Hi everyone! New here and so glad I found this forum.
I recently started working for an exotic bird store (south jersey area) and they have this coop outside that kind of has been neglected for a while. The two chickens and two pheasants look to be in good health as they are fed very well, but the coop could use some love. I'm limited on budget, but asked if I could "adopt" them and look after their care/housing. I was graciously given permission. Sooo, now I need to figure this out.
When I first went into it, my feet sunk down about 2". It hadn't been raked/cleared out in about a year so there was just inches and inches of poo mixed with seed shells, and whatever else was all over the ground. it took me over an hour to shovel and rake out a 6' x 9' space and I STILL need to scoop out about another 2"-3" inches of yuck in some spots.
they have some branches running across a corner to be used as a roosting spot, but it's too high for the chickens to want to fly up to so they don't. Nor do they have nesting boxes (not necessarily for laying eggs, but just to have a nice place to sleep. Instead, these are their lil houses...
And this is the "Roost"
After I did the raking/shoveling I moved the "houses" further apart and fluffed up the dirt/mess, this is how it looks (I did a couple more things since then, but it's still close to the same)
Overall shots of the pen/coop:
I want to redo the whole inside by adding better roosts, I have a shelving unit thing I could remake into a sort of hen house with nesting boxes and such, but what else can I do to keep them happy/safe/easier to tidy up every couple days/etc. I'm tight on budget so I can't go buy tons of lumber and build something awesomely cool that all the chickens out there would want to pay rent to live in, but I want it tasteful and safe. My boss's husband said he is going to put plexi all around the bottom half of the pen to help keep out the cold, but I still think they need somewhere warmer to sleep and get them off the ground. It rained the other day and it was soooooo wet in there. Poor things had no where to go to stay dry. The roof just doesn't do enough since it comes in thru the sides. Any ideas? Any plans you know of to build covered nest boxes? I hunt on craigslist daily for old dog houses or scrap wood or even bunny hutches that I can convert. Anything I build have to be built INSIDE too cause they have a 16" wide door to get in
Also, what kind of chickens are they and what kind of pheasants? Thanks so much for looking and for any help you can offer. I really want to help these lil ones and get them in a better set up.
I recently started working for an exotic bird store (south jersey area) and they have this coop outside that kind of has been neglected for a while. The two chickens and two pheasants look to be in good health as they are fed very well, but the coop could use some love. I'm limited on budget, but asked if I could "adopt" them and look after their care/housing. I was graciously given permission. Sooo, now I need to figure this out.
When I first went into it, my feet sunk down about 2". It hadn't been raked/cleared out in about a year so there was just inches and inches of poo mixed with seed shells, and whatever else was all over the ground. it took me over an hour to shovel and rake out a 6' x 9' space and I STILL need to scoop out about another 2"-3" inches of yuck in some spots.
they have some branches running across a corner to be used as a roosting spot, but it's too high for the chickens to want to fly up to so they don't. Nor do they have nesting boxes (not necessarily for laying eggs, but just to have a nice place to sleep. Instead, these are their lil houses...
And this is the "Roost"
After I did the raking/shoveling I moved the "houses" further apart and fluffed up the dirt/mess, this is how it looks (I did a couple more things since then, but it's still close to the same)
Overall shots of the pen/coop:
I want to redo the whole inside by adding better roosts, I have a shelving unit thing I could remake into a sort of hen house with nesting boxes and such, but what else can I do to keep them happy/safe/easier to tidy up every couple days/etc. I'm tight on budget so I can't go buy tons of lumber and build something awesomely cool that all the chickens out there would want to pay rent to live in, but I want it tasteful and safe. My boss's husband said he is going to put plexi all around the bottom half of the pen to help keep out the cold, but I still think they need somewhere warmer to sleep and get them off the ground. It rained the other day and it was soooooo wet in there. Poor things had no where to go to stay dry. The roof just doesn't do enough since it comes in thru the sides. Any ideas? Any plans you know of to build covered nest boxes? I hunt on craigslist daily for old dog houses or scrap wood or even bunny hutches that I can convert. Anything I build have to be built INSIDE too cause they have a 16" wide door to get in
Also, what kind of chickens are they and what kind of pheasants? Thanks so much for looking and for any help you can offer. I really want to help these lil ones and get them in a better set up.
