My First Coop! (In Progress) Pic heavy.

[SKYLINE]

skyline....there is tree company in BR called Asplundh...they are everywhere in those orange trucks. they are happy to unload wood chipping for free.

In what qualities.. I don’t have the space for someone to dump a huge truck of chips on my yard. I’ve offered to go pick some up from other companies but I guess it doesn’t work like that. I’ll give them a shout though.

 

[aart]

Is dyed mulch safe for chickens?

Have no idea if it's 'safe' ....but I wouldn't use it.

 

[Melodychick]

I wouldn’t use the dyed mulch either. I helped someone mulch their garden with the red mulch last summer, and my white tennis shoes are still orange....

 

[msmeg26]

I need help guys!! @aart since you were helping with the roof situation check this out! My run roof is a complete disaster. I mounted it wrong and today after the first heavy rain my run is FLOODED! Now I know this part of the yard has some slopes in it and I planned to fix that with more soil and some wood chips. After I added the roof I thought it would be better but I screwed up and half of my roof is strictly decoration. The plastic roofing cracked, came undone and provided a slit and just as aart said it helps run water into the run. The coop, however, is completely dry. No water on the floor, roost's, or nest boxes thankfully but I don't know what to do. The plastic roofing is like 23 dollars a sheet and I don't wanna waste more money on it. Can I buy like a tarp instead? Maybe it a brown one because I hate the loud blue and can I somehow mount the tarp over the plastic roofing (after modified) and will that work? Also on woodchips none of my local arborist or giving me any results I even asked to pay and I get the runaround. Can I buy natural wood mulch or something like they sell at Walmart for the time being? I was planning on purchasing my chickens this weekend but now this is stalling me.


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Whoa how did this all come in from the run roof?? Too many screws in the plastic roofing material? Yikes.. I was thinking about using it too for my run roof.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

In what qualities.. I don’t have the space for someone to dump a huge truck of chips on my yard. I’ve offered to go pick some up from other companies but I guess it doesn’t work like that. I’ll give them a shout though.

If you go to Lowes/Home Depot/Menards, etc you can buy "top soil" in a bag for $1.75ish... I think you could just buy 10 or so of those and build that up inside your run and likely solve that low spot...

Or just trade your chickens for ducks.

 

[SKYLINE]

Whoa how did this all come in from the run roof?? Too many screws in the plastic roofing material? Yikes.. I was thinking about using it too for my run roof.

It's really fragile but I would put the blame more on myself then the product.

If you go to Lowes/Home Depot/Menards, etc you can buy "top soil" in a bag for $1.75ish... I think you could just buy 10 or so of those and build that up inside your run and likely solve that low spot...

Or just trade your chickens for ducks.

Ha ducks would love my yard post rain! And I do plan on getting to soil and filling the gaps was just wondering about mulch as a bedding since most of the grass is gone in the run.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I’m thinking the roof is what I would focus on. You could fill your run/the area that has fencing all around it with just about anything and it will all get wet regardless unless it’s a solid piece of tin (not too expensive) or ply wood and it’s mounted with a slope. Gutters (on down slope side) are fairly cheap too.

 

[Melodychick]

wondering about mulch as a bedding since most of the grass is gone in the run.

If you buy bagged soil be sure there is no added fertilizer. Any of the stores that carry the soil will also have plain pine bark mulch or cypress mulch too.

 

[1goose2ducks]

For my chicken coop we renewed an old goat barn so it already had a solid rooof,but I use brown (farm) dirt in the chicken pen and sand under top soil with pea gravel around the waterers for the duck pen. I use straw for bedding and keep it in large bins until I use it I also do a complete coop cleaning for the chickens and ducks/geese once a month. I’m not much help with roofing but any bedding, nestbox, or dirt questions I can help! Your coop looks great so far keep up the good work!!

 

[SKYLINE]

Little update.
Added a coat of paint and brought a new piece of roofing for repairs.

Had to paint it same color as the house. So it came out pretty well. Working this week but brand new chicks are coming into the feed store this Friday so I gave myself that deadline to finish the roof and decide if I’m gonna buy or create a MHP (getting lazy and anxious about doing my own so idk.) Probably gonna be all Easter eggers but I asked if they could get a couple barred rocks with no sure answers. Also before Friday gonna see about a gutter system but I think a slanted roof will be fine. Hate how delicate this roofing is. I should have gotten one big piece of plywood but I wanted sun to get in there.