The Silveira Coop/Garden Design

[edselpdx]

I love that and would've done mine that way if I had unlimited space. For a smaller flock, I've also seen a chicken tractor sized to fit on top of a raised bed garden system: you place the tractor (and possibly some partially finished compost/leftovers after harvest) on a raised bed, let the girls dig for weeds/worms/grubs for a few weeks, then move them and the tractor on to another raised bed while you allow the finished bed and manure to "age" a bit so as not to burn seedlings. You end up with a fertilized, cultivated bed, and the girls are happy. Looks like a sweet system if you have a set of raised beds of standard sizes and practice seasonal rotation. In the summer when all's growing, the tractor can be used in the yard. This also requires significant space.

 

[flyingroosterranch]

I also have used this in my chick coop and run, I did change the inside plan so I would have a baby area, incubation room, slash storage room. The back part of my chicken coop is where the chickens are, I have it divided in half and they are let out for the year on the old garden spot. We also put their free fertilizer on the old garden spot in late fall and the chickens and the snow have a year to work it in the soil. The next year the garden goes in this pen and the girls are let out in the old garden spot. It works like a champ, I never have to fertilize the garden and weed seeds are kept at a minumum. Very effective. Would not change anything, I can decorate the front of the building and the chickens do not try to run out when I go in since their pens are at the back. Also the back faces the south and it has nice windows for letting in plenty of sunshine in the winter. In the summer we open the front doors and attach removable screen doors. Which makes a nice north breeze through the chicken house. In the summer I bought curtains at a garage sale for practically nothing, lace looking . These are put on the windows to keep the hot sun from shining in so bright in the chicken house. Yes these get dusty and dirty but they wash up. And we wash them in a tub and hang on clothes line to dry. I hope more people will try this as it works really well and saves a lot of back breaking work in the garden. The chickens love foraging in the leftovers from the garden. And are great at working it down. I also grow gourds on the outside fences for shade on the garden the chickens are working. This gives them shade. And looks nice, in the fall I have gourds to decorate with. Please remember to plant the gourds on the outside of the fence about 1 foot from fence so chickens can't get to the plants , when they start to come up lean them toward the fence, it won't take long for them to be climbing everywhere. The fertilizer makes these gourds grow like crazy.

 

[calista]

Guess it's already MY turn to welcome somebody new!

Thanks for posting, FlyingRoosterRanch! I'm delighted to hear that this design has worked out so well for you, and I like the idea of having the coop in the back, facing south. Very practical.

For those of you concerned about hawks, a simple solution is to spring for netting or hardware cloth to cover your runs. On Craigslist here, I've even seen a couple of ads about used fishing nets for sale for only two bucks a pound. That would seem like an ingenious idea to get a lot of netting for a small price!

Please keep the comments and advice coming, I'm loving this. I, of course, volunteer to take pictures of the whole process when we start, once we find a contractor who actually UNDERSTANDS that we want a scrap-lumber rustic structure, yo! It's a CHICKEN COOP, dude! Not a house!

 

[greenpeeps]

Welcome

My husband was just saying the other day that we needed to put the new coop behind a fence with the garden. I told him he was nuts, the chickens would eat all the veggies. Guess the two sections solves that.

Now I have to tell him he was right and that's what we should do.

 

[greenpeeps]

Check out the local Vocational School. They always need projects for the students, and the labor is usually free, or cheap, but you do need to purchase materials.

Quote:

 

[gsim]

From East Tennessee.

Great post Calista.

Great idea and love the way garden and chooks compliment each other. I wanted to do similar but layout and size of backyard limited it, and did not want it in front yard even tho could have done it.

Do elevated the coop at least 18" to prevent rodents and snakes from taking up residence there. It can be a rainy-day hangout for the chooks. kCan also be good site for year-round dust bath area. Fence the whole thing with 2x4 welded wire and not chicken wire. You might want to do hardware cloth mesh around bottom 2 ft for preventing coons from reaching in to dismember your chooks. I would do a fence charger too, unless you are doing a coop lockdown every night.

Pay close attention to ventilation. Too many coops are hot and stinky for no reason other than they do not have adequate ventilation. I did 1 sq ft for each 4 chooks of permanent, full perimeter ventilation, all above the tops of the walls. Plus, I have 40 more sq ft of ventilation in 4 windows, on E, S, and W sides. I leave those open in warmer weather. I can close up coop completely overnight and the overhead ventilation takes care of the ammonia gas overnight. Do make a poop board for under the roost. Make it removable, and make it around 1/2 of the height of the roost so chooks can jump up on edge of it to get to roosts. No walk boards needed that way. Use 1/2" OSB and glue linoleum down on it. Make it 24" wide, full length of the roost and them some. Set roost 12" from wall so that it is centered over the poop board. Scrape daily

and put in square plastic bin with cover. Empty when convenient right out that back window into compost area. Put a linoleum covered ramp outside that compost window so that the stuff doesn't end up piled against the outside wall of the coop and rot the wall there.

Do linoleum floor covering too for easy cleanup when litter changing time comes. May only be once a year with monthly topping if poop board is properly done.

Take short puffs, long breaks. laugh a lot, and work safely.

Gerry

 

[calista]

Thanks, greenpeeps, for the vocational school idea; hubby will be calling around to the carpentry shops at our local community college and two high schools. That would be so cost-effective for everyone concerned!

Also, excellent tips from gsim, and I've made a note of those changes to the original idea. Thanks.

Here's that ad in our area about netting available to keep flying predators away from your flock:

"The Net Shed has new and used fishing net that can be used for any number of things! Any type/color/size net. Used for baseball, golf, softball, soccer, lacrosse, birds/animal fencing, pond/pool covers, boat/walkway railings, gardening/plants, yards/fencing, safety/protection, decor. Many floats (glass, cork, plastic, foam, etc.), ropes/line, ship wheels, repair needles & line.

nets without holes or patches: $3.00/lb.
nets w/couple small holes or patches: $2.00/lb
nets w/holes and patches, decor: $1.00/lb

Call 206-962-0219 or 206-550-8786.

Come and visit the warehouse to see all the items we have available."

And I just have to throw in a story from my teenage years on the farm (back when dinosaurs ruled the earth): A sharp-shinned hawk took up residence near the chicken run and swooped down on a full-grown Orpington hen who was easily twice his size, fastening his talons in her back feathers while she crouched in terror and screeched. He tried lifting off (wasn't going to happen EVER) and spent 15 minutes repositioning his talons for better traction while the hen stayed frozen in fear. Finally, tired and frustrated, the little hawk flew off -- and the Orpie retired from egg-laying FOR GOOD, spending her days INSIDE the coop.

 

[calista]

Greenpeeps, you were spot on with your recommendation about vocational schools helping me with my coop-building project! Hubby talked to a shop teacher at a local high school who is willing to make it a class project, free labor, as long as we buy all the materials. Thank you so much for the suggestion! (Now those of you trying to save money on coop construction can explore this idea in YOUR areas and probably connect, too.)

And here's our latest bid amount from another area contractor: $15,365

HOLY CHICKEN!!!

As another poster on here has mentioned (from the threads I've been able to get through so far), a real business niche out there is waiting to be filled: prefab coops of varying sizes at a decent price.

(How many LEGO blocks do you think I'd need?)