My first try at a coop? ? ? ?

[Crazy Mitch]

Perch is in. . and painted.

And a walkway up to it. . . The paint on the floor was messy. . . Opps



I added in a board over the vents above the perch. And I think the heat lamp will stay where it is and point to the perch.


Painted the inside of the boxes purple. . . my daughter's choice.




Here is my problem. . . I built a door out of 2x4s and ply. . . but the wight is off? And the door doesn't close on its own. . . it stays open like this? So. . . I'm looking for ideas . . .a springed hinge? or a weight on the door? It iwll be on the back side of the run and not easy to get too. We will see.



I'm tired of working on this and would like the birds to move into their new home!

Thanks for looking

Mitch!

 

[gardendufus]

. . the chickens are about 12 -13 weeks old right now. When do they start to lay eggs? ? ? ? I'm guessing soon. . . right?

Well I'm thinking another month or so........Depends on your breeds (and that will vary by individual bird too).........I had some start laying about 16 weeks, others not til they were 25 weeks...........it's a waiting game pure and simple.

 

[Crazy Mitch]

I lost my wind from my sale as the project went on. . . . I finished a little quick!

So I have the chickens in the coop. . .
I have the poop tray filled and put chips on the floor for now.



















I had to put one up on the perch. . . it took several days for them to go up there on their own. . ..

I still have questions. . . like they don't come in at night?

They don't go on the perch?

Does the water and food stay in the coop? I'm keeping it in for the winter.

I got a timer to turn on and off a light to extend the daylight. . . and add heat. . .I hope they lay for me.

Old window weight to close the trap door. . . .

I can't see into the last box. . . .because of the wind block? So if they lay in there and it doesn't roll down. .. .I won't see it. . . maybe a round mirror. . . so I can see around the corner? Wait it's a chicken coop! hehehehehe

A pig feeder on sale for their food. . ..

I need a different watering system. . . and one that wont freeze! We will see on that one. I have a metal watering can I can borrow. . . but then heat it? Fish tank warmer? Still working on it! Didn't want to spend $30 for a plastic one. . . or $45 for a base you put a metal on on. . . .has to be cheaper.

Thanks for looking.

GB
Mitch. . .

 

[mickey328]

Wow, it's a chicken palace!! WTG Mitch!

I do have to comment on the heat lamp...first it seems a little close. Second...is it really necessary? Unless you're getting consistent below-freezing weather with a lot of wind, you probably shouldn't need it. Plus if there's too big a temp difference between inside and outside, it's harder on the chickens.

It took our girls a while to figure out the roosts, too. For the first couple weeks they all slept on the floor but eventually they figured it out. We also put in a little ladder for them to climb to reach it and I think that helped. Our coop isn't even remotely as big as yours so they don't really have room to fly up to it. We still have one girl who seems to prefer to sleep on the floor, and that's okay...whatever she prefers is okay with us

Do you have the extra light in the morning? If you use it to extend the evening hours, it's more likely to cause them not to put themselves to bed at night since it just goes dark all at once when the light goes off. The waning daylight seems to be what triggers them to go inside...as they see it getting darker, they usually will go in before it gets too dark for them to see. We put a light on a timer for a while, but had it come on about 2 hours before daylight. We finally decided to not use it...nature slows egg production in the winter for a good reason, so we figured we'd just let Mother Nature take care of things...they need more of their resources to get thru the winter so we'd just as soon deal with a few fewer eggs and healthier hens.

Regarding the food and water, we keep ours in the run...we want to encourage them to use the coop just for sleeping and laying, and it makes for a lot less mess, particularly in our small coop. If we get a run of really bad weather, we may have to move it inside temporarily. We've had some cold nights already and the water has frozen...we just dump it and give them fresh when we let them out in the morning. When it gets cold enough for it to freeze during the day I think we'll go with a "cookie can heater". Basically, you get a metal can that's big enough around to set their water on, cut a hole in the side big enough and then put a low wattage light bulb in it....it generates enough heat to keep the water from freezing and you can pick up one of those cans for a quarter at a thrift store.

Do you really need that last nesting box? Generally 1 box for every 3 or 4 hens is sufficient. We have 2 boxes for our six and they pretty much all lay in the same one anyway. Only once have I ever found an egg in the other box...she must have got caught short, LOL.

 

[Crazy Mitch]

The lamp is about 2 to 3 feet away from the perch. We are in Chicago. It gets cold. I get cold. . .so I think they are cold. . . but I don't have a layer of feathers. But also. . . I have the light on a timer . .. and come on at 6:00 am. . off at 8:00 am then on at 6:00pm off at 9:00 pm.

I tried the light "on" to get them into the coop. . . . but they lay in the corner of the run. We have alot of predators around. So I worry about them out in the run all night. I carry them in each night. . . or should i just leave them outside? I see what you are saying about the natural way! These birds are abut 15 weeks old. . . I think they will be laying around Christmas? I guess a good present.

I have no idea what I'm doing. . . .I like your idea of the light bulb under a can and putting the water on that. . . .I might try that. We will see.

I'm just tired.

Thanks for your input.

I will turn off the light for now. and get them use to the cold.

GB
Mitch!

 

[mickey328]

Try eliminating the evening light. They can't see hardly at all in the dark, so if they're out and the light just shuts off, they may well not be able to see enough to get into the coop.

I hear ya about midwest winters! I spent most of my life in them and know how nasty they can be. Still, I'd do without the extra heat just now. I've read posts from folks who live in even more extreme weather who don't heat unless it gets below zero and stays that way for several days. Chickens generate an amazing amount of heat and their feathers are great insulation. As long as they don't have to deal with the wind, and have good litter to snuggle in, they can withstand a lot of cold.

We don't leave ours out at night either..we have almost no predators but I still feel better if they're locked in.

Hang in there, Mitch...yer doing great!

 

[Crazy Mitch]

Thanks. . . I will go turn the light off. . . and I will keep them in the coop! For now. . . and let them get use to their new home.. . .I might block off the last box. for now. I have 8 hens and one rooster. Who crowed yesterday for a first time. Yikes. . . . it was funny.

Thanks for all your help and input. It really helps. . . and I know now I went overboard with the coop. . . . silly me.

GB
CRAZY Mitch!

 

[mickey328]

Hehe, morning light is great...but I think it just confuses the poor things at night.

I don't think you went overboard at all! It looks great and in the end, chicken math will get ya so you'll be glad you did it! If we could have more than our 6, we'd have a chicken palace too

LOL, did the rooster sound like an adolescent boy with the voice cracking??

 

[Crazy Mitch]

Yes a voice cracking is right on. . . .

So you say to have the light come on in the morning. . . early. . .and then let them go to bed at dusk. . . .even if it is 4:00pm? in the winter. I can do that.

I don't know alot of time was spent on this. . . I'm not a handy guy. (Computer geek) so this was big for me. We will see what else can happen. . . like a roof. I have shingles. . . but no time right now. We will see what happens.

Thanks again for the encouragement.

Mitch

 

[mickey328]

The chickens only know light and dark..not what "time" it is

From dusk, if it's 4pm, count back 14 hours and set the light to go on at that time, and off just before you let them out for the day...or you can simply turn it off when you go to do that. That way, they'll have their 14 hours for the day. You'll need to adjust as the daylight hours change...so whenever dusk is, just set the timer for 14 hours before that. That's if you want to go with the full 14 hours that they say is optimum for egg production.

When the days started shortening, we initially set ours to come on about 5am because we generally let them out at about 7. Dusk hits here about 7 to 7:30 so that's when they head into the coop. After giving it more thought though, we decided to forego extra light for them. Our reasoning is that nature usually knows what she's doing, better than humans do, LOL. I think the reason egg production decreases during winter is that the chickens need more resources for their own bodies during the "lean" times...they need more nourishment to maintain heat and health. Production doesn't stop totally during the winter, it just slows. We've already gone from a 5 per day average to about 3 per day. Since we only sell extras as we have them, 3 per day is still more than enough for our needs. I don't think keeping them laying fully all year would be totally detrimental to them, after all, we're providing them with good food and shelter. Plus, each chicken is born with all the egg cells she'll ever have (just like humans) so that part is just a matter of how many years she'll lay. Weighing all that, I think it's simply a matter of personal choice. Since your girls are only just ready to start laying, having a reliable light schedule might be really beneficial for them.

I gotta say though...for a guy who says he's not "handy" you've done a totally awesome job! As long as the roof is in place, shingles can wait. Heck you can throw a tarp over it just to keep the water off till you have time to shingle.