Starting Our Coop

[LilCtryGal]

HELP NEEDED FROM EXPERIENCED CHICKEN OWNERS

About to start the coop. I have been reading and getting ideas from other chicken owners and I still have questions.

1. Brooding area or not? My idea is to have a "nursery" area so when I get new chick's or meat chick's I want to have an area to keep them contained with the lamp. Does anyone do this within their coop area? Can I combine the eggers and meat in the same little area till they are big enough to move?

2. There will be Eggers, Turkey's and Duck's sharing the main coop area. Meat chickens will have their own area. Is it ok that they are all living under one roof?

3. How big should their door to run be?

4. Food and water, inside coop and in run area?

5. Nesting Boxes, how far off ground?

This started out to be a 8x8 project but as all this furry, 'm loving these bird's! Decision made it's going to be more like 12 x 16 so I know I will have room for everyone. I am having a storage section within the coop for feed and what not. Love the PVC pipe feeder ideas !!!!

Any suggestions or helpful hints are greatly appreciated. Will post pics as we move along with this project.

 

[loveourbirds]

HELP NEEDED FROM EXPERIENCED CHICKEN OWNERS

About to start the coop. I have been reading and getting ideas from other chicken owners and I still have questions.

1. Brooding area or not? My idea is to have a "nursery" area so when I get new chick's or meat chick's I want to have an area to keep them contained with the lamp. Does anyone do this within their coop area? Can I combine the eggers and meat in the same little area till they are big enough to move? if your raising corish rock cross meat birds its not recommended to raise them with other chicks. they grow a lot faster and will walk over your other ones for feed. I also like to separate my large fowl from my bantams. the more room you can give them the better. i would brood in another area entirely, away from my coop. the dust in the coop isn't really safe for chicks.

2. There will be Eggers, Turkey's and Duck's sharing the main coop area. Meat chickens will have their own area. Is it ok that they are all living under one roof? im not saying this is impossible, but chickens and turkeys should not be mixed within a contained area. chickens can carry blackhead with no visible symptoms, blackhead can be deadly to turkeys. turkeys also should be fed a higher protein starter. standard medicated chick starter isn't good for turkeys. ducks are an entirely different subject. ducks love water, in fact they have to be able to swim. their pen will always have mud holes. unless you plan on using a lot of bedding, it wouldn't be a good idea to mix them with chickens.

3. How big should their door to run be? with turkeys, you should use a large door. 24x36 inches would be great, but you might have to be able to close it in cold weather. with chickens and ducks a 16x18 door is usually plenty, i make mine large.

4. Food and water, inside coop and in run area? i would put your feed inside the coop area, and water in both places for all birds. in most cases you don't want to get your feed wet.

5. Nesting Boxes, how far off ground? in a coop area i think they recommend 18 inches, i run mine as low as 8 inches. keep perches higher than nest boxes or you will have a mess.

This started out to be a 8x8 project but as all this furry, 'm loving these bird's! Decision made it's going to be more like 12 x 16 so I know I will have room for everyone. I am having a storage section within the coop for feed and what not. Love the PVC pipe feeder ideas !!!! with chickens in a pen you should have at least 4 square feet per bird. can be a little less for bantams. outdoor run should be 10 square feet per bird. i think turkeys and ducks should be a lot larger. just my preference, i keep my turkeys on a wood floor. as adults i would recommend 15-20 square foot per bird minimum. with your ducks youll have to get creative, giving them the water they need, and a dry area to sleep and nest.

Any suggestions or helpful hints are greatly appreciated. Will post pics as we move along with this project.
i would suggest starting with ducks or chicks then moving on to turkeys. take your time, build to the best of your ability and build it once. especially if you are buying or own your property, a well built coop in the right place may add a lot in value. a good barn will help your values as well.

 

[LilCtryGal]

Thank you so much for your input! I do plan on having the ducks closer to a water area so they can play in the mud all day. To late, already have chickens and Turkey's !!! They way this project is going there will be plenty of room for everyone. So you recommend that with the turkey's they should be on the starter? I was told they didn't need to be on that. thanks again.

 

[loveourbirds]

personally I use turkey starter, it is medicated but with a different antibiotic. its also higher in protein. I think you can get by with a 20-22% protein feed as long as its fine ground.

keep in mind I raise several hundred birds a year, you are just starting your flock. this makes a huge difference in the way you go about things.

turkeys (for me) are very hard to raise from poults, I wish you the best of luck. I will help you if I can, but there are others than can help you by far better than me.