Suggestions Please

[jackhorn01]

I am new to raising chickens and am currently about to get my very first ones. What I have to work with is an old tin one car garage. What I have done so far is put wire on the front opening with a door and wire along the back wall to seperate where the chickens will be from a little room in the back of the garage. It has a dirt floor. It will get plenty of air and has a good roof and good walls on all sides. Do I have to build a seperate closed in structure inside for them to use as a roosting area/hen house or will the building I described suffice if I throw down bedding and mount their nesting boxes on the walls and put up some bars for roosting? Also, will a deep layer of hay for them to snuggle on keep them warm enough during winter in a structure like this? I live in North Louisiana. It doesn't get too miserable cold, but we do have some days of frost an occasional freezes. I am very new to chickens and stoked about getting it started. Just recently aquired some country property at long last and can't wait to get it started. Please respond and any and all suggestions or input is welcome.

 

[HEChicken]

There are people in northern states like Michigan and Ohio who favor open air coops so in Louisiana I think that will work perfectly and allow lots of ventilation in the summer when it is hot. It sounds like you have a great start - can you post some pics as well?

 

[jackhorn01]

I can when I get back home. I'm outta town for a few days. So I don't have to build a closed in sleeping area inside the old garage then, some hay / shavings on the dirt floor will be good enough? Thanks for responding by the way.

 

[HEChicken]

They don't necessarily need a closed in area to sleep but depending on what your predator risk is, you might want to consider how safe they will be at night. From what you are describing, it sounds like the roof, walls and the area you have wired off, will keep the chickens contained and hopefully will also keep predators out. I will just check though - you said you have the front wired off, but is it chicken wire or something more substantial? The problem with chicken wire is that its best use is for keeping chickens in. Most predators - raccoons, coyotes, even domestic dogs, can rip right through it. As long as it is wired with hardware cloth or welded wire with small openings, I think you should be fine. But aside from that, they will appreciate a roost, but it doesn't need to be in a specially closed off area. Some people will place a tree branch across a corner and the birds enjoy roosting on that.

 

[jackhorn01]

I used hardware cloth. I decided against poultry netting exactly for the reason you described. And yes the side walls are tin and sturdy and the back wall is as well. I also used more 2x4's across the frame I made in the front to take the give out of the hardware cloth. It has a dirt floor. So I guess I can throw some sand around in there and during the colder months, make a deep pile of bedding in part of the area?

 

[jeepguy982001]

sounds like it will work to me chickens aren't picky. Just make sure your roost are higher then your nesting boxes or else they'll try to sleep in or on top of them.

 

[HEChicken]

I used hardware cloth. I decided against poultry netting exactly for the reason you described. And yes the side walls are tin and sturdy and the back wall is as well. I also used more 2x4's across the frame I made in the front to take the give out of the hardware cloth. It has a dirt floor. So I guess I can throw some sand around in there and during the colder months, make a deep pile of bedding in part of the area?

Sounds perfect to me!

 

[jackhorn01]

On the subject of the roosts, Do I have to spend the money to wire off the whole ceiling in the garage and build lower roosts, or can I leave the rafters accessible without worry of my hens getting hurt?

 

[HEChicken]

Hmmmm....well, mine is a very different coop (you can read about it if you click "my coop" in my profile to the left if you're interested) but that was a problem for me. I wound up having to wire off the rafters to keep the birds from roosting up there which was a little annoying because it would have made a good storage space. My concern was that the rafters, being 8' high, created too high a risk of injury when flying down in the morning.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh, I meant to say that for that I did use chicken wire since all it had to do was create a barrier to the chickens getting up there. I wasn't concerned about predators crawling down through the rafters to get to them.