Photos, need advice on inside coop design

[ms4runr]

Cannot see the photo as I am posting but home it's here.... a friend built this for free. He has had chickens, but I had not. This now houses one older laying hen, one 8 mo old hen who is laying, a rooster and a banty pair; also 4 guineas and 2 are females. My question is how to set up for peeps. I plan on putting a poop board under the roosts. The big question is whether to put a walk board for the nesting areas which are 30 inches high and on the left wall. The 2 outside boxes have a small perch in front of them. The walkway would then be for the peeps to walk up and down (?) (It would follow the wall to below the poop board and then return to the floor) Or, should I remove the eggs of the hen and put them in another area, to be built, under the poop board? The hens have had no problem laying in the higher nests. (The guineas will have their own area to the right of the door). How, or will the brooder hen go to a nest under a poop board when it is time to brood?? Also, this seemed big when we built it, 6.4ft W x 9.5ft L but as I try to figure rearranging for this it is shrinking. Is there a way to get storage here too? I have looked through many photos here but as just not good at planning organization.

 

[ms4runr]

Cannot see the photo as I am posting but home it's here.... a friend built this for free. He has had chickens, but I had not. This now houses one older laying hen, one 8 mo old hen who is laying, a rooster and a banty pair; also 4 guineas and 2 are females. My question is how to set up for peeps. I plan on putting a poop board under the roosts. The big question is whether to put a walk board for the nesting areas which are 30 inches high and on the left wall. The 2 outside boxes have a small perch in front of them. The walkway would then be for the peeps to walk up and down (?) (It would follow the wall to below the poop board and then return to the floor) Or, should I remove the eggs of the hen and put them in another area, to be built, under the poop board? The hens have had no problem laying in the higher nests. (The guineas will have their own area to the right of the door). How, or will the brooder hen go to a nest under a poop board when it is time to brood?? Also, this seemed big when we built it, 6.4ft W x 9.5ft L but as I try to figure rearranging for this it is shrinking. Is there a way to get storage here too? I have looked through many photos here but as just not good at planning organization.

Ok. I cannot get the photo to upload.

 

[ms4runr]

Ok. I cannot get the photo to upload.

Here it is, 3rd time is a charm. Since the width is 6.4ft it seems I could put storage and an area for peeps under the roosts which will have a poop board soon. The hesitation with storage right now is the floor is deep with shavings, but I will put DE and PDZ on it when it gets a bit warmer and it's worth clearing it out. Now that I've learned so much here recently. In case it's relevant, the heigth of the room is on a slant from 4.7ft (55") to 5.7 ft (67") . The perches are 34" and 43" high.

 

[4 the Birds]

My nesting boxes are low enough that the hens can hop up and down. I do have a ramp up to all of my roost bars which the birds like to use. I utulize the space under poop boards/tables for hanging waterers and feeders. Here are a few pictures. Hope this helps.

Exterior nest boxes at the center and nest boxes to the far left behind a roosting bar (nest boxes 18", roosts about 30"). Far right poop bench with roosting bars. Far left inside coop roosting bars.

 

[4 the Birds]

Here it is, 3rd time is a charm. Since the width is 6.4ft it seems I could put storage and an area for peeps under the roosts which will have a poop board soon. The hesitation with storage right now is the floor is deep with shavings, but I will put DE and PDZ on it when it gets a bit warmer and it's worth clearing it out. Now that I've learned so much here recently. In case it's relevant, the heigth of the room is on a slant from 4.7ft (55") to 5.7 ft (67") . The perches are 34" and 43" high.

Looks good. I would add a ladder or ramp up to the bars. The less flapping and flying the better. You could add boxes under the bars to double as storage/poop tray I suppose.

 

[ms4runr]

My question is what to do about brooding hens The nest boxes are currently 30" off the floor (to the left you can see the 2 doors as they hang outside). This is great when lifting the lid at the back to get eggs, but seems high now, inside, when thinking of peeps. Will peeps all use a ladder with launching pad to leave the nests as the are? Or, better, can I somehow get the brooder hen to go and use a new nest under the soon-to-be poop board?

 

[ms4runr]

My nesting boxes are low enough that the hens can hop up and down. I do have a ramp up to all of my roost bars which the birds like to use. I utulize the space under poop boards/tables for hanging waterers and feeders. Here are a few pictures. Hope this helps.

Exterior nest boxes at the center and nest boxes to the far left behind a roosting bar (nest boxes 18", roosts about 30"). Far right poop bench with roosting bars. Far left inside coop roosting bars.




So what happens with the peeps? Once they leave a nest? Do you manually move them to a protective area?

 

[4 the Birds]

I collect eggs but I don't leave any to be hatched by the hen. Are you planning to leave eggs to be hatched by the hen? You could get an incubator pretty cheap if you are looking to hatch eggs. If you have a rooster then only a portion of your eggs in the nests will have been fertilized (dot with a circle on the yoke). If we want to add to the flock then we order day old chicks from the hatchery and keep them in a temperature controlled area within the garage. At 6 weeks old then they can go outside in an isolated area for a few weeks. Our area has a brooder lamp if nights get below 50 deg. After that they can mix with the flock.

Here are peeps


Here they are at 6 weeks old out in the coop and isolated from the flock for just a week or two...

 

[ms4runr]

I collect eggs but I don't leave any to be hatched by the hen. Are you planning to leave eggs to be hatched by the hen? You could get an incubator pretty cheap if you are looking to hatch eggs. If you have a rooster then only a portion of your eggs in the nests will have been fertilized (dot with a circle on the yoke). If we want to add to the flock then we order day old chicks from the hatchery and keep them in a temperature controlled area within the garage. At 6 weeks old then they can go outside in an isolated area for a few weeks. Our area has a brooder lamp if nights get below 50 deg. After that they can mix with the flock.

Here are peeps


Here they are at 6 weeks old out in the coop and isolated from the flock for just a week or two...

I raised my first set of guineas. I want the mom to raise peeps on her own and watch her for fun. This is a fun hobby for me.

 

[4 the Birds]

Ah OK. You can read the "incubating and hatching eggs" forum for good advice. I think you will be marking eggs and maybe moving the brooding mother to a specific area. Sounds like alot of work but also very rewarding! Good Luck!