Hello all, first post here.
I have been thinking about having chickens for quite some time as I know several people with them and have cared for some (chicken-sitting) occasionally.
An opportunity arose this week and I was able to obtain two discarded shipping crates and I built them into the coop shown in the attached photos on 4 dug-in leveled blocks. Keeping my first round at this as low cost as possible, although I do still need to buy paint and shingles and a linoleum remnant for the interior floor. I will probably enlist some friends to lift corners and add one more level of cinderblocks to make the underside less of a guest home for woodland critters.
The floor of the coop is 4x6 so you have an idea of size. Not a walk in for me although my 3 year old does just fine. The nest box cutout is approx 12” above the interior floor. Obviously I still need to hang my 3’x3’ “person door”.
In the next few days I will build out nesting boxes with a hinged top for exterior egg removal. That will be in the lower hole in the low wall. The higher holes on the low wall, tall wall, and short-sides are all going to be covered in hardware cloth. I will build a run hopefully next weekend.
I plan on housing 6 hens and a coworker is lending me brooder equipment for chicks. I plan on doing as he does and having a PVC feeder in the coop and a waterer in the run. I will also build a grit and oyster shell PVC feeder.
Now for some questions :
- I had read that 20% of wall space should be ventilation. I worry that the vent on the low-side Wall (above the nest box cutout) is too low relative to where a roost would be. (See next bullet about roost) Do you think this is a problem? If it turns out to be one later (won’t be this summer!) I can board it up partway. I know not to underventilate in winter so just wondering how that looks.
- roost bar height , I was going to put it basically the height of the top of the nest box cut out so 24” from floor, 18” from the opposite wall (the “high side” long wall). That way they roost there and not in the nest boxes. When the chicks are ready to go in the coop does the roost bar need to be lower at first?
- speaking of that, at what point do chicks start to fly? Do I need to worry about them flying out of a brooder and being trapped in the coop away from food water and heat lamp while I am at work?
Thank you!
I have been thinking about having chickens for quite some time as I know several people with them and have cared for some (chicken-sitting) occasionally.
An opportunity arose this week and I was able to obtain two discarded shipping crates and I built them into the coop shown in the attached photos on 4 dug-in leveled blocks. Keeping my first round at this as low cost as possible, although I do still need to buy paint and shingles and a linoleum remnant for the interior floor. I will probably enlist some friends to lift corners and add one more level of cinderblocks to make the underside less of a guest home for woodland critters.
The floor of the coop is 4x6 so you have an idea of size. Not a walk in for me although my 3 year old does just fine. The nest box cutout is approx 12” above the interior floor. Obviously I still need to hang my 3’x3’ “person door”.
In the next few days I will build out nesting boxes with a hinged top for exterior egg removal. That will be in the lower hole in the low wall. The higher holes on the low wall, tall wall, and short-sides are all going to be covered in hardware cloth. I will build a run hopefully next weekend.
I plan on housing 6 hens and a coworker is lending me brooder equipment for chicks. I plan on doing as he does and having a PVC feeder in the coop and a waterer in the run. I will also build a grit and oyster shell PVC feeder.
Now for some questions :
- I had read that 20% of wall space should be ventilation. I worry that the vent on the low-side Wall (above the nest box cutout) is too low relative to where a roost would be. (See next bullet about roost) Do you think this is a problem? If it turns out to be one later (won’t be this summer!) I can board it up partway. I know not to underventilate in winter so just wondering how that looks.
- roost bar height , I was going to put it basically the height of the top of the nest box cut out so 24” from floor, 18” from the opposite wall (the “high side” long wall). That way they roost there and not in the nest boxes. When the chicks are ready to go in the coop does the roost bar need to be lower at first?
- speaking of that, at what point do chicks start to fly? Do I need to worry about them flying out of a brooder and being trapped in the coop away from food water and heat lamp while I am at work?
Thank you!
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