May I request coop measurement suggestions? Please look.

[patandchickens]

Remember they'll go into the coop for shade if there's insufficient outdoor shade at the moment or it's already occupied by another chicken. Also every time they want a drink or snack, they will go in there. I really would not do wire (and if I did, I really would not use your fridge shelving, because the 3" long slots look like they could easily let toes slip down thru and cause aggravation if not injuries).

My tractor has a wire mesh vent at roost height, and sometimes they sit looking out and sometimes not, mostly not, though (based on the times I've been out there at night).


Pat

 

[PoultryPromulgator]

Thanks patandchickens and SeaChick.

a) There will be a coop floor approximately 22" off the ground with the feed e.t.c hanging under it. No floor at ground as per the norm with tractors/arks.

b) Yep. Sounds like the way to go.

c) The only reason I was thinking of a rotating panel was that it was originally going to be made from one of those wire shelves and whereas they would be a little difficult to hinge they could easily be made to spin. But now I'm thinking they might need a bit more weather protection under the coop, so cupboard doors it is. It's a shame I happen to have all the cupboard doors left over from my kitchen renovation.

a2) I picked up at my local dump/recycling centre several 10' and 9' lengths of undressed 4"x4" pine (quite light) that had originally been part of large pallet of sorts at $5.00 each

10'x5' is a good size for three hens, right?

b2) Yeah good points. I would love to use something that never needs painting like PVC but as it's for the only full length (10') part of the frame It will need to be somewhat rigid. I was looking at steel pallet racking beams at the dump until I picked one up and seeing as this tractor isn't self propelled (although it will be towable by my ride-on mower) I thought I'd avoid the extra 80+ pounds of weight.

I may be a little confused :

/ I have seen arks on-line that had the food under the coop and some at the other end of the run from the coop. Should feed and water be in the coop? Do they eat and/or drink at night? As I write these questions they appear rather silly, but I have zero experience with chickens.
My budgies have water in their cage (3'x4'x6') and feed on their day stand/play table. It seems that they never drink at night though. (I swept the sand in the bottom late one afternoon and at 6:30 the next morning there was no prints in it.) But I'm not suggesting Budgie behavior should be used as a model for chickens, hence the endless questions.

I must have missed your page link before. Cool looking functional coop. Coincidently the only chickens my local FeedMania produce store only sells ISA Browns I don't think I'll get three of them as I couldn't cope with 20+ eggs a week. I was thinking One ISA Brown, one Australorp and one Barred Rocks. Are any of these not suitable to be with the others?

O.K. SeaChick. Looks like the coop part just got bigger.
I plan to move it every couple of days, depending on the rate of grass destruction.
I think I'll follow the suggestions and use leftover flooring vinyl.
Also while I've got your attention. What's your Australorp like? Is she good natured? Nice to see an Australian bred chook in the States.

Gee it takes a while to write these entries as I only use the old two-fingered hunt-and-peck typing method.

p.s. I think I may have somewhere refered to Pat as he. Sorry! I assumed Patrick, not Patricia (guess)

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Ah! Ok, the 4x4 makes more sense now. If it is raw unmilled stock, though, you will either have to spend a LOT OF time sanding it smooth so that paint will stick well without immediately starting to flake off and get knocked off, or you could just forego painting and hope it doesn't rot out too fast. Depends a lot on your climate and the surface it's going to sit on, I think. But it is probably useless to try painting raw rough stock.

5x10 is a really good big size for three hens and I bet they will be quite happy with it!

I may be a little confused :

/ I have seen arks on-line that had the food under the coop and some at the other end of the run from the coop. Should feed and water be in the coop? Do they eat and/or drink at night?

Different people have different Theories about it, but to me it depends mainly on whether you are going to be shutting the chickens in at night or not. If you shut them into the shelter part at night (as I do, since we have weasels galore and I also do not *quite* trust the raccoon- and coyote-proofness of my tractor if the bait is dangled right in front of predators' noses), then unless you will always be out there RIGHT as the chickens wake up, I think it is an awfully good idea to ahve at least water in the shelter.

On the other hand if you do *not* have the chickens shut up at night, then the only reason to keep water in the shelter would be to keep it shaded (so it doesn't get algae and bacteria growing in there any faster than it already will, plus chickens are not big on drinking warm water). If you can shade it but have it outside that would probably be best.

Where you put the feeder depends partly on how much room is available in your shelter, and partly on whether you expect to have issues keeping rain, mice, sparrows etc out of it. In my tractor I put the food outside but hang it from the tractor roof with a large squirrel-baffle over it (for shelter from rain, not from squirrels, of course <g>)

my local FeedMania produce store only sells ISA Browns I don't think I'll get three of them as I couldn't cope with 20+ eggs a week.

Yeah, I really wasn't expecting THAT many eggs! We now eat them for dinner at least once a week and I do a lot more baking than I used to

Although I am glad I got three not just two, since (as I had feared) we did lose one and this way we did not have to scramble around finding a companion for one lonely chicken.

I was thinking One ISA Brown, one Australorp and one Barred Rocks. Are any of these not suitable to be with the others?

Barring the vicissitudes of individual temperament, nope, that sounds like a good assortment! I wish I could have done that, but *needed* started pullets (was due with now-8-month-old baby right around when we got the chickens, could not cope with tiny fluffy fragile chicks at the time) and they only came in ISA Browns.

Gee it takes a while to write these entries as I only use the old two-fingered hunt-and-peck typing method.

Yeah, well try the left-handed hunt-and-peck baby-asleep-in-right-arm technique, it is not much easier

Pat​

 

[SeaChick]

I LOVE my Australorp!!! She is my absolute favorite. She was the most outgoing as a chick (we were afraid she was a roo...) and is just gorgeous now. She is slightly more delicate and elegant than the others, has gorgeous eyes, lays beautiful slender, pale, shiny eggs, and has her own special little scratchy voice she uses when she is talking to us humans. She is awesome. Also, the breeds all get along well, except that our red sex-link has been pecked bare by the others. I believe it's one bully (EE) who instigated it, but she is MUCH smaller than the others so maybe that's why.