new from kansas city

Thomasolds

Chirping
Oct 9, 2024
19
107
66
Hello my name is Thomas and I'm in the Shawnee, KS area. New to chickens and have the habit of going big or going home. so i jumped in with both feet and got some chicks and started building my coop and run. going deep liter in the coop but not sure what I'm doing in the run. thinking base of gravel with pea gravel on top to allow good draining and ability to wash poo away regularly. Any advice would be great thanks
 

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Hello Thomas, and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
Don't forget to add copious amounts of ventilation to your coop. It is something that is so often overlooked during construction by people who have never owned chickens before.
You can't think of ventilation in the terms that humans use it. Chickens need as close to 1 sq ft of permanently open ventilation per bird in the coop.
 
Hello Thomas, and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
Don't forget to add copious amounts of ventilation to your coop. It is something that is so often overlooked during construction by people who have never owned chickens before.
You can't think of ventilation in the terms that humans use it. Chickens need as close to 1 sq ft of permanently open ventilation per bird in the coop.
I have 2) 12X18 and 2) 18X23 windows plus the corrugated roof panels are open top and bottom.
 

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It's looking good! Are you going to keep the extra hardware cloth at the bottom? Possibly dig it down a little bit so predators can't dig under as easily? I don't have that on my coop and I have mice that dig holes around it, 😕 (but ideally don't put feed in your chicken coop.)

I don't think gravel would be a terrible base, especially if the pea gravel is fairly smooth, but it might not be necessary in case you ever want to move your coop. I think wood chips or sand would be better. Wood chips are a good source of carbon to balance out excess nitrogen and you could easily scoop out poo from sand.

It's really nice to have you here! Welcome to BackYard Chickens!
 
It's looking good! Are you going to keep the extra hardware cloth at the bottom? Possibly dig it down a little bit so predators can't dig under as easily? I don't have that on my coop and I have mice that dig holes around it, 😕 (but ideally don't put feed in your chicken coop.)

I don't think gravel would be a terrible base, especially if the pea gravel is fairly smooth, but it might not be necessary in case you ever want to move your coop. I think wood chips or sand would be better. Wood chips are a good source of carbon to balance out excess nitrogen and you could easily scoop out poo from sand.

It's really nice to have you here! Welcome to BackYard Chickens!
Yes and going to back fill around run with dirt and put some shrubs, ornamental grasses or something along them lines. figured give my ladies some privacy and then the roots would grow thru the hardware cloth making it a good defense for most predators
 

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