My DIY Chicken Coop

[cavemanrich]

Do you have your ventilation planned out?

 

[Dduell2]

Do you have your ventilation planned out?

I do. I will be using a similar pallet for the roof as I did for the floor. The long side towards the trees/my yard will be elevated from the wall at an angle with 2x4s and I plan to leave that all open. Of course covering with wire and such.

 

[Appalachickens]

Please consider updating your member icon with your geographic location. It helps other members when answering questions. For example, we who live in snow states have different concerns of housing chickens in the winter than someone down in southern California.



I access my nest boxes from the outside, so I was concerned to protect that area from the rain and snow. A gutter system is probably not going to work in the dead of winter with snowfall. But again, we are talking about a relatively small roof on a chicken coop.



My chickens will not go outside in the winter and walk on the snow. They prefer to stay in the coop. Because of that, I made my chicken coop twice as big as normally recommended so that the chickens would have more than enough room inside and not peck themselves to death due to being too close to one another.

After a number of winters, I finally got smart and saved leaves from the fall and used them last winter. After a snowfall, I would toss a bit of leaves on top of the snow and my chickens were happy to go outside. They don't mind the cold air, they just did not want to walk on the snow. It does not take a lot of leaves, either. Only enough to cover the white snow was needed and my chickens would go outside even in the dead of winter.

Here is a picture of the girls enjoying some sunshine on a cold winter day in Minnesota...

View attachment 4145902

In my case, without a roof over my chicken run, it does not matter if the snow falls from the roof into the run. I preferred to have access to the coop and next boxes a priority. That was my choice for what I thought would work best for me. But you might have other needs to consider depending on your final setup.

In any case, don't expect your chickens will go outside and walk on the white snow. Mine have never done that. My entire chicken run is 13X30 feet, but I only toss some leaves in front of the pop door in a small ~4X6 foot patch. It's enough for them to go outside and walk around. Notice that none of chickens are out on the bare snow. That just will not happen with my chickens.

I added leaves to my run when I built it this year, but hadn't thought about doing that for snow. We don't get a lot of snow, but I'd like to be prepared, so I'll collect up some more this fall and store them. Great idea!

 

[Appalachickens]

I will definitely update my member profile information.

Thank you for all that information. I too make access to my coop and nest boxes my priority. I didn't think a gutter system would work in dead of winter of course but keep the rain from dripping right into my nest boxes.

Thanks for the tip about the old leaves for the ground on the snow! That's a genius idea! I thought about putting a roof on a small part of the outside run, right over the door they chickens will come out of to help protect from rain and snow. Then of course then can go under then hen house as well.

I roofed a bit of the run - the area just outside the coop where they eat is covered:

and another area at the other end where the dust bath is. That way they have some outdoor space with protection from rain.

 

[gtaus]

I added leaves to my run when I built it this year, but hadn't thought about [saving leaves to toss on the] snow. We don't get a lot of snow, but I'd like to be prepared, so I'll collect up some more this fall and store them. Great idea!

I think I went through the equivalent of one large garbage bag of leaves this past winter. We had maybe half a dozen snow storms this year, so I did not go through as many leaves as I expected. But we had snow on the ground from late November till April this year. Tossing some leaves on the snow on the run after a snowstorm lasted me about 2-3 weeks until the next snowstorm. Just a thin layer of leaves was enough to get my chickens out and about into the run.

I don't have any part of my chicken run covered. So, the leaves on the snow really helped me this past winter. I wish I had thought of that earlier, but I was always going to build a partial roof or covered tunnel to keep the snow out. Turns out, letting the snow fall and then just tossing some leaves on the snow was a better option for me.

I am trying to spread that idea because, for those of us in the snow states, it is a less expensive option to get the chickens outside in the winter without the expense of building a covered roof for a chicken run. Plus, any leaves I use in the chicken run to cover the snow will get composted in place and then the compost will be added to my raised bed gardens.

 

[Appalachickens]

I think I went through the equivalent of one large garbage bag of leaves this past winter. We had maybe half a dozen snow storms this year, so I did not go through as many leaves as I expected. But we had snow on the ground from late November till April this year. Tossing some leaves on the snow on the run after a snowstorm lasted me about 2-3 weeks until the next snowstorm. Just a thin layer of leaves was enough to get my chickens out and about into the run.

I don't have any part of my chicken run covered. So, the leaves on the snow really helped me this past winter. I wish I had thought of that earlier, but I was always going to build a partial roof or covered tunnel to keep the snow out. Turns out, letting the snow fall and then just tossing some leaves on the snow was a better option for me.

I am trying to spread that idea because, for those of us in the snow states, it is a less expensive option to get the chickens outside in the winter without the expense of building a covered roof for a chicken run. Plus, any leaves I use in the chicken run to cover the snow will get composted in place and then the compost will be added to my raised bed gardens.

Oh absolutely. It really is a good idea. I like leaves in a run anyway, because the chickens love to root through them. We have snow on the ground for a total of about a week over the course of a winter, so it's not a big problem here.