Please help me! Cold climate.

[MamaFox78]

IMHO avoiding "crud" is a combination of factors:

• Year round access to a run, my flock spends 90%+ of their time here during the day. I use deep litter and have never (4 years) cleaned it; I do add fallen leaves each fall.
• Drop boards. I try to remove droppings daily to a compost box; a walk in coop that allows one to stand up greatly facilitates clean up.
• Deep bedding (mostly pine shavings, some straw) in the coop. Almost no droppings end up here, those that do dry quickly and turn to dust that mixes in.
• Coop+run space appropriate to the number of birds.

The key is drop boards. Unless one removes the "crud" frequently it will accumulate, will smell and I would guess will increase health issues.

That's great info, thank you! What do you use for drop boards? Plywood?

My chooks seem to accumulate the most manure under the roosting bars, but it's all over that entire half of the coop, as well as the concrete floor in the middle section where I have my shelving and feed storage bins. We rake out the sand frequently and apply Healthy Coop, but I hate how quickly it gets soiled! And my coop is pretty darn big, it's about the size of a homesteaders cabin (maybe 12' x 28') for my 19 birds.

They do spend a lot of time outside, but not so much in the winter... up here in the Colorado Rockies it can get pretty harsh. So I worry about them being cooped up with all that dust during nasty weather. Maybe I'll give the deep bedding a try!

 

[Ted Brown]

That's great info, thank you! What do you use for drop boards? Plywood?

My chooks seem to accumulate the most manure under the roosting bars, but it's all over that entire half of the coop, as well as the concrete floor in the middle section where I have my shelving and feed storage bins. We rake out the sand frequently and apply Healthy Coop, but I hate how quickly it gets soiled! And my coop is pretty darn big, it's about the size of a homesteaders cabin (maybe 12' x 28') for my 19 birds.

They do spend a lot of time outside, but not so much in the winter... up here in the Colorado Rockies it can get pretty harsh. So I worry about them being cooped up with all that dust during nasty weather. Maybe I'll give the deep bedding a try!

My coop is 10' wide so my drop boards need to span that width. I have easy access to rough cut lumber so getting 10' lengths was easy/cheap. In retrospect I would use plywood and buy a 10' by 5' sheet; I caulked the cracks between boards but they seem to open up over time.

I solved the winter access to the run by adding a steel roof and plastic table cloth (4' by 100' rolls) on the front. Run and coop are critter proof so my pop door is open 24/7. I live up in the Great White North so winters are harsh as well.

 

[Koiandchicks]

My coop is 10' wide so my drop boards need to span that width. I have easy access to rough cut lumber so getting 10' lengths was easy/cheap. In retrospect I would use plywood and buy a 10' by 5' sheet; I caulked the cracks between boards but they seem to open up over time.

I solved the winter access to the run by adding a steel roof and plastic table cloth (4' by 100' rolls) on the front. Run and coop are critter proof so my pop door is open 24/7. I live up in the Great White North so winters are harsh as well.

Pictures? I'm a visual person and in the midst of designing my first coop. I love all the ideas I'm getting here, if you can I'd love to see your coop!

 

[Ted Brown]

Go to "My Coop", lots of pictures including the build/assembly. At the end there are some bad pictures of the adjacent pole shed which contains my run.

If there are any specific areas that you would like to see more of just ask and I will post.

 

[Koiandchicks]

Go to "My Coop", lots of pictures including the build/assembly. At the end there are some bad pictures of the adjacent pole shed which contains my run.

If there are any specific areas that you would like to see more of just ask and I will post.

Love it!

 

[Ted Brown]

Hey @jthornton how you doing?

I looked at your pictures above and have to ask - do you really have chickens in there, seems much to clean compared to my coop! LOL

 

[jthornton]

Hey @jthornton how you doing?

I looked at your pictures above and have to ask - do you really have chickens in there, seems much to clean compared to my coop! LOL

Hi Ted,

I'm doing good, well the photos can be deceiving lol. I'm not sure how the hens do it but all the dust is on the other side of that wall and it is deep. I have been busy as all get out and I'm ready to slow down a bit.

JT

 

[WI chickens]

I don't use poop boards in my coop and I have no issues. I add pine shavings to my deep bedding through the winter as necessary.

 

[Koiandchicks]

JT

Where did you get that awesome scoop/ rake thingy?