My coop improvements!

[srosales1996]

I have not fallen off the grid! I have been hard at work on critter projects. Here is the progress that we have made on the top floor of our coop. This is my youngest son. He was my only helper during the upstairs demo! Huge helper.

After demo clean up.... This is my oldest son. He has been a big help since being home from college for summer.

Oldest son also helped get all the windows an door covered. Today I hope to finish the top by adding something to the door to keep the wind from blowing it open in this stupid southern wind we have been having. Probably a bungie cord. That seems to not be to complicated for my little boys to get in and out of. I also have to put in a pop hole from the bottom floor and a ladder wrung. Think I will just attach cedar staves to the vertical 2x4s for staves. Eventually I will install a swing or two since the one I put down stairs is used so much.

Here is the swing I made for downstairs and my new Maran Rooster. I traded some plymouths for him. Can't wait to get an enclosed scratch pen attached to expand this bottom level. We have a lot of hawk and owl here. I want to let them free range during the day but would rather them be in a coop at night.

They have all grown!!! I don't have a current picture of the flock but here are a few of my first chicks from The end of March. Oh and I also have some French Guineas in the brooder. They are wirery critters!

 

[iwiw60]

NICE pics of your progress...lookin' good! I noticed you said "using cedar staves....." I think cedar is toxic to chickens, you might want to double-check that.

 

[srosales1996]

NICE pics of your progress...lookin' good! I noticed you said "using cedar staves....." I think cedar is toxic to chickens, you might want to double-check that. 

I'll look into it but nobody is dead yet and they have been on the first floor for a couple of months, I've used ceder in chicken coops before and not had issues. We use ceder posts everywhere in Texas? I do appreciate the heads up. I will investigate it furthur.

 

[srosales1996]

I'll look into it but nobody is dead yet and they have been on the first floor for a couple of months, I've used ceder in chicken coops before and not had issues. We use ceder posts everywhere in Texas? I do appreciate the heads up. I will investigate it furthur.

so yeah I see that cedar is toxic to chickens.... Any aromatic wood yadda yadda. I can see how this could be an issue if I were using fresh cut cedar. This stuff has been drying in the sun in my yard waiting to be used somewhere for years. It ha no sap and doesn't smell strong of anything but dirt. So I'm not conserned about a few poles for chickens to roost on. The majority of the building is metal and it is very ventilated. However if I start having odd unexplained respritory issues/death among my flock they will be removed.

 

[1000yearoldeggs]

Yeah, as long as it doesn't smell strongly, I think it's fine. Just so everyone knows, even pine chips have been connected to respiratory issues in rodents (I have guinea pigs) If the smell is too powerful, it's recommended to air them out. I know other people have used cedar wood to construct their coop. I think the cedar chips are what causes most problems since they seem freshly cut.It's good to warn people of the dangers of cedar though. It's important to know.

And your coop's looking good! I wish I could have put a full size window on mine. I had to make smaller windows out of plexiglass.

 

[srosales1996]

Yeah, as long as it doesn't smell strongly, I think it's fine. Just so everyone knows, even pine chips have been connected to respiratory issues in rodents (I have guinea pigs) If the smell is too powerful, it's recommended to air them out. I know other people have used cedar wood to construct their coop. I think the cedar chips are what causes most problems since they seem freshly cut.It's good to warn people of the dangers of cedar though. It's important to know.

And your coop's looking good! I wish I could have put a full size window on mine. I had to make smaller windows out of plexiglass.

this is a repurposed kids playhouse... The bottom had only two walls one to the south and one to the west originally. I will leave the half wall to the north on the bottom... In the winter I can tarp the top. eventually to the east will be a good size yard and run. "Eventually" lol not sure if I will leave the half wall and just put in a pop hole or remove the east wall and use it for a partial roof on the yard.... I'm not sure yet. They may need the extra walls in the winter. But we have longer summers.

 

[1000yearoldeggs]

Ah, I didn't realize that. I tried to look for a playhouse on craigslist, but I ended up building a coop from scratch. I'm still working on making mine look a little better. Just a warning, most likely you will have an ongoing project, lol. We built mine last year and this spring, I feel like I need to repaint it and add tile on the walls.

The tile is a sheet of bathroom wall tile that the previous owner left in the garage. Yay, free renovations! I didn't have fun cleaning our wooden walls off. The paint I used came off too easily. I'm hoping this tile will work out better. Anyway, good luck with your coop renovations!

 

[srosales1996]

Ah, I didn't realize that. I tried to look for a playhouse on craigslist, but I ended up building a coop from scratch. I'm still working on making mine look a little better. Just a warning, most likely you will have an ongoing project, lol. We built mine last year and this spring, I feel like I need to repaint it and add tile on the walls.

The tile is a sheet of bathroom wall tile that the previous owner left in the garage. Yay, free renovations! I didn't have fun cleaning our wooden walls off. The paint I used came off too easily. I'm hoping this tile will work out better. Anyway, good luck with your coop renovations!

Critter projects are never through... I expect to always have improvements . This is a country thing built from scraps not somthing bought.

 

[1000yearoldeggs]

The tile we put in is working great. One of the chickens left their mark and it was easily cleaned up.

Looks like my bathroom in there (not a bad thing I guess, just a little strange). I have a functional but not pretty coop, which is what I wanted anyway. The chickens are happy, so now I'm trying to go back and make it a little easier to manage, while trying to make it look a little better too.

Yeah, there's always something to improve upon. As soon as it warmed up, I wanted to work on the coop. Luckily, my dad likes to help.

 

[ShockValue]

I think the whole cedar thing is mosty in regard to chicks on cedar shavings. The strong oils and the large amounts of surface area to release them is hard on little chick lungs.

Sticks that have been baking in the sun are just fine.