Need advice for New Coop/Run setup please!

[3KillerBs]

I don't have the cinder blocks yet.
And based on

I shouldn't need anything for a while.
So I'll keep my eyes out for hardieplanks or metal siding for inside the structure for deep litter purposes.
Thank YOU!!!

It will take some cost analysis and thought about the way you'd set things up to figure out what will be the best option.

In my climate (and with lumber cost the way it is), our first choice of exterior-grade plywood is out of the question. Likewise landscape ties. We're comfortable working with a wide range of materials and, importantly, have the right tools to build nearly anything.

 

[JurassicBawk]

Oh wow! Sooooo super happy u responded since you understand our area AND I have 3 silkies and 1 polish! After I read all these and ponder them I may reach out to u if that's ok.

Yeah, reaching out is fine. I’m not on here much but should get email alerts of messages.

How big is the area and how many chickens do you have? I had 9 when I set it up (13 now) and didn’t have full grass in the area but they took out any vegetation and turned it into dirt with holes in less than a week. My slope isnt too bad, but I have nothing on the bottom to hold anything in. They’ll dig in and compost quite a bit, and as it gets deeper you may want to build up or do like I do and deep clean it out in the spring and use it as compost for bottom filling raised garden beds.
I have one Polish bantam, the 2 Silkie mixes, 5 Easter Eggers, 4 Welbars, and my “quarter chicken” EOGB that weighs less than 1 pound. This will be the first year for the Welbars but the others have done fine all winter even in cold as long as they had access to a covered area in wet conditions. We only get about 1 week a year here where it is actually below freezing and none seem to mind the cold. I also have bee hives and don’t really have to winter prep them like the Northern people have to, so use your climate knowledge and judgement for what’s best for you.

Here’s the OEGB and Polish last night using the bigs as an umbrella for the rain that came in later on.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Yeah, reaching out is fine. I’m not on here much but should get email alerts of messages.

How big is the area and how many chickens do you have? I had 9 when I set it up (13 now) and didn’t have full grass in the area but they took out any vegetation and turned it into dirt with holes in less than a week. My slope isnt too bad, but I have nothing on the bottom to hold anything in. They’ll dig in and compost quite a bit, and as it gets deeper you may want to build up or do like I do and deep clean it out in the spring and use it as compost for bottom filling raised garden beds.
I have one Polish bantam, the 2 Silkie mixes, 5 Easter Eggers, 4 Welbars, and my “quarter chicken” EOGB that weighs less than 1 pound. This will be the first year for the Welbars but the others have done fine all winter even in cold as long as they had access to a covered area in wet conditions. We only get about 1 week a year here where it is actually below freezing and none seem to mind the cold. I also have bee hives and don’t really have to winter prep them like the Northern people have to, so use your climate knowledge and judgement for what’s best for you.

Here’s the OEGB and Polish last night using the bigs as an umbrella for the rain that came in later on.

The area is 200 sqft for currently 4 bantams.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yes...I add "predator" wording to my original post...12" good?

If you can afford the material to make it deeper, I'd aim for 18-24" if possible. I've seen a rat tunnel 10" under my apron, so 2" isn't much more if it had continued to push in.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

I attached the coop outside to the run structure. That way you dont have to enter the run (poopy ground) very often.

I have to have the coop inside the run. Is it silly or unheard of to have the entrance in the coop and run on opposite end?
What I'm thinking is doing that and having like undivided separate areas within the coop portion for the silkies since they can't roost high up, then the other area for Polish since he luvs roosting up high.
It might also help with his crazy dominant behavior right now?

 

[JurassicBawk]

A lot of people with chickens want easy access to the nest box to grab eggs daily. I know of a few YouTubers that show how to make gravity feeders/waterers and external door nest boxes so they only have to go into their coops like once a month to refill food/water.

My chickens are pets. They've got toys, mini picnic (chicnic) tables, get daily treats, come running when they see me, have a live weaterproof/night vision camera on them at all times, and I know what each one of them sounds like and what their egg looks like. I'm in there playing with them daily, usually multiple times daily.

You do you. If you know you'll be going in your coop daily, there's no reason not to set it up like you mentioned. I started with 4 EEs (and lost one last year,) then added the 2 rescue bantams, then 2 more EEs, then the 2 Silkie mixes, then just added 4 young Welbars this month. The EEs and bantams all sleep together on a long 2x4 in one side of the coop, the Silkie mixes sleep together inside the little raised rabbit/chicken hutch/coop thing in the other far corner nestled in hay, and the Welbars sleep together in branches in another part of the coop. Everyone's happy and able to do whatever makes them comfortable.

Are your Silkies female? I'm just asking because you'll want to make sure that you have a separate place for them to sleep than where they lay eggs if they are sleeping in a nest area instead of roosting. I do occasionally find an egg where my Silkie mixes sleep if there's someone in the preferred spot of the week (right now it's the tractor) but you want them to have options so they're not always laying in poop or so that you don't have to worry about cleaning it out daily. My Brahma/Silke will get up on branches and would probably roost if she didn't have her sister with her, but the Leghorn/Silkie is a ground bird and will only sleep on something solid.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

lot of people with chickens want easy access to the nest box to grab eggs daily

Yeah I'm not that interested in eggs..I got them for pets too!
Not sure if all silkies are hens yet or not....10 wks old

 

[RogerChicken]

You'll start to become more interested in eggs when they've been out in the hot sun for a couple weeks.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

You'll start to become more interested in eggs when they've been out in the hot sun for a couple weeks.

Definitely good to know!!!

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

As far as your UV Resistant zip ties, I would go with stainless steel zip ties instead

Someone had suggested previously to me to use these in case I change my mind on configuration...so once I get it all "nailed" down I will add the others and or the j clips I think they are called.