Need ideas on how to build a "chicken room"?

[d1operator]

I have a insluated/powered room attached to my car garage that is 18'long x 7'6" wide x 8 tall. I would like to make this room a "chicken room" where I will keep my incubator, new chicks, pullets, and some storage items such as feed and straw bales. I would like some ideas on how to best arange this room for production of chicks. This room is accessed from outside. Any ideas? Has some one done this before? Organization of the room is very improtant, it needs to be neat and tidy (as neat and tidy as a chicken room can be).

 

[aubreynoramarie]

I actually have my coop in my mudroom of my house, lol. Its the room between the garage and the house which makes egg collection super easy.
I only have five so i was able to turn a large closet/shelving area type thing into a "high rise coop" that has an entrance from the outside through a little cat door, then i have their run going the length of the side of the house.

its a little tight but they seem to be really comfortable in it and i dont have any pecking issues so im happy.
I have shelving and cabinet space in the mudroom where i keep bins full of feed, pine shavings, straw, dogfood, etc. I have the brooder on a counter but since their is only one outlet in the room i have the heating lamp on an extension cord hung from the ceiling.

good luck!

 

[gryeyes]

You might PM The Warden here on BYC. She has an awesome set-up.

 

[chickbird]

Are They Confined To That Little Space All The Time? If So They Really Need A Larger Space.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Quote:
omg, hahaha. did you see what i wrote? It is attached by a cat door leading to the outside which is their run. A nice big run. it says that RIGHT ABOVE where i posted the pictures.

how the hell would i keep five chickens in that tiny space all the time? it would stink to high heaven! geeze peeps, read!

 

[Egg Rookie 2010]

I wondered about using a cat/dog door! Does yours have a plastic flap on it? Cause I have one of those thing that already has a locking slide door on it I thought would be good to use on the new coop but wasnt sure if they would push the flap. Maybe just pull that part off...

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
I'd suggest reconsidering at least part of this. An incubator should not be in a dusty room or one inhabited by chcikens; furthermore, unless this room is climate-controlled it will be hard to succesfully run the incubator (they need to be in a basically-constant-temperature environment, like your house)

If you subtract the incubator from the setup, you are still left with wanting to keep two extremely dusty items (new chicks and pullets) in with stored items (feed and straw). I would suggest working out some way of separating the two, perhaps with a solid-ish wall, not only because you don't necessarily want all that dust in your straw etc but also because if it *does* get dusty then every time you go to get feed or straw or whatever you will be kicking up big clouds of dust.

So, it can be done but possibly not without a few adaptations.

GOod luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Quote:
lol, i have tried forever to get them to figure out how to work the flap but they just cant get it, i had to take it off. i have seen other bycers say that their chickens have figured it out. guess mine are dumb/ lazy, lol.


i dont understand this dust thing? my musroom is not dusty at all and ive got five full grown hens in there. I hear alot of people talk about dust but ive never seen it. sometimes some pine shavings or straw peices will come out of the coop, but i sweep the floor once a weeek anyhow.

 

[Delmar]

Quote:
I'd suggest reconsidering at least part of this. An incubator should not be in a dusty room or one inhabited by chcikens; furthermore, unless this room is climate-controlled it will be hard to succesfully run the incubator (they need to be in a basically-constant-temperature environment, like your house)

I have a room addition on my house, that the previous owners built for a day care center, that is too big and expensive too heat all the time. I heat it with a wood stove when people come over. I have thought about building what amounts to an incubator inside a larger incubator.

 

[MareeZoCool]

NEVER use anything that can easily be pushed aside for access! Something besides your chickens might decide that is a great place to investigate and explore.Racoons can open the most unusual things. One got inside my pen last year, my poor chickens were trapped inside their home!