New coop and run, need suggestions

[iajewel]

I have desided to start showing again. So Im putting back togather the old coop and pen.
Here is what I have..

One old wash house. Its in great shape, new roof, I have insolated and am in the prosses of putting in a new 2" thick ply wood floor with 2" thick ply wood over the very thick insolation. It does have eletric and lighting. It looks like a little cottage. I will paint the inside a victorian yellow when done.

This will be where I brood the baby chicks and have a place in the winter for heated water, etc. The adult birds will also live there as its fairly large.
This has a chicken door to another out side pen.. it hasn't been used in years and is in need of more clean up then anything. This also has a small 3 1/2 sided shed with a large dog house in the shed, along with roosts. It is tin.. and I hate that, but.. its standing so will re-use it. I also have a 50 hole nest box in that pen. This pen then opens up into a large out door free range with grass herbs etc run. This whole thing is 100% shaded so my blues won't fade.
It will hold comfortabley with room to spare, as I don't like over crowding, 50 birds.

so here is my question.
On the building I would like to have both a place to brood, and a place for winter houseing. so do I make the brooding area removable and set it back up every year? If so, how do I make it so the other birds stay out?
How much of the insolated house should I made for roosting, nesting etc?
Since the floor is now ply wood, what would you recomend for keeping it clean?
I was thinking lenolium (sp) then a good layer of cedar chips on top at least 6" deep. What do you think? I need to be able to strip and bleach it twice a year.
I also was thinking on the roosts using a PVC perch with indoor out door carpet for grip like we use in Hawking. This way I can scrub and clean that too. I like to put feed bags under the purches at night so I can just toss them out when poopy vs having to scrub floors caked with chicken poo.
The house also has screened in windows for ventalation. So thats not an issue.
My main concern is cleanlyness and brooding while sharing with the flock. I have never brooded chicks in the same area as my flock was.
Any ideas would be great. I can share pics if needed, but its no half done right now I was imbarassed to post them at this time.
but will if that will help.
Thanks for any suggestions.
J

 

[Chicabee19]

You're so lucky to have all that room!

Do you have any pics? A hundred people are going to think it when they read your post, so I thought I'd be the first to ask!

 

[iajewel]

I know.. it has been setting long enough Im sort of ashamed I let it get like this..tomarrow is supposed to be nice, and the batteries for my camra are in the charger. So tomarrow bright and early I will take a few photos.. Just remember the reason Im asking for ideas is it is in bad shape, and now is the time to really spiff it up and make it the ideal place for birds year round if Im ever gonna do it.

 

[Omran]

I think you have a great project ahead of you, and it sounds to me that you planed it real well.
1- for broody may be you can devide the building for two rooms seperated by a screen wall.(chicken wire) and you can make it as a sliding door.
2- I think you have enogh insulation, just make sure you have enogh ventilation too.
3- the floor if you can afford the price I have seen at Tractor supply some kind of new 2" thick rubber sheets for hourse stalls they look perfect and they are water proofed.

That's all Ican think about.

Good luck and have fun.

post some pictures please.

Omran.

 

[iajewel]

Here are the photos of what I have to work with. Please understand this is a tear down, re-do and clean up project. Im not close to being done.Im not sure I can even claim getting started. Thats why I thought now was the time to get ideas for the perfect chicky palace. I do keep my home as close to the look it had in the early 1800s when it was built. I love the victorian thing so works for me. I want to keep as much modern look out of it as possible.

Ok.. here goes.

The house.

What I have done



What I haven't done. Note the fencer. Hot wire is strung on the top of every thing to keep owls and varments out. 125volts pretty much assures they won't be back. Yes.. its chicken safe I have used this before with great luck. This also shows the type of insolation Im using.



This is the roof.. pre plyboard and insolation. Shows that if someone was creative however, there is space to be used.. but for what? any ideas? The board you see horizontal is actually a ?roof? or shelf like thing? Don't know what to call it. I do know Im NOT crawling up there everyday to get eggs.



This is the back yard, or "old coop" with nesting boxes and a nice shelter with perches and a dog house that is insolated. Im putting latace on it today but wanted to show it with out the latice so you can see it and its location better. (its a flipp'en eye sore, Im so glad I got to the store to buy latice.. finely)


This Photo shows a good pic of the run. The pink is where the fence will go. Its shaded with filtered light so not to muddy the color of the show birds. Its large enough they should stay pretty healthy. The main issue is the fact my home is surounded by oaks. There is no escaping the leaf issues. I have learned to use this to my advantage as the leaves allow me to burn off the ground twice a year thus keeping a cleaner ground. The "back yard" also opens up into this run, so the birds can be confined or allowed full range at will.

 

[austinhart123]

u have alot of room

 

[iajewel]

Yes I do and its about time I get off my bumms and do something with it.
I have a 4 acer back yard ( that does't count the front yard or side lots) and 30 acers of pasture. Part of my back yard is an orchard. However with the oaks sunlight is so limited that my best option is show birds. Birds that most people can't raise due to the sun fade.

I will have to hire someone to do the carpendry as I can't use a saw, hammer etc. I was not born with the "fix it gene" The fencing I can do. The birds, I can do, but past that. Im worthless. Pretty much explains why nothing is done.