Need help with my coop...

[indianachicken]

My girlies are almost 4 weeks old and almost fully feathered so I would like to get them in the coop this week... We have converted a shed into a coop... I have 3-4" of pine shavings in there, hoping to do the deep litter method... I also picked up some DE at Tractor Supply to sprinkle around... I am hanging my food and water containers from the ceiling per other people's recommendations... We have six pullets so we built 2 nesting boxes for them to share... My question is about the roosts... How high should they be? Where should I put them? Near the front of the coop or the back? I have been reading conflicting reports about the height... Some say to put them staggered so there can be a hierarchy, and some say to put them parallel so there is no hierarchy... I have also heard to put them higher than the nesting boxes... Our nesting boxes are about 2 feet off the ground... If our roosts are higher, should we put a little ramp there for them to get up to the roosts? Do I need to add poop boards and what exactly does that mean? Is it a piece of wood under the roosts to catch the poop? Any help is greatly appreciated!!

 

[hxgumdrop]

My coop is a converted Anderson Shelter so we found it tricky to fit it all but once we figured it out they have pleanty of space! Heres a couple of photos of the roost its attached to the top of the nest box on the right (ignore poop stupidly took photos before I cleaned it!) I only have one roost atm but space to pop another in if needed. I would keep them the same height as iv found chickens just like to be as high as possible so they will just use the higher one no matter where they are in the pecking order.
I havent put a droppings board in as I just go in every morning and take out the poop thats on the bedding. but yes its pretty much just a board under the roost
With my roosts it was more about how and where isit actually possible to attach them to a metal tin than what hight they should be! As long as they are of the ground your girls will be happy, mine are

 

[jetdog]

This is my new setup and I love it, poop board on top of the nestboxs with a ramp, basically a framed box to hold sweet pdz as they poop alot at night, very easy to clean with a cat litter scoop and it keeps the coop 10x cleaner, mine are in and out all day so they don't poop in the coop very much until bedtime, I have had the same shavings in the coop for 2 months now and there is no smell, my old coop I was cleaning it once a week because of not having poop boards.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

You absolutely positively want your roosts higher than your nestboxes! Otherwise they will poo in the nestboxes all the time.

 

[PhatChicks]

This evening is the first time my 7 chicks have been in their run/coop. How do I get them to go into their coop at night without catching them all (which we know will be impossible)?

Thank you!

 

[jetdog]

You need to keep them locked in for 4 or 5 days so they know where home is, after that they should go in on their own.

 

[PhatChicks]

You mean locked in at night? Or during the day too?

I did manage to catch them all. It was the only way I could get them to go in the coop. Luckily, they were all huddled by the gate, knowing it was bedtime but couldn't figure out where to go. I'm hoping tomorrow night will be much easier!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

You mean locked in at night? Or during the day too?

I did manage to catch them all. It was the only way I could get them to go in the coop. Luckily, they were all huddled by the gate, knowing it was bedtime but couldn't figure out where to go. I'm hoping tomorrow night will be much easier!

Put a little light inside the coop- even battery powered- to draw them in. They don't want to go in the dark coop. It really helps to keep the food inside the coop as well.

 

[PhatChicks]

Thanks for the help. I will see about getting a light put in there.

Today they have been scratching around in the dirt and have not yet gone up into the coop. I put their food up there hoping to draw them in but I don't think the get it. And it's been raining so they have just been standing under the coop (there is about a 12" gap). During the day, should I worry about them not going into the coop? It's not dark because I opened the door.

This morning when I went to let them out I could tell they didn't sit on the roosts. They must have huddled in the corner because the poop was all in one place, not under the roosts. Will they figure out the roosts on their own or is there something I should be doing?

Thank you again!!!!

 

[cafarmgirl]

This evening is the first time my 7 chicks have been in their run/coop. How do I get them to go into their coop at night without catching them all (which we know will be impossible)?

Thank you!

It looks pretty closed in, what is there for ventilation or natural light? Any windows on the other sides? If not you should consider adding windows on a couple of sides or they won't survive the summer in there. The natual light windows add will help it feel less closed in and they will be more willing to go in at night as well as during the day.