with all the mating the roos like to do. Go to the coop section of byc and you'll get great ideas for the interior of your coop. Ask any thing else, we'll be glad to help out.

 

[mrsengeseth]

I would suggest using your vertical space as much as possible. Nesting boxes/shelves on the walls Roosts or the ladder type roost units from another wall maybe? Others are gonna have far better ideas.

 

[redoak]

You could make half your coop into 2 stories and add a ramp on the inside. Basically make a 3 ft wide shelf on the back wall of your coop. If needed you could make the top a bachelor pad for your extra roosters or the bottom a brooder when you get more chicks.

 

[farmin-family]

I plan on addingpics of my coop today but I have no clue how to add them to my post

 

[hinky toes]

Make sure you have enough nest boxes for the hens, the ratio should be about 1 nest box for every three to four hens. You don't want much competition for nest space when it's time for the birds to lay in the desired spot (read: the nest box), or they will starting laying in the middle of the floor, in the feeder, outside, etc.

Also, even though you have a small coop, I've found that it is nice to dedicate a small piece of wall or shelving within the coop for chore tools, like a couple of hooks to hang a broom and dust pan, shelves for hand tools, etc. It is a pain to carry those handy items back and forth from a garage or house out to the coop.

linoleum, or other slippery surface on the coop floor is the best idea since sliced bread. It makes clean up a snap.

 

[farmin-family]

here are the pics of my first coop open for some ideas

 

[BeckyLa]

Good job, especially for your first coop! My suggestion would be to use the chicken wire for anything else but chickens. Yes, it will keep the birds in, but it will not keep predators out. A coon or dog will go right through it. I'm looking at all the open space around the coop and I don't see anything that would keep out neighborhood dogs, coons, or any other predator. I would cover all open holes into the coop, like ventilation holes or windows, with 1/2" hardware cloth to keep predators out. Also, I would use solid posts and make the run area much larger then use 2x4" welded wire for it. Then attach the chicken wire over it up about 2' from the ground to keep animals from reaching through the wire and grabbing a bird. Coons are bad for that. And frightened chickens, as has been my experience, will not run into the coop to hide but will congregate at a corner of the run fence making it easy for a predator to reach through. You've done a great job! More pictures of the inside would also help us give hints concerning nests, feed, etc. hth.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Windows. You need to have some light getting in there.

 

[farmin-family]

i have rebarb threaded through the bottom of the chicen wire & buried 2ft underground. I got windows for the coop it's just been to cold to put them in. my dogs don't even bother with the chickens. which is good. this is only a temp coop till i find out how many more chickens i'm gonna get.