To many for 6x8 coop?

[crealbilly]

Oh, then you've got LOTS of outdoor space! That's awesome. Then all you need to worry about is coop space



OK, so you'd have 12 hens after that? That would be perfect. And then you'd have enough roost space too, I think.



So how high is the highest roost? I'm just curious 




That's awesome! Congrats! Can't wait for mine to start laying, still got a few months to go...

Yeah that will leave me with 12 hens

The highest roost is about 6' (six foot) off the coop floor and its just a 1x4. The roost that's 3' (three foot) off the coop floor is a 1x12 8 foot long and they only use it to fly across the coop to the 1x4 roost. They prefer to be crowed on the high roost over the low roost. Crazy birds...

 

[Blooie]

When mine first started roosting they totally ignored the roosts I had in there for them and roosted wayyyyy up in the studs of the walls. Silly chickens!

 

[crealbilly]

I got on a real computer to access BYC and wow - what a cool site using a full browser - nice! I was able to adjust my subscriptions and location easily also thanks guys.

I figured I would give you all the bigger visual picture here. These pics were taken about 9:00 PM tonight

Outside the coop in the fenced in chicken yard. To the left you see the 6 foot tall fence and electric fence wires leading to the coop with the ramp and one lonely hen sleeping in the door way. She sometimes does this other times shes roosting with the other 16 hens and two turkeys. Also notice the three doors along the roof line, there are 6 nest boxes behind the doors. my wife wanted to collect eggs from outside so I came up with this idea...


Here you see one of the nest box doors open and the two nest boxes inside. I have the nest boxes lined with hay and red cedar shavings.


This is inside the coop and the door way that leads to the chicken yard. As you can see I keep a thick layer of pine and red cedar wood shavings on the coop floor.


Next is the lower 1x12 - 8 foot long roost it's about 3 foot off the coop floor. it's above the PVC pipe nipple waterer, I see a few hens roosting on there tonight - so maybe it was a good idea to put that lower roost in or maybe not? BTW I keep one light on for them 24x7 - these chickens are afraid of the dark (chicken) :lol



Here is the upper 1x4 upper roost about 6 foot off the coop floor and the lower 1x12 roost about 3' off the coop floor. I see a turkey decided to roost on the 1x4 tonight with the hens instead of the 24x24 box I made for it. on the very right you see the home made fly catcher made from a 2 liter soda bottle, put a little apple cider vinegar and a couple drops of dish detergent in there hang it up and kill many flies.


Next is the 24 x 24 turkey box - well at least one turkey likes it tonight. this turkey box is the same height (6 foot off the coop floor) as the upper 1x4 roost


Here I have the man door for the coop closed, the left hand side is my drop box feeder (I love this thing) it holds 50 lbs of crushed oyster shells and 100 lbs of feed. also this is what I'm feeding the hens (layer) and I do throw a hand full of scratch out in the chicken yard every day. they spend hours scratching around for they last little bits. in the middle is the man door to get in the coop, then the filler for the PVC pipe nipple waterer. I like this arrangement feed and water from outside the coop.


Here the lid is open to the drop box feeder - oyster shells on the left / feed on the right. I also keep the fill area covered with food grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) to kill off any bugs that may try and get into the feed from under the lid when it's closed. that's what the white dust is...



This is the egg cabinet I made from red cedar - I mean you need a place to store empty egg cartons and full ones too. I bought the dorm room fridge from a pawn shop for $10.00 - it works great.




and there you have it a crealbilly coop :lol Seriously this is my first time raising my own chickens and I am very open to suggestions/improvements so please do comment - Thanks

 

[NatureChica]

You will find out what works for you and what won't. Everyone has a different experience so what works for one guy may not work for you. Your climate means certain precautions must be taken for winter that don't need to be taken here where I am in eastern NC.
I grew up in wi and raised chickens there starting at the he of 12. My birds were not big fans of being stuck indoors all winter so I expanded the followi,g summer to allow for more movement in winter. I also put a light on for 12 hrs a day from 7-7 for them so they had a routine rhythm and it reduced stress and anxiety. Heat lamp too where they could warm themselves but still escape it. Not over the roosts.
I read everything I could get my hands on too at the library...no forums like this for me back then. No internet in the first place.

 

[aart]

24/7 lighting is not a good idea, they need a dark cycle of at least 8-10 hours.

Agrees your venting might work good where your nests are...unless you get prevailing winds on that side in winter.
Better yet for them to be on the higher side of roof line and move roosts lower.

The block walls really limit your options for modification of coop...unless you are not opposed and able to cut more holes into it.

They fly between the lower and upper roosts because that's the best way for them to get up/down due to the 6 foot width of coop,
even with 3' high roosts in my 6' wide coop, I needed to add ramps for accessibility to avoid them flying crashes into walls.

Lots of challenges there, but sometimes you just have to figure it out as you go along.
Reducing your flock numbers is a good idea.

 

[21hens-incharge]

The only thing I would add is that I saw you are using ceder in the nests and on the floor. Ceder is not good for their lungs. I would skip it and stick with pine shavings. Straw can bring in mites and other issues like mold with it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Blooie]

Oh, boy - can straw being in mites! That's an understatement, 21 hens!

 

[crealbilly]

Re: mites - mites are BAD where I live. However I have learned that DE keeps them under control. I sprinkle DE over all of our animals bedding - chicken coop included. DE is a cheap, non-toxic and effective non-chemical pesticide for crawling bugs. I'm not exactly sure how it works but I read (on the internet) that its like mico glass and its sharp edges scratch the shells of crawling bugs and causes them to dehydrate and die. But its from the internet so take it with a grain of salt.

As for the eastern red cedar shavings... That stuff is awesome for repeling moths, flies, no-see-ems and other flying insects. I mix it in all our animals beding and have seen no adverse effects at all. I own a sawmill and do a fair share of wood working so I get my sawdust and shavings for free. If I see the hens having adverse effects from cedar shavings I will back off using it in their boxes and coop. I change out their beding every two weeks anyways so its no biggie to stop mixing it in with their beding.

Just a word of caution about bedding DO NOT use walnut or butternut shavings - both can contain high levels of juglone which is toxic to plants, fish and most animals. I burn all my walnut/butternut dust and shavings so it does not end up in my animal bedding.

 

[junebuggena]

Birds, in general, have very sensitive respiratory systems. Chickens are no exception. Cedar can cause respiratory problems in chickens. The very thing that makes it so great at repelling insects, is what can make your flock very sick.

 

[crealbilly]

Maybe you guys can help my understand why nest boxes should be lower than roosts? My hens seem to be doing fine with the roosts and boxes at the same height.

Here are some pics from around 9:30 this morning. There is a hen in every one of the six 12x12x14 nest boxes plus one in the 24x24 turkey box. Under those hens were 12 eggs. I will get a few more this evening I hear some hens firing now even. I gather up eggs twice a day mid morning and early evening before the sun sets.

Inside coop about 9:30 AM

Outside nest box door open

7 hens sitting on 12 eggs