Potty Training?

[tinkerbell265]

Okay so i know this sounds CRAZY! But, i was wandering if there was a way to put some sort of sand based litter in a litterbox in my coop. It would be awesome if my chickens would just do their business in the box so i could scoop it out and not hassel with the whole cleaning thing. If not, that's fine. But hey if anyone has any ideas, i'm all ears! I mean can you actually potty train them?

 

[Keltara]

Oh Yeah....I have an idea for you. I used sand in my coop. Go here to learn all about it. It's AWESOME!!! I spend 1 minute per day cleaning all of the poop out of the coop. Sand is the BEST and it's cheap and completely odor free.

Kelly

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Our Country Chronicles

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[tinkerbell265]

No way! This is a real thing? Great!

So basically, i place the sand all over the coop and not just in a specific location?

 

[Keltara]

Yes...cover the entire floor of the coop. Did you go to my blog to see the post? It'll show you all the details and the kind of sand to use. It is so wonderful using sand.

 

[tinkerbell265]

Yes i did! Very helpful! Thank you!

And you have the exact Coop i want! So now i've got some coop questions for you. How many does your coop hold because from the looks of it, it only holds three. I'm sure you have plenty of room though, since you have six hens. Do they each have a nesting box? They are beautiful btw! Do you heat it in the winter? And lastly, how much did it cost to build?

 

[mrsc1951]

Tinkerbell265, each hen does not need nor want her own nesting box. One box per 3-4 hens is plenty. You will probably find that they will all use the same one - sometimes two at a time. I have 7 hens with 3 nesting boxes and only one box usually gets used. Funny girls. Oh, BTW

 

[tinkerbell265]

Haha thanks! I'm super new to chickens!

 

[Keltara]

Yes i did!  Very helpful!  Thank you!

And you have the exact Coop i want!  So now i've got some coop questions for you.  How many does your coop hold because from the looks of it, it only holds three.  I'm sure you have plenty of room though, since you have six hens.  Do they each have a nesting box?  They are beautiful btw!  Do you heat it in the winter?  And lastly, how much did it cost to build?

My coop is 4x4. Technically, it is only supposed to house 4 hens (3 sq. ft. per chicken). I did exceed this limit but only because my hens free range 365 days per year from dawn till dusk. The only thing they go into their coop for is to lay an egg and sleep. I have added an additional roosting pole so there is plenty of room for sleeping. I only have 3 nest boxes and I have since added dividers in the nest box area. They wanted more privacy and now more than one will lay at a time. Prior to the dividers, they would bawk at each other when more than one wanted to lay. My husband built it for me and if I remember correctly, it cost around $200 for the coop and run. As far as heat in the winter, you would be surprised how WELL chickens do in the cold. They do much better in cold temps than they do in hot ones! I do heat them in winter because there always seems to be "someone" molting. Last year, I rarely used the heat lamp. But with six girls this year and all the silly molters, I just kept it on. I don't have any insulation though and as you saw in my blog post, there is the ventilation (which is a must!). So I hope that answers everything. Good luck with yours!! Sorry for the delayed response. I just notice this.