New BYC owner in Phoenix AZ needing Coop Advice.

[ctroyer]

Hello all! My wife and I are proud chicken parents of three roughly 5 week old chicks. Monica (BR), Rachel (RIR), & Phoebe (Amerecauna). I grew up around my Grandfathers cattle farm in Indiana I have never had chickens before. My wife had chickens as a small girl her in Phoenix but doesn't really remember how to take care of them as see was in grade school. So of course I have questions and mainly because we live in Phoenix where it gets so hot. First here are the chicks at about 2 weeks old in the Brooder box and then now with their new BriteTap waterer:



I figured this was the way to go as the cooler keeps the water go figure cooler in our hot summer months. I have also added a 12lb hanging feeder for them as well but not pictured. below is the Coop I built thanks to plans I purchased from TheGardenCoop.com I have made some personal modifications and plan to do some more in the future but had to get the main building done first. I could not have done this without the plans as they made it very easy and of course each day I was building it I thought of new ways I could change it and add-on.



The Coop sits on the West side of our house so it actually spends a lot of the day in the shade. However come around 4pm the sun shoot directly under the henhouse and in the run. The roof panels say the block like 90% of the suns UV rays and it does really make a difference as I could tell the temp dropped like 10 degrees after I finished putting it on. It was 107 that day and I was sweating like crazy and actually felt good once I was under the roof. Their is no ceiling in the henhouse as the entire top of the henhouse/run is 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth so it should get good ventilation. I do plan on probably adding a window down the road. The entire area has the hardware cloth and I have even put it under our rock in the yard about 2 feet out from the coop on all sides. I have never seen anything but wild birds in our back yard but don't want to chance it.



As you can see our back yard like most in Phoenix is gravel and I wonder if this is ok or should I change the run to sand? Would the sand be cooler for the chicks? I have already added shade cloth that is breathable to the bottom portion of the coop/run so that the chicks have shade all day long. They really like to dig in the rocks and dust bathe which is really funny but I just get afraid that the rocks get too hot during the day. I also installed solar LED Rope lights around the run ceiling which is more for us so we can see at night as the chicks are normally in the henhouse when they come in.

My last question is on the henhouse door. Since they have only been in the coop for 4 days now I have been shutting them in the henhouse at night. Had to physically place them in there the first night but each night since they get closer to doing it on their own. Now we just kind of shoo them in up the ramp. Once they are getting used to going in completely by themselves can I leave this door open at night? In the middle of summer the nights here will still be in the 90's so I was thinking having the door open would give more ventilation and keep it cooler? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as I want to make sure the girls are happy and healthy.

Monica and Rachel enjoying the roosting bar in the run.

 

[Quail Keeper]

I, personally, don't think you need to change the gravel to sand. Sure you can, if you would like, but gravel and sand get about the same temperature during the day. Chickens also like to pick up small rocks and eat them or carry them around in their mouth so I would leave the gravel there.

I prefer to close my coop door every night just as an extra precaution from predators because if a predator did happen to somehow get inside my run, they would have to get past my coop also before reaching my chickens. You can leave it open if you want but I would hurry up and install a window if you could so that you could safely close up your chickens at night. After all, if a predator does get in, it could kill or very much stress out your chickens causing them to stop laying.

 

[pipemum]

I think the coop looks great! I'm south of you, in Tucson. I, too, used the Garden Coop plans, with modifications. Because of the sun, I switched the roof, so that it was slanted in the front to give additional sun protection. Doesn't quite look as nice as the original plans that way, though.

You've got the right idea about giving them additional ventilation and breeze. I don't shut the chickens in at night, in fact, for the summer I removed the panel from the coop wall inside of the run. Basically, the coop is 3 sided now. It's just WAY too hot otherwise.

On my coop, I added vents on 3 walls, the only wall that doesn't have it is the back wall, which is against a shed. Even though the roof of the coop is open, everyone says the more venting, the better. The window will be a nice addition...because it's so hot, you may want to consider creating a temporary window (same size and location of where you wanted the real window) and lining it with hardward cloth. That'll really help with the breeze in the coop.

You can always spray off the gravel to keep the temp down. I've been spraying one spot in the morning, and a different spot when I get home from work--I'm worried about creating too much mud, but I don't think you'll need to worry about that with gravel.

I love that cooler waterer. I've never seen the Bright Tap before, and it's fantastic! Does it work well?

 

[ctroyer]

Thanks Pipemum. I do plan on adding the Window this weekend. I was going to cut out a spot add hardwarecloth and then put a hinge on the cutout or a slide mechanism so I can have the window closed if needed. I still have left over hardware cloth so maybe I will add the vents inside as well. You will have to show me some pictures of your coop. As for the Britetap you can get it at this website http://www.chickenwaterer.com/BriteTap-Automatic-Chicken-Waterer-p/bt100.htm I just bought the waterer and then bought the cooler on my own as it was cheaper to do that way. The chicks seem to love it. It took them about 5 minutes of me flicking the nipples for them to try it out. Now they drink from it just fine and will also flick it to put water on the ground and then they dust bath there. Its pretty funny. I put water in a small tub and freeze it at night since it is over 100 degrees here now and then add the block of ice in the morning before I go to work. I check the water when I get home and while it is not as cold as ice water at 4pm it is not warm at all so I feel it works great for here.