New Coop! Upping My Game!

[Acre4Me]

I think it looks great! What a great project for this year with your kid(s).

get the 80 chicks. Some may not make it, and always a slight risk of a male chick (even with sex links) . You’ll be able to sell some if you need to if the space isn’t sufficient -their behavior will indicate this need.

Good luck with the upgrades!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

No, while free ranging....and then you might want to confine them for a time.

Ha ha...oh, OK. I'm tracking now.

Wow, I was picturing like "yeah, these chickens are awfully crowded in the coop with all the foxes in here....but not as crowded as yesterday".

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I think it looks great! What a great project for this year with your kid(s).

get the 80 chicks. Some may not make it, and always a slight risk of a male chick (even with sex links) . You’ll be able to sell some if you need to if the space isn’t sufficient -their behavior will indicate this need.

Good luck with the upgrades!

Thanks! Yes, my daughter (3 1/2) wanted to climb in the coop about 30 seconds after her big brother was in. They really did a lot of "investigation" on the inside while I was checking out the exterior.

Good thought on going with a plan (80 chicks) then adapting based on what changes (male chicks, losses) and the changing situation (too crowded, lots of room).

I think that will be the key to success here, is willingness to adapt. I'll have a "plan", but need to realize up front that I don't know what I don't know yet.

That, and the support of a my favorite chicken-loving community (that's you guys), and how can I fail?!

 

[aart]

I think that will be the key to success here, is willingness to adapt. I'll have a "plan", but need to realize up front that I don't know what I don't know yet.

You'll do fine knowing those two things!

 

[imnukensc]

I like your coop, a lot! Some things I would change like the roosts as others have previously mentioned. One thing you will find though is that chicken poop will not fall through 1/2 x 1/2 HWC. I originally had that under my roost, but changed it to 1 x 2 welded wire. It still all doesn't fall through, but I don't have to scrape it through nearly as often as I used to. The 1/2 x 1/2 works pretty well for chicks up to several weeks old, but doesn't work at all for full grown laying hens.

 

[Acre4Me]

Thanks! Yes, my daughter (3 1/2) wanted to climb in the coop about 30 seconds after her big brother was in. They really did a lot of "investigation" on the inside while I was checking out the exterior.

Good thought on going with a plan (80 chicks) then adapting based on what changes (male chicks, losses) and the changing situation (too crowded, lots of room).

I think that will be the key to success here, is willingness to adapt. I'll have a "plan", but need to realize up front that I don't know what I don't know yet.

That, and the support of a my favorite chicken-loving community (that's you guys), and how can I fail?!

Yes, we all end up adapting in our chicken adventure! With young kids, there may be a couple of losses due to their youthful curiosity and/or excitement. Cue BYC memories of reading about chicks getting baths, dropped accidentally, dog/ puppy allowed to play with chicks, etc. it happens!

but, really great to have a big, tangible project to work on with the kids. Of course, you'll be the mastermind, but the kids will learn a lot.

We have roosts in a ladder style. More spread out horizontally than yours appear, and the larger chickens get pooped on sometimes. But, you’ll just have to see, as smaller chickens, like egg layer hybrids, may be just fine. Also, as many as can squeeze onto the highest roost will be on the highest roost, so others just fill in sporadically on the lower roosts and the poop may not be that big of an issue as far as getting into their feathers. My large chickens will squeeze onto highest roost about 2 chickens per foot, so if you are going for the more lean hybrids, you’ll probably get a fair number up on the highest roost.

all the best!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I like your coop, a lot! Some things I would change like the roosts as others have previously mentioned. One thing you will find though is that chicken poop will not fall through 1/2 x 1/2 HWC. I originally had that under my roost, but changed it to 1 x 2 welded wire. It still all doesn't fall through, but I don't have to scrape it through nearly as often as I used to. The 1/2 x 1/2 works pretty well for chicks up to several weeks old, but doesn't work at all for full grown laying hens.

Interesting on the wire size and manure falling through. I was thinking about this a little bit today.

What do you think of putting collapsed cardboard boxes on the floor under the roost to "catch" the droppings, and then replace and compost the cardboard as needed?

 

[imnukensc]

Other folks can advise you better on that than I can. I just rake it out from under the coop into the yard every few months. Composting is probably a much better idea than what I do.

 

[Cryss]

I wouldn't remount that one nest box, you're already well over how many nest boxes you'd need for the size.

Roosts are steep though, no? Hard to tell for certain from photo. But you may have birds pooping on each other at that angle. Like if I was angling this I'd lean the top of the peak up against the window beams instead of doing this A shape, which would take it closer to a 45 degree angle.

I wouldn't cover any of the vents permanently but having some sort of awning or buffer would be good, maybe a hinged cover that could be partially closed during colder/windy weather would be ideal. Especially since it looks like the top roost would be right in the path of the vents. Doesn't have to be complicated, some sheets of wood that could be propped open with sticks on the outside (which you could probably open and close with a broomstick) would do fine. Or some wood or polycarbonate panels set at a fixed slant to extend over the openings could work as a buffer.

All those things can be addressed later when weather is better. This is certainly a nice find to work with!

Agree.

I'm not sure why you want to cram that many chickens in there. The rule of thumb is 1 chicken for every 3-4 sq feet. You've got 160 sq ft which comes to 40 chickens on the roomy side and 53 chickens on the "a bit crowded" side.

So with those more realistic numbers I wouldn't put more than one array of 10 nest boxes in there. And I would certainly design a better layout for the roosts or you are going to have a lot of birds with poopy backs.

But regardless of these issues, it's a heck of a good find.

Agree, especially that this is a heck of a good find!

No, while free ranging....and then you might want to confine them for a time.

Agree! There are times you may need to confine them for safety or health reasons.

Have you considered poop boards? Hang 10 nests at the very bottom, use a poop board to cover it on top. Add roost. Ta daaa.

 

[Bald Bee Man]

So, I have around 25 chickens in 3 smallish coops (6 x 4, 3 x 5, one slightly smaller). Today I took delivery of something that will allow me to significantly "up my game".

View attachment 2004572

This bad boy is 20 long by 8 wide, which should allow for roughly 80 chickens.

I honestly don't NEED the mobile part for my slightly less than a half acre lot, although I'm sure it'll be handy. I was able to purchase this for far less than it'd have cost to build a similar size coop out of lumber or a converted shipping container, and it already has 40 nesting boxes and sizable roost setup.

It's got a "people door" on the back, and the bottom section of the sides flip up for "chicken doors". Tin roof, lots of ventilation, hardware cloth flooring.

I need to do some landscaping, fence/gate building, and other prep work, but I expect to fill this with chicks come September, figuring laying will start in early spring, 2021.

80 chickens on less than 1/2 acre, am I understanding that correct?
How big will the run be for 80 chickens?
That's one cool coop!!