Newbie needs help!

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JBaff

JBaff

In the Brooder
5 Years
Apr 4, 2014
10
0
22
Harrisburg, MO
In the blue print stage of building my first coop/run. Never had chickens but both my neighbors do. All my sometime has been thinking/researching about chickens for 2 weeks! Have old dog kennel/run that we are building it around because I thought the cement bottom would be great, but I'm reading otherwise,need advice!
Thinking about 6 laying hens only 2-3 breeds still need guidance on which breeds. Want interesting looking, yummy eggs. Looking forward to the mealworm farm too!
Here's a pic of my foundation. I'll be getting what I can from habitat for humanity.Can only let them out when were home (both work full time), is that rediculous?
 
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Welcome to BYC!

Cement will be very hard on the chickens legs and foot pads. You could lay sand down on the cement. I am a huge fan of sand...it is easy to clean, soft on the pads, keeps the flies away, you can hose it down to keep the birds cool in the summer, it stays dry and the poop dries and doesn't smell.

Here is a thread on sand if you want to do some reading....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/444759/got-sand-you-should

Lots of great breeds out there for laying and meat as well. Check out these two external breeds pages for lots of quick fun facts about the different breeds...

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/chickenbreedcomparison.pdf

If you have any other questions, that is what we are here for. Welcome to our flock!
 
Well I just got done building my coop(12x16) and I built it on a concrete slab. I would say for more than one reason. First being, well its existing so it didn't cost me anything. 2nd I was thinking ease of cleaning and the fact that it won't soak up any moisture or poop. I am pretty sure I can combat the hardness with bedding or sand. As for interesting breeds, it comes down to your own experience and opinion. I love my RIR and Isa Browns! Got a few Barred Rocks and Australops, but they are young yet. We will see how they do. This is a fantastic place for information, common friendship and the love of birds! WELCOME!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Cement is a great base for a chicken coop/run, but you do need something on top of it to cushion the birds legs like TwoCrows said. Sand is a great choice for both the coop and run. Our main coop has a cement floor, I really like it, easy to clean, stays dry, nothing can dig in etc.
TwoCrows gave you some nice links to look at for breeds, for pure egg layers White Leghorns and Red Sex Links are both popular choices, Orpingtons, Wyandottes, Sussex, Plymouth Rocks and Delawares are other popular breeds that don't lay quite as well but tend to lay for a longer period of time. When you have narrowed down your choices be sure to check out the BYC Breeds section for member reviews of a lot of breeds.
As long as you have adequate space in your coop and run for your hens, they will be fine if you only let them out when you are home ... a lot of people only like to let them out in the late afternoon after they have laid eggs anyhow, and some birds never get to roam because of predators etc. Here is a nice article on figuring out how much space you need for the number of birds you want https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need
 
Generally rule of thumb holds that you need 4 sg.feet per bird in the coop, and 10 sg.feet per bird in the outdoor run. If birds will be confined to the coop a lot due to severe weather etc. you may want to make it larger. Crowded birds tend to fight and peck each other - sometimes severely.
 
After much reading, I have some ideas I would like some opinions about. I was thinking about putting a 1-2" layer of sand down on the cement floor then throwing in some pine shavings,on top? Using the sand as a padding and the pine as bedding of sorts. Thinking I wouldn't have to scoop everyday that way. Might help with the smell,and can replace the pine as needed. In their roost, off the ground 'house,' I was going to line the floor in laminate? going to use deep pine no sand. Bad idea? Thoughts? And, can anyone share a pic of this under roost tray that some mention? I need a visual.
 
I think you may need more sand than 1 or 2 inches. Chickens scratch all the time. And you will have a bare floor with all the bedding in a pile in no time! LOL So you may want to get the depth of the sand up to 3 or 4 inches. The shavings are going to become completely mixed in at some point. And if they are exposed to water, this may make a mess. I am not sure. I use just plain sand, but if you can keep this area dry, the shavings might do well on top of the sand. If this is inside the coop, than this will probably work well.

As for using laminate, it is a bit slippery I think. And wood shavings on top can make it more slippery. But if you used enough shavings on top, then it might be ok. I use sand on my coop floors and even in the nest boxes!! Can you tell I worship sand? LOL I am not trying to convert you. Just bringing up points to consider.

As for poop trays, here is a link to a long thread on poop trays. If you have any questions, you can ask them here...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/621363/poop-board-convert-warning-graphic-gross-poop-pictures

If you have any other questions, that is what we are here for!
 
TwoCrows; what climate do you live? I'm in Missouri. High humidity and very drastically seasonal temprature changes.Some have advised to be sure this is considered as a factor when deciding.Thank you for the link! So helpful. If I'm making the coop part from wood, does there need to be bedding in the coop other than in the laying boxes? I read about this hammock poop collector thing that goes in yhe coop under the perches, that looks awesome. Speaking from ignorance, they don't fall off of the perches? What if they fell into the hammock? Gross.
After measuring last night, it would most certainly have to be more than 3" to bring the sloped concrete to level at all. My husband says it'll wash away? Is there some sort of alternative? Gravel, pellets, I heard one person say mulch but I didn't understand how that is cleaned. How often and how you clean makes a difference too. Maybe gravel to level, then netting over gravel then...OMG, this is getting to be overwhelming and I don't even have the old rusty fencing down yet from the existing frame. Is there still time??
 

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