New Coop has arrived!! What to put down in the run?

[tpatricco]

First time flockers, our new coop arrived on Tuesday. After following along in the chicken world for close to a year, I learned quickly that we'd outgrow a little starter coop in a hot minute, so we decided to "buy it once, buy it right". That said, I'm a backyard chicken keeper in mostly suburban New Jersey - I have a 2 acre plot of land, and our town ordinance technically says I'm allowed to have up to 6 hens, no roosters, no free ranging.

Coop

• tpatricco
• May 14, 2019
• 3

6x6 Quaker High Side Coop with 10' run combo unit. Custom built by Horizon Structures

Coop 1

• tpatricco
• May 14, 2019

6x6 Quaker High Side Coop with 10' run combo unit. Custom built by Horizon Structures

Here's the coop. It's a 6x16 overall footprint. We built a pad for it out of pressure treated lumber, gravel to level - with a full layer of 1/2" hardware cloth under the pad now buried in gravel. Now that the coop is placed, we plan to topdress the gravel with some material that will be more chicken friendly. I'm interested in recommendations. We do have sizeable pile of woodchips from some recent tree work about 2 feet to the right of the end of the run...so that might be a good idea. But definitely open to suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[DobieLover]

First time flockers, our new coop arrived on Tuesday. After following along in the chicken world for close to a year, I learned quickly that we'd outgrow a little starter coop in a hot minute, so we decided to "buy it once, buy it right". That said, I'm a backyard chicken keeper in mostly suburban New Jersey - I have a 2 acre plot of land, and our town ordinance technically says I'm allowed to have up to 6 hens, no roosters, no free ranging.

Coop

• tpatricco
• May 14, 2019
• 3

6x6 Quaker High Side Coop with 10' run combo unit. Custom built by Horizon Structures

Coop 1

• tpatricco
• May 14, 2019

6x6 Quaker High Side Coop with 10' run combo unit. Custom built by Horizon Structures

Here's the coop. It's a 6x16 overall footprint. We built a pad for it out of pressure treated lumber, gravel to level - with a full layer of 1/2" hardware cloth under the pad now buried in gravel. Now that the coop is placed, we plan to topdress the gravel with some material that will be more chicken friendly. I'm interested in recommendations. We do have sizeable pile of woodchips from some recent tree work about 2 feet to the right of the end of the run...so that might be a good idea. But definitely open to suggestions.

Thanks!

Is that a Carolina Coop?! It's really nice.
I would certainly put the wood chips into the run. Just watch while you are moving it that there is no mold in the pile.

 

[tpatricco]

Is that a Carolina Coop?! It's really nice.
I would certainly put the wood chips into the run. Just watch while you are moving it that there is no mold in the pile.

Thanks! It came from Horizon Structures in PA. It's called a Quaker High Side Combo - The coop is 6x6 + a 6x10 run.

The wood chips are pretty fresh - but we have been having a lot of rain, so thanks for the reminder about avoiding mold conditions. My chicks are too little for the coop yet - they have a few weeks to go inside.

 

[Lillycat918]

I am new to chickens, so don't have any recommendations, but WOW This is a beautiful coop!

 

[tpatricco]

I am new to chickens, so don't have any recommendations, but WOW This is a beautiful coop!

Thank you! I custom designed it with the builder. Here's my inspiration photo for the finishes

Inspiration photo

• tpatricco
• May 16, 2019

This was the inspiration for my coop's color scheme and finishes. We're planning an addition to...

We are in the planning stages of building an addition onto our home and this is the plan for the exterior of that as well.

 

[Lillycat918]

Matches perfectly! Goals for sure!

 

[Evelyn Walker]

Stunning coop, the colors are really pretty! As for the bedding in the run, I personally use sand (it's ideal for wet climates like ours), but dry wood chips would also well. Good luck on your chicken-keeping adventures!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Wow, very nice and a good sized setup for a small flock. That wood pile is too tempting, though if it's fresh I would let it sit a while. The chickens should be ok with gravel for the time being, though if you start seeing them digging down all the way to the wire or it starts smelling, you might need to use a bit of wood sooner rather than later - in that case I would just skim some off the surface of the pile.

 

[DobieLover]

Green wood chips are more of an issue than if the branches were dead when they were chipped. Be very careful with it. I use aged wood chips and they work very well in my climate.

 

[aart]

I'd spread a layer(1-2") of those chips now to age them while chicks are still in coop or brooder.

Skimming off outer surface of pile is a good suggestion..even if you see some 'mold' it doesn't mean it's toxic, so don't freak out....the worst one, aspergillus, is pretty much invisible to the naked eye.