Remolding interior and ? about best place to put brooding box

[ronzxcvb]

Our new house came with chickens and the 8'x8' coop is hard to keep clean

This is how I am thinking about remolding it to make my life easier
Going to lower everything and not have anything over 24" and put a few short 12" to 16"
roosts on the studs for the hens that want there own roosting space
also thinking about putting a 7' long fold up roost instead of the movable roost
Not sure where the best place would be to put a brooding box though

 

[azygous]

The out-of-the-way corner is a good choice for the brooder nest. If you have the space, it's good to add a small mesh barrier to protect the integrity of the incubating eggs from marauding hens seeking to lay in the nest, and the babies after they hatch.

 

[lazy gardener]

What are your flock goals? How many birds do you have now? Do you anticipate ever maxing out your coop space with 16 birds?

Recommendation: 1 nest box per 4 birds. consider community nest box. My gals love theirs. You could easily do away with most of your nest boxes.

Broody space: Put a nice large nest box AND an area large enough for hen to stretch her eggs, eat and get water. Bonus: give the broody area a separate pop door with it's own "chick safe" run area.

Roosts: They will all fight over the top roost. So, eliminate the battle. Make all the roosts the same height. They will still fight.

Consider deep litter in coop. Less cleaning. However, you need to plan on litter getting up to 12" deep if you go that route.

 

[ronzxcvb]

What are your flock goals? How many birds do you have now? Do you anticipate ever maxing out your coop space with 16 birds?

We have 6 hens now and for eggs that is more than enough for us
The wife wants to provide the ultra deluxe retirement package but my vote is for a crock pot retirement package
So if we end up with a bunch of geriatric hens should never be more than 10-12

Broody space: Put a nice large nest box AND an area large enough for hen to stretch her eggs, eat and get water. Bonus: give the broody area a separate pop door with it's own "chick safe" run area.

Didn't think about giving them there own yard wouldn't be that hard to put one in where the coop is

Consider deep litter in coop. Less cleaning. However, you need to plan on litter getting up to 12" deep if you go that route.

I looked into deep litter but for me think I'm better off cleaning once a week

 

[ronzxcvb]

The out-of-the-way corner is a good choice for the brooder nest. If you have the space, it's good to add a small mesh barrier to protect the integrity of the incubating eggs from marauding hens seeking to lay in the nest, and the babies after they hatch.

I was going to have there area blocked off with a wire door but think I will go with a separate yard yard
we had the laying problem with the guineas whenever the chickens found there nest they would start laying in there and the guineas would abandon it

 

[aart]

Wherever you put it, make sure you can easily access it tend to broody and/or chicks.

 

[ronzxcvb]

Wherever you put it, make sure you can easily access it tend to broody and/or chicks.

That's why personally I would prefer the brooding box on the outside with a hinged lid
I think it would be easier to care for them and clean it

 

[jthornton]

That's why personally I would prefer the brooding box on the outside with a hinged lid
I think it would be easier to care for them and clean it

When my brooding box had a hinged lid the chicks were scared of me because I entered from above. They are hard wired to run from any movement above them. When I changed to a front opening door and entered from their level they were not scared of me and would just mill about while I cleaned and filled the feeder. Then they would walk up and down my arms and climb on my shoulder and head.

JT

 

[aart]

Haha! @jthornton is that you and your chicks?
Great vid!

 

[ronzxcvb]

When my brooding box had a hinged lid the chicks were scared of me because I entered from above. They are hard wired to run from any movement above them. When I changed to a front opening door and entered from their level they were not scared of me and would just mill about while I cleaned and filled the feeder. Then they would walk up and down my arms and climb on my shoulder and head.

JT

Thanks that is an awesome tip
Defiantly going to incorporate it in my plans
Loved the video