The Girls' Coop is FINISHED!

[kynewbchickie]

The pasture was finished on Sunday, although we still have a little bit more work to do - it's functional and they really enjoy being outdoors.




Just waking up and coming out this morning:



"Mom, why did you fence off the bottom of the coop?! Don't you know that was our favorite dusting spot?!"



And here's our self blue OEGB enjoying their pasture this morning. Thankfully, the fescue/bluegrass mix seed I laid 6 weeks ago is FINALLY starting to come up!



Some close-ups of the trio:
"Mr. Fantastic"



And his ladies

 

[miquwid]

Great job, any chicken would love that!

 

[tattdswtp]

So I'm very new to this. I have 10 lil chicks probably about 1 1/2 wks old and growing up so fast! How many chickens will your coop hold? Each is a different breed & all vary in sizes! Help!

 

[kynewbchickie]

So I'm very new to this. I have 10 lil chicks probably about 1 1/2 wks old and growing up so fast! How many chickens will your coop hold? Each is a different breed & all vary in sizes! Help!

The rule of thumb that I've seen is around 3 sq. ft. per bird fully-grown in the coop for full-sized breeds (which makes up the majority of our birds - the other three are bantams and in their own coop/pasture). Our coop is 8'x12' which is 96 sq. ft., and we have 30 birds of full-size breed in there. We are at maximum capacity in this coop for our flock. The pasture is 32'x44' (minus the 96 sq. ft. for the coop being inside it) which would be 1312 sq. ft. of pasture space total, which is plenty for their outdoor needs. If we decide to go bigger, we'll do that later and build onto the existing structure and take the pasture back further to give the additional birds more space.

If you have 10 chicks of varying breeds that you're raising together, even if some are bantams, you'd probably do better to stick with the full-size bird recommendations for space when building or purchasing your coop. Always plan ahead for chicken math...that's something we didn't think of prior to my saving 10 more birds from the local store that were doomed to pasty-butt death if I hadn't have taken them. We'd have had plenty of extra room had I not done that - but I just couldn't let those 10 suffer without at least trying to clear them up. I did, and they're happy, healthy, vibrant 7-weekers now that love their home!

 

[kynewbchickie]

Great job, any chicken would love that!

Thank you again!!

 

[kynewbchickie]

Here's the work we did today! Everything is ALMOST completed!

New poop board to hold the Sweet PDZ, complete with two separation/introduction areas underneath (still need to make the doors for them, but that's a quick job for later this week):












I'm going to frame the entry doors with 1x1 lumber and repurpose the poultry fencing I cut out for the door, and hinge them from the bottom railing. The roost ramp will be moved once this is done to allow full access to these areas. I have 5 guinea keets that, once feathered-out, will go in one of the areas in order to get them introduced to the rest of the flock (hopefully 4-5 more weeks). I wanted two areas for birds that have been injured, new additions (biosecured first, obviously), and the like.

My husband added two new vents to the rear wall; 1/2" hardware cloth stapled down and then framed with 1/1 treated lumber on the exterior. The cut-outs were repurposed for "shutters" that are hinged and securable:



I lowered the nesting boxes to deter roosting in them:



And here's some shots of the birds enjoying their redesigned and clean coop!







I left them a note in the Sweet PDZ:



Will update when I get the separation/introduction area entry doors finished!

 

[aart]

Nice...nothing like a shiny new coop!

What are the dimensions of the roosts...they look a bit lightweight?

 

[miquwid]

Wow looking great

 

[kynewbchickie]

Nice...nothing like a shiny new coop!

What are the dimensions of the roosts...they look a bit lightweight?

Right now, we're using 2x1 beams for roosts. We had tried 2x4, but they wouldn't use them...we will switch out to the 2x4 in a few weeks again to see if maybe a month's worth of growth is the ticket.

 

[kynewbchickie]

Wow looking great

Thanks again!