my first post--some coop questions

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. There is really nothing I can think to add that Pat hasn't covered. Like Omran I just wanted to welcome you too.

Here is a great reference book, Gail Damerow's 'Storey's Guide to Chickens' is an excellent guide, as well as this web site. This site is an excellent source of information.

Also here are some other good sites and info.
Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html
http://www.mypetchicken.com/aboutChickens.aspx
https://www.backyardchickens.com/lcenter.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/coopdesigns.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-Treats_Chart

 

[mmtillman]

You are gonna love it here !!

 

[L*A*G*]

i think u Qs r answered

 

[orchidchick]

As always, Pat is on the money, and Cmom is the backup!

You will have a great time!

Orchidchick

 

[briteday]

I'm in a climate very much like yours (Sierra Nevada foothills) where summer days are hot, summer nights are cool, and we can still get downright cold in the winter. But most of the year is fairly dry.

I have my hens in an A-frame coop with the coop on the top of the A and the run underneath. Having the coop up top makes it easier to collect eggs, fill food / water, clean the coop. Having the run down below shades the birds in the summer and keeps the run covered from any snow in the winter. But my coop does not have a window.

On the top part of the A frame where the coop is, one long side opens up (1/2 sheet of siding or plywood) to take care of birds. The other side of the coop A has wire and the side is hinged so I can raise it up for ventilation of the coop in the summer when it gets so hot. My girls also have free run of the pasture when supervised (think hawks, coyotes, skunks).

Our hens like to be let out at dawn or they make a lot of ruckus. Also, they tend to push and shove each other around in the coop and inevitably someone ends up laying an egg outside the nest box and then another comes along and steps on the egg.

I tend to put my hens back in the coop every night, even in the summer due to predators. As said, unless your run is bullet-proof to predators, better to be safe than sorry. When I fist acquired the chickens it took them about 2 weeks to figure out going back to the coop at night. So after a chicken hunt in the dark on the first night, we only let them out into the run for a few weeks until they were always going back to roost in the coop at dark. After that we could let them have the run of the pasture and yard (if someone is home to keep a look out for predators) and they would automatically end up in the coop by dark. Then we just go out and pull on the rope that lifts the gangplank up so they can't get out of the upper coop.

 

[HappyHatch'en]

Great to have you here...just remember this...BYC is where we all start the "rat race" as an EGG!
HappyHatch'en

 

[midwife mama]

Quote:
Thank you so much Pat for all the helpful information!

Your chickens have a lot of room in there! I've read somewhere that can be good to have the chickens packed in cosy, perhaps this helps with heat? What are your thoughts on this?

Also, when you talk about "manually collecting" my chickens at night, do mean literally picking them up and carrying them over to the coop and putting them on the roost bars?

 

[midwife mama]

Quote:
Thank you! That sounds interesting. I think the coop in our yard has a similar plank that leads up to the coop. I have so many questions now ! I think I will start a new thread with some photos of the old coop and ask for a critique as it really needs some help.

Thanks everyone for your help and your welcomes!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
It is real easy to put a small area inside a larger area once you have the larger area

-- so if it comes to the point of saying 'gee, I am worried how cold my chickens are at night, sitting alone in that great big empty coop there' it is quite easy to knock together a hover over/around the roost, or partition off a 'coop within the coop' that includes the roost, to concentrate their body heat during the coldest weather. And that still leaves them the whole larger area to utilize durig the day.

So, truly I do not believe there is anything such as 'too large' a coop. Except of course in budgetary or zoning ways

Also, when you talk about "manually collecting" my chickens at night, do mean literally picking them up and carrying them over to the coop and putting them on the roost bars?

Indeedy

If they try to sleep outside you will find it really easy to pick them up and plop them down on the roost indoors, b/c they can't really see in the dark and so pretty much just sit there to be picked up, no chasing involved. This is, of course, why it is so VALUABLE for them to roost in a closed-up coop.... because just as they sit there for you to pick 'em up at night, they'll sit there for a raccoon or whatever too

Have fun,

Pat​

 

[midwife mama]

Thanks again Pat!