post your chicken coop pictures here!

[FarmerPhronc]

How many hens? Looks like 3 nest boxes on the ground and 3 above that. Then 3 more way up above roost level. Likely your chickens will roost in the upper nests, they tend to go as high as they can get at night. 3 hens/nest is not a problem.

As I stated "with modifications to suit me" One of those is to remove those top 3 nest boxes. Who ever my neighbor got it from most not of cared but those 3 top boxes are full of poop. Another reason for removing them is unlike the lower 2 sets of boxes there is no outside access to them.

I currently have 5 chickens in another small coop with 2 nest boxes however they all lay in the same one. I sometimes see 3 hens all huddled up in there. The plan is to eventually add another 10 chickens, 5 this year and 5 more next year. I also plan on adding to my current run which will give me over 150 sq ft so they will have 10 sq ft per bird once I have the 15 birds.

 

[bruceha2000]

Sounds like a great plan. I've not had more than 2 birds in a single nest at the same time and that was Peep (Cubalaya and small) and Zorra (BIG Black Australorp). But they weren't both laying, they were both being broody. I think Zorra eventually kicked Peep out since she was in a different nest later in the day. Both then spent 3 days together in the broody buster box.

 

[cavemanrich]

Quote: Leave those boxes in place, drop in some Sweet PDZ and utilize as a poop board. Use a cat litter sifter to clean out gumdrops.

 

[cabinchicky]

How many hens? Looks like 3 nest boxes on the ground and 3 above that. Then 3 more way up above roost level. Likely your chickens will roost in the upper nests, they tend to go as high as they can get at night. 3 hens/nest is not a problem.


They DON'T "**** near freeze to death at below freezing and below 0 temps". My chickens' coop is a converted horse stall in a mid 1800's barn, 4' high plywood walls, wire above that on the sides and front. One side has clear plastic over it (well it was clear before all the dust stuck to it between the welded wire over all openings and the plastic). MOST of the chickens roost over next to the wall that doesn't have plastic. If it is -20F outside in January, it is -20F in the coop. I have never had frostbite on my chicken's combs, not even the Anconas with their big combs. 

Yes there are different breeds and they can deal differently with temps. BUT 2 of my chickens are Cubalaya, as the name suggests, they originated in Cuba. The 2 Ancona are a Mediterranean breed. Neither have anything like Vermont winter temps. They behave the same as all the other hens in the winter. My girls hide from the midday sun in the Spring, Summer and Fall. For some reason they don't take their down coats off in warmer weather. Silly birds. 


It isn't real deep litter if you clean it out (other than pulling some nice compost out for the garden).


DO NOT stuff the ventilation gap with straw in the winter!!! They NEED the ventilation.


I would move the nest boxes down. The chickens will sleep in them if they are up at roost level. And when chickens sleep, they poop. Nests that are low and not used for sleeping very rarely have any poop in them. 


Along with the general conversation, I don't see any ventilation or light in the coop at all. 


Definitely need 1/2" hardware cloth along the lower 2 or 3' to keep coons from reaching in and snagging a bird sleeping against the fence. 


BIG coop?? I agree that my birds like light. If you put in windows, make sure they can open to let the heat out in the summer.


Because they have HUGE buildings where natural ventilation can't work.


At some point, yes too cold is too cold   

Once I clean it out, I start the compost over in my coop. No big deal to me but I check the floor to make sure I have no issues with it. Marine plywood that we painted before coop walls went up. Check for cracks and mice holes. During winter it gets over 2 ft deep in there in places and my poor husband can't walk in it without hitting his head on the cross braces for the roof.

 

[Sylvester017]

What's the preference for roosting, flat or round?

Offer both and see which the hens prefer. I tried a 2x4 plank in our new coop and the girls chose the 2x2 rounded edge perch that came with the coop and ignored the 2x4. One of our large fowl that used to use the old coop nestbox to sleep is now using the 2x2 rounded "window seat" perch in the coop. I guess it depends on the size of a flock, the configuration or design of a coop, amount of space, that makes a hen choose her roosting spot. My Silkies don't roost on a perch even though they use perches during the day. Go figure? Just offer different perch configurations until you see what they like. Of course, the higher the more they seem to want to perch there. I give the girls what they want rather than force them into something I want.

 

[FarmerPhronc]

Leave those boxes in place, drop in some Sweet PDZ and utilize as a poop board. Use a cat litter sifter to clean out gumdrops.

I'm not sure what Sweet PDZ is. What I am considering is taking the dividers out, putting in a removable poop board and building the roosts above that. Perhaps the PDZ and using a kitty litter scoop would work just as well.

 

[cavemanrich]

Sweet PDZ is a stall freshener. It is a granular substance and works great to sift out chicken poop.
Sweet PDZ Stall Freshner

Horse stall refresher is made of an all-natural, non-toxic and non-hazardous granular mineral. Contains no masking scents or perfumes. Absorbs moisture and neutralizes ammonia and odors through cation exchange (a unique neutralizing process associated with Clinoptilolite Zeolite, Sweet PDZ's main ingredient). Safe and superior alternative to hydrated lime and barn lime. Extends bedding life, reduces fly population, environmentally "green".
Here is a pix

There are many different brands also. You can get at most feed stores as well as places like TSC.

 

[FarmerPhronc]

Sweet PDZ is a stall freshener. It is a granular substance and works great to sift out chicken poop.
Sweet PDZ Stall Freshner

Horse stall refresher is made of an all-natural, non-toxic and non-hazardous granular mineral. Contains no masking scents or perfumes. Absorbs moisture and neutralizes ammonia and odors through cation exchange (a unique neutralizing process associated with Clinoptilolite Zeolite, Sweet PDZ's main ingredient). Safe and superior alternative to hydrated lime and barn lime. Extends bedding life, reduces fly population, environmentally "green".
Here is a pix

There are many different brands also. You can get at most feed stores as well as places like TSC.

Thank You! I'll look for that the next time I go to town (45 miles away). I generally get my supplies from a Murdochs/Big R.

 

[NanaNeen]

Offer both and see which the hens prefer.  I tried a 2x4 plank in our new coop and the girls chose the 2x2 rounded edge perch that came with the coop and ignored the 2x4.  One of our large fowl that used to use the old coop nestbox to sleep is now using the 2x2 rounded "window seat" perch in the coop.  I guess it depends on the size of a flock, the configuration or design of a coop, amount of space, that makes a hen choose her roosting spot.  My Silkies don't roost on a perch even though they use perches during the day.  Go figure?  Just offer different perch configurations until you see what they like.  Of course, the higher the more they seem to want to perch there.  I give the girls what they want rather than force them into something I want.

Thank you. I just wanted make sure it wasn't damaging to their feet to be on a rounded pole. They seem to hunker down on it fine covering their feet.

 

[NanaNeen]

Thank You! I'll look for that the next time I go to town (45 miles away). I generally get my supplies from a Murdochs/Big R. 

can it be used in compost? I don't really compost I just throw the wood chips and pooh into the garden to decompose and fertilize.