seeking constructive critiques of my new chicken coop build

[jakes bayou]

I am in the florida panhandle right on the water. we have pretty mild temps here mostly, with a good breeze coming off the gulf.

I don't mean to literally hose out the coop ever. I wanted to be able to rake the contents out into the wheel barrow. and I want the ability to use a water if I need to. nothing heavy.

thanks for the comments!

 

[aart]

Oh Geez.... if you're in Florida I'd put ALOT more ventilation in that coop.
Hopefully your coop and run are in the shade, hard to tell for sure in the video, which will help a lot with the metal roof.

Check out open air coops
Advanced search>titles only> open air coop

 

[bahamabanty]

I am near West Palm Beach florida. I think your coop looks awesome, really good work. Looks way better then mine.

Some points I see, that went somewhat wrong with mine that might help you out:

Poop management, poop management poop management. With 8 chickens in there and with a warm climate you will be raking your bedding out on a daily or bi weekly basis to keep things fresh and avoid poopy eggs. (from walking thru poop and then sitting in nest box) Imagine yourself raking all the crap through that opening you have provided. I wish I had a completely removable wall on one side of my coop so I can take care of everything instead of having to rake and scrape side ways through a door (that I have now). When I did my coop research I used to laugh at people that have a wire mesh floor, I thought that would be 'inhumane' for the chickens, but I understand now what the reasoning behind that is.
I went thru several types of bedding, hay (stink), grass (STINK), dry leaves (stink), pine shavings (stink). I am now on sand inside of my raised coop (raised like yours) and I like it, its about 3-4 inches of sand, I scoop out poop everymorning with a kitty litter scoop, (all poop accumulates under the roosts) and thats it. They dont poop in there during the day, they are in the run all day, they only come inside to lay. Keeps it fresh and no real annoying smell unless you really stick your nose 1 inch of the sand. Once a month or so I add some more sand, because sometimes I scoop some soiled sand out around the poop, like a whole scoop.
(I use a 5 gal bucket of beach sand to refill).
Like someone else mentioned, dont put roosts overlapping, they will poop on each other. (been there) and dont put roosts to close to each other, I noticed that chickens that roost behind other chickens, as if they are riding a bus, pick the opposite chickens butt feathers. How big will the run be? (I am at work, have no sound with the youtube vid)

 

[jakes bayou]

wow, lots of good comments.

the coop is about 4 by 8. my plan is to keep a "pan" under the roosts that I can collect poop in. it is the old bottom of a dog kennel and will slide out my door.

I am very interested in this sand idea. are we talking regular playground sand? and how deep? has anyone ever used kitty litter?

the coop is under a huge old liveoak tree. we live on a hill overlooking the bay and get a good breeze off the water most days.

 

[bahamabanty]

I have used construction sand (nice white sand no rocks) It dries out inside the coop so its not moist or nothing. About 3-4 inches.
When I ran out I started to add beach sand (sifted) and been using that since. It sounds weird to use sand but I found it works for our climate in south florida. They dont sell the stall freshener here but I can imagine that would be good to sprinkle over the sand as an extra. If I was you I'd try all and see what works, pine shavings, dry leaves. Forget about the straw and hay inside, it gets really nasty real quick. The outside run is how big, or are they free ranging?

 

[jakes bayou]

the outside run will be 12 by 8, with an additional 4 by 8 under the coop,where the food and water is. I am putting sunshade over half that.

the sand is very intersting

 

[bahamabanty]

Thats a good size run, but I want to bet that you will want to extend it at some point, (more chickens) so keep in mind that when you build it, there is a way you can extend it easy in the future. (...it happened to me too).
I read not to use kitty litter because they eat it. Its not good. If they eat sand it doesnt matter its grit.

 

[aart]

I would think ocean beach sand would be salty and not a good choice.

 

[bahamabanty]

I rinse it, like the seaweed I use for the vegetable beds.

 

[aart]

I would think ocean beach sand would be salty and not a good choice.

I rinse it, like the seaweed I use for the vegetable beds.

Ahhh that's good.