Kansas City Urban Chicken Coop

[Gifa]

Looks great!! Fantastic run, no one is getting in there! You really thought of everything! We're having 110 degree heat here and if you are anywhere near that hot, I'd suggest setting up a mister. I bought a Cobra mister at my farm store and set it up in all of my pens. The chickens LOVE it in the heat and usually stand under it until they are soaked. But it's better than chickens dying in the heat.

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You are so lucky that you have lots of natural shade! I have had to buy that expensive "privacy" lattice-- the kind that has smaller holes in it, not the regular stuff and put it up on the outside of my pens. We're on the plains-- very few trees out here. Congrats on the new beautiful coop!

Thanks!

Yeah we've been hot, even in the shade, but it is more bearable under all of those trees. Our whole yard slopes to the south, so they have an excellent view and the summer breeze from the south blows right through their run. Because of the wooded hill directly behind my fence to the west, my back yard is completely in shade by 4pm in the summer. They only get an hour of direct sunlight a day... at sunrise. Though, I suspect as the sun sinks to the south for winter, and the trees shed their leaves, they'll get a lot more sun, which, is great.

As for coping in the heat, I have been manually spritzing them with water a few times a day, and I am adding electrolytes to their main waterer. I give the ground a good soak in the morning, and again in the heat of the day with nice cool water. The ground just drinks it all up, and so, while it's moist, it's not ever muddy. Any excess from rain and whatnot should just roll off of the slope so, I should never have a muddy run for more than a few hours... and I suspect that I can throw in some grass clippings every now and again to further aid that.

We are going to be moving the raised bed that is currently in front of the coop elsewhere next year (we'll remove it in the fall after this season is over) to further change the space around the coop, and the garden will be in a more sunny location as well... Since we'd still like to use the structure to hang baskets of flowers and herbs, and more delicate lettuces, a mister is very likely to be in our future as part of how we plan to irrigate the rest of the garden. But that's a next year thing. For this year, I am happy to go out there and take care of them as needed.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Thanks!

Yeah we've been hot, even in the shade, but it is more bearable under all of those trees. Our whole yard slopes to the south, so they have an excellent view and the summer breeze from the south blows right through their run. Because of the wooded hill directly behind my fence to the west, my back yard is completely in shade by 4pm in the summer. They only get an hour of direct sunlight a day... at sunrise. Though, I suspect as the sun sinks to the south for winter, and the trees shed their leaves, they'll get a lot more sun, which, is great.

As for coping in the heat, I have been manually spritzing them with water a few times a day, and I am adding electrolytes to their main waterer. I give the ground a good soak in the morning, and again in the heat of the day with nice cool water. The ground just drinks it all up, and so, while it's moist, it's not ever muddy. Any excess from rain and whatnot should just roll off of the slope so, I should never have a muddy run for more than a few hours... and I suspect that I can throw in some grass clippings every now and again to further aid that.

We are going to be moving the raised bed that is currently in front of the coop elsewhere next year (we'll remove it in the fall after this season is over) to further change the space around the coop, and the garden will be in a more sunny location as well... Since we'd still like to use the structure to hang baskets of flowers and herbs, and more delicate lettuces, a mister is very likely to be in our future as part of how we plan to irrigate the rest of the garden. But that's a next year thing. For this year, I am happy to go out there and take care of them as needed.

Sounds great! But I doubt the mister will irrigate anything.

The Cobra I have (I have 3 of them in 3 different pens) it is such a very fine mist, it doesn't really wet the ground much--if at all. Or perhaps it's because we have a much dryer climate than you have. But everything stays dry with the mist and the birds all congregate around it and get wet because they stand right in front of it. It uses very little water. They have drip lines for irrigation-- and I bet that's what you meant!

They put out a lot more water for gardens. Sounds like you have some excellent plans for next year! I bet it's going to look fantastic out there! I love raised gardens, I have only one right now, and I want to build another one this Fall or next Spring. We have no shortage on sunny areas here, though... hehe! My birds LOVE grass clippings, but they won't last long. They are eaten up pretty quickly. Enjoy your birds and your new hobby!

 

[Gifa]

Quote: LOL, yeah, I wouldn't even attempt irrigating with a mister alone. I meant adding a mister to the irrigation system on a T-valve connector thingie...

Since it's been so hot and dry, our lawn hasn't grown at all... in fact, when it does start to grow, I'm probably going to need to dethatch the lawn... I'll get a ton of good stuff from that little activity... Good dry brittle stuff for them to scratch around in and turn over into the dirt with their poo.

As it is, we just came back with a bale of straw for them. I spread about a quarter of the bale out into the main part of their run and you would have thought it was an all-expenses paid trip to Disney World or something. ROFLs. So funny.

But, I am hoping the extra layer of stuff will keep the ground damp and cool for a lot longer, and that the moisture will attract lots of good bugs for them to eat. I watched my leghorn dig up and eat a little centipede this morning. She was so proud of herself.

 

[Gifa]

All that's left to do is find the right window stay hardware to hold the front window out at varying degrees. For now, the stick will do. But the girls have been moved in. They spent their second night in the coop nice and safe and sound. The Pullet Shut Door works like a charm. The white panel above it gives us access to the battery from the outside.

 

[PeepsAreForMe]

Your coop is beautiful! It is a very similar layout to what my DH is building for me. I don't like the coop I have my girls in now.

I was thinking of doing the same with a window that swings out. I was going to attach a chain to the window and and S hook to the roof that over hangs it and the chain can be hooked at different lengths to keep the window open as much or as little as wanted. We are using old windows from our house. I took the glass out of them and we are going to put hardware cloth on the inside, and velcro plexiglass to the outside in the wintertime.

 

[Gifa]

Your coop is beautiful! It is a very similar layout to what my DH is building for me. I don't like the coop I have my girls in now.

I was thinking of doing the same with a window that swings out. I was going to attach a chain to the window and and S hook to the roof that over hangs it and the chain can be hooked at different lengths to keep the window open as much or as little as wanted. We are using old windows from our house. I took the glass out of them and we are going to put hardware cloth on the inside, and velcro plexiglass to the outside in the wintertime.

Thank you. This style of window, or rather, the way it works is referred to as a "Bahama Shutter".

We are using a chain and hook method for holding the side windows out, but because of the design of the front clean out door we're looking for something that will be a little more secure and not hook to the overhang. The front window doubles as the human access for the regular poop scooping/ feeding/ watering, But because it's part of the triennial (possible quarterly) cleaning access door, the last thing I want is for the window to be accidentally pulled off the hinges because I absent-mindedly forgot to unchain it from the roof before swinging the big door open. And so something similar to the stay hardware for Bahama shutters is what we are looking for. Even if we have to design it and create it ourselves. (via 3D printing; http://www.thingiverse.com/).

 

[PeepsAreForMe]

Oh, I see what you are talking about. I didn't realize that side was a bigger door. What about an arm with a hinge in the middle? The coop I have has two of those, one on the next box flap and another on half of the roof. It opens up, and I'm really not sure why! They lock when opened, and you just push the middle to bend it. Am I explaining that right?? But you want to open it at different heights, so that may not work for you either.

 

[Gifa]

Yeah, we only need it to be in three positions; closed on cold, windy, stormy, winter nights. 55-ish degrees is where it will spend most of it's time, and 90 degrees for access. =)

We're wanting to go with something along the lines of this:



The only thing is, real Bahama Shutter Stay Hardware is way stronger (and bigger) than we need because they are designed to batten down and withstand hurricanes. We're looking to find similar stays that are a little less engineered, but since we kind of know what we are looking for, if we can't find it anywhere, we will likely fabricate our own custom stay hardware that will be cheaper, and appropriate for use on a chicken coop in Missouri.

Thingiverse offers relatively inexpensive 3D printing in a variety of materials... All we have to do is create a 3D model of what we want. There was a guy who had purchased a stroller for his baby, and after using it a small, tiny piece of it broke. So, he contacted the company of the stroller and asked for a replacement part. The company responded and wanted to charge $250 bucks for it. So instead, he created a 3D model of it in some 3D software, uploaded the model to a site called www.shapeways.com. They printed his model in stainless steel and shipped it to him for $25 bucks. Even cooler, they let folks like him upload their models so that anyone else looking for a replacement part or whatever can get it printed inexpensively also without having to buy it from a company that wants to charge almost as much as a whole new stroller for one little replacement part.

So, I am seriously considering modeling up the pieces we need and doing the same for my window stays. Even if it costs me as much as $40 or $50, it's still cheaper than the $90 - $100 actual Bahama Shutter Stays run, and it will be EXACTLY what we need.

 

[crchickens]

We bought some metal cable, and attached it to hook and eyes, and used a pulley system for the windows. It works great.

 

[DustinT]

Awesome job! Your run makes me jealous, we're using an old 6x12 dog run. Once I get caught up on some projects I plan on adding on to my garage kinda carport style for a new coop and run area.