please critique this old coop!

[patandchickens]

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If it is always nice weather during the day, where you are, you could even go a couple more, prolly, if you wanted, without too much trouble.

*I am not sure why the coop is elevated since in the summer we have trees that provide nearly full shade, and it does not get that hot here.

Possibly for shelter on rainy days if you get them; almost certainly though it is largely to prevent people from killin' their backs bending over to deal with the coop. Really! I'd leave it that way if I were you!

*The chickens enter the coop from below, via the ramp under the coop. I had wanted to do a deep litter method because otherwise there would be poop collecting on plywood and that just seems awful! But I'd have to re-structure things to do this because I would need to close off the whole in the floor where the ramp currently connects.

Personally i don't like the 'hole in the floor to a ramp' design one bit, it sacrifices a lot of what is always much-needed floor space and as you say it tends to lose bedding. So I would certainly vote in favor of restructuring things.

(That said, you don't need *deep* litter just to keep poo off the plywood, all you need is *some* litter

)

If it were me, I would cover the hole in the floor with plywood and then make a new pophole thru one of the walls, with a ramp leading down. Make sure the pophole can be closed very securely for night security. You might be able to use one of the existing doors -- from your photos I am not very sure what the plan of the coop is but it sure does seem to have funny little doors all over the place, without actually providing good free access to you

You might consider rebuilding the roost too. It looks really dysfunctional from a coop-cleaning standpoint. If you remove it and then run a new roost across one of the short ends (you shouldn't need a ramp up to it, just don't put the roost too close to the ceiling) it will no longer have floor supports to interfere with your access to all parts of the coop.

Actually, does the coop have a door that easily allows you to access all parts of the coop? I can't tell. If it doesn't, your life would be simpler if you disassemble the coop to the point that you can MAKE one. Or heck, just take it apart and reassemble to your preferred design

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[midwife mama]

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Is it that awful? Oh no!

 

[skunknchatter]

Just a little FYI. Rabbits can be infected by enzymes in poultry waste and die. It's usually not a good idea to house the two together. Just thought I'd give a little heads up.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Quote:
Is it that awful? Oh no!

Oh, no its not awful at all! I just looked at it and my first thought was, "wow, what a nice rabbit hutch that would make!!"

And then I though, "Think of how many chickens you could keep in there if the coop was bigger..." And for me, more chickies is always better!!

I am sure it would make a great coop. I wish I had one half that nice....

 

[midwife mama]

Thank you Carla for your feedback!

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If I did this what would you suggest I put on the first floor?

 

[midwife mama]

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Skunkchatter, do you know any more details about this? I have been doing a lot of reading on this subject and have heard of pathogenic concerns with certain bacteria, but have not read much to substantiate this fear, nor have I heard about any enzyme issue but I'd like to learn as much as I can. Here is one thread on the subject here. Thank you! https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=456468

 

[midwife mama]

Quote:
Thank you Pat! I think I will cover the floor hole! What do you see is the problem with cleaning under the roost? That it would be hard to get under there to turn the litter? I am still a bit unclear about the whole roost thing. The chickens all huddle up on these poles? Do they all get on the same one? Do there need to be multiples?
If I have. say, 9 chickens, how many bars would you suggest? Do they need to be a minimum length?

The coop only has the one side door that I show in the photo, and the little opening on the front which I a guessing used to have a hanging door on it (this is how I think the waste was cleaned up before.

 

[Zahboo]

Clean it up a little, looks like snake territory so I'd put some moth balls. Then just some paint or stain and it's good!

 

[lovinthechickens]

seeing that you have so much area to work with, i would create a larger henhouse... so much run space, and such a little coop...

 

[melgsix]

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If I did this what would you suggest I put on the first floor?

More chickens. Our last coupe had two floors. We cut doors in the side walls of both levels and made little stairs to the upper level. Most times they just flew up and in, not using the stairs. Don't keep the rabbit with the chicken, ours died that way.