Topic of the Week - Kitting out the Coop

[Liz Birdlover]

I'm in Delaware, USA, Mid Atlantic, east coast, humid area. We get 100+ degree days in July & lows in the single digits January, also very wet springs & drought in Aug, then an occasional hurricane or tornado to shake things up. For the most part it isn't that bad weatherwise, but when it is, it can be extreme...luckily not for very long.

That being said, my goal is to always provide dry, clean, ventilated shelter that also is safe from constant predators...& I do mean constant. This was their home before I moved here & I have come to appreciate the balance. Foxes, hawks & owls are fantastic rodent control & I witness them working. I'd rather have a yard full of foxes than a yard full of rats! My flock is safe, took some prep to dig down several feet then build rodent proof & predator proof pens, but it is well worth it. No one has even dug holes to attempt having chicken dinner.

In the coop, I use wood flake chips. I've tried other methods, but this stays clean & dry the longest. I do sprinkle some PDZ & some compressed wood pellets 1st & I do scoop poop under night perches, where 99% of the poop is anyway. 20 min of scooping wet poo into the bucket that gets dumped at the compost heap keeps the moisture content down.

Nest boxes...each section has 2 nest boxes with fluffy wood flakes. I tried straw before but they kicked it all out every time. I also had more boxes, but found they mostly use 1 or 2 boxes...the other boxes were ignored.
My Roosters go into the nest boxes sometimes & make the sweetest sounds. My oldest "Old Man" Roo sleeps in one while the hens perch, too funny.

I have sliding windows with screens on all 4 sides of the coop, so I can slide open alot or a little & I take notice of which way the wind blows & adapt. I was going to install more ventilation but so far, this has worked perfectly. 99% of the time weather blows in from the west. Unless we have a bad storm forecast, I can pretty much leave the windows cracked open as they are & not worry. I never get rain or snow blowing in.

The pens...well, I was doing sod & it worked great til July heat killed it, then Aug & Sept I had dirt pens, & would lay more sod in Oct or Nov. Muddy pens are bad, I don't want my flock getting bumblefoot & I don't like busting my butt slipping. This past October, I got bags of large natural pine bark chip mulch & so far so good. We've had rain & a foot of snow. I did need to add more bark where I have 20 chickens, but I expected that.

This spring I'm going to add a few raised beds with chickweed & other delicious things to peck at & cover with screen they can stand on & peck what grows through, but not tear up roots. I did this as an experiment on the ground & it did very well last year, so I will build larger ones in April.

Boredom busters...hanging cabbage, corn on cob & the seed mealworm cakes. They enjoy pecking at the mural flowers I painted inside & some enjoy making music on the xylophone.

Each section has a Roo & his hens. I know I have too many Roos, but they are all very sweet & lovable. I can hug each Roo! Even the grumpy Barred Rock...he gives me stink eye, but once on my lap he actually purrs in contentment & closes his eyes. So...yeah, my 1st coop...quickly became 1 of 2, & the #2 coop is a 12x20 with sections, so each Roo has his own "mini coop" for privacy. As I was still fairly new to the poultry world, even I was surprised how well my design has worked out. The only revision needed...don't provide even a few inches of a window sill...someone will undoubtedly be acrobatic enough to perch up there at night & proceed to poop! Note to self...no window sills inside chicken area Lol.

Heat...I thought I may need to heat the coop a bit when it dips down into the teens, or at least have their water heated so it won't freeze solid. I keep water inside the coop & I've used large jugs. I do add outside waterers, but they freeze in winter & I find they need daily bleach cleaning in summer. The main waterers inside the coop are elevated so they don't get dirty or get wood flakes. Even as cold as it gets in winter, I have found that the chickens put off heat. It is enough to actually heat the coop to the point that their water jugs have not frozen! If I lived further north or a higher elevation, I may need water heaters, but so far I haven't. I did buy a few, just in case...only set 1 up outside a few winters ago. Well, it's there if I need it.

So far so good, I really enjoy my flock. I have 40 egg layers, RIR, Barred Rock, Copper Maran, Wyandotte, EEs, Buff Orpington, ISA Brown & a few Mixed...love them ALL & no, I'll never eat them, they'll die of old age. They bring me very much joy & laughter, hatch adorable chicks, make me breakfast, nourish my garden soil, eat bad bugs & I sell their gorgeous eggs. Can't imagine life without them!

Here are pics of the pens with the wood bark now, instead of grass or nasty mud...so far so good & we just had 10 inches of snow melt.

 

[Ascholten]

Where did you get that bark from? Is there anything special about it or is it just generic landscaping bark or what? Im very interested to see where that ends up as that looks like a better solution than the pine shavings. Ive noticed odd smells from mine. It's from TSC so hoping it's not bad but it has an odd aroma to it, like oil or machinery, just does not seem like the smell you'd expect from pine wood, or wood that was not treated with something.

If you are deep layering, that might compress into solid after a while I wonder but I can also see it being great for stuff to hide in for the girls to scratch out and eat too.

Now all you'll have to do is figure out a way that when they DO find something under it, keep them from piling it all up into a corner digging for whatever it was they found! Mine have a real bad habit of that. put new shavings in, only to come back the next day find them all crammed into a corner, or worse spread all over the walking area.

Aaron

Edit Boredom Buster: A friend gave me a bunch of radish leaves, stalk and all which I threw in there. They have been spending a few days now, picking and poking and churning at those. Im at the point now that there is nothing left but thick stems really, and they really seemed to enjoy them. I just am a bit concerned that they'll eat more of that than their regular feed and not get the nutrition they need to be getting. With that said,I am thinking I should possibly try other 'big greens' and see what they will chew on and what they won't.

 

[Shezadandy]

Where did you get that bark from? Is there anything special about it or is it just generic landscaping bark or what? Im very interested to see where that ends up as that looks like a better solution than the pine shavings. Ive noticed odd smells from mine. It's from TSC so hoping it's not bad but it has an odd aroma to it, like oil or machinery, just does not seem like the smell you'd expect from pine wood, or wood that was not treated with something.

If you are deep layering, that might compress into solid after a while I wonder but I can also see it being great for stuff to hide in for the girls to scratch out and eat too.

Now all you'll have to do is figure out a way that when they DO find something under it, keep them from piling it all up into a corner digging for whatever it was they found! Mine have a real bad habit of that. put new shavings in, only to come back the next day find them all crammed into a corner, or worse spread all over the walking area.

Aaron

Edit Boredom Buster: A friend gave me a bunch of radish leaves, stalk and all which I threw in there. They have been spending a few days now, picking and poking and churning at those. Im at the point now that there is nothing left but thick stems really, and they really seemed to enjoy them. I just am a bit concerned that they'll eat more of that than their regular feed and not get the nutrition they need to be getting. With that said,I am thinking I should possibly try other 'big greens' and see what they will chew on and what they won't.

Mine like kale.

 

[Luvmycluckers6]

View attachment 2950001
Picture by @BY Bob
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It's the time of year when our flocks spent much of their time indoors, in their coops, so this week I want to talk about coops and what we put in there for our flocks. Specifically...

- What bedding/material works best for the coop floor and the nest boxes?
- How can you keep the coop dry, especially now, over the winter months?
- Roosts and nest boxes - How many do you provide, how much space on the roosts, what do you use as nest boxes and how do you make them attractive for the hens, etc?
- What "boredom busters" can you provide to amuse and distract bored, cooped up birds when the weather is really bad?
- What else do you provide/do to make sure the flock is happy and comfortable in there?





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I'm in central Texas and it doesn't get COLD cold, but it does get colder than I like and my rule of thumb is if it's too cold for me, probably is too cold for my chickie babies! This is my first winter with my little flock (4 red sex link hens, 1 bantam feather foot hen, and one bantam feather foot cockerel) and I love figuring out how to enrich their existence. I added a kit coop/run to an existing 8'x10' garden enclosure and cut a passthrough between the two for easy access for the birds. Then I covered the larger area with fiberglass roofing. My last addition to date was double-walled polycarbonite sheeting around the smaller run area beneath the coop and up about 5 feet on the run area where the higher roost is. This allows them an area with wind protection but still lots of sunshine gets through the clear sheeting on the cold/windy days like today (41 with a windchill of 30 - it is REALLY windy out right now!). This will not only serve as a wind break but will also help to reduce much of the damp that comes from blowing rain as I have a mostly sand floor throughout the entire area. I'll add straw soon if I can find some, but the sand makes for very easy clean-up and works great with the lime and food-grade DE I spread throughout each month. I also added a great heated water source so I don't have to worry about them being thirsty (found it on Amazon). I still get 4 eggs every day (my bantam hen stopped laying in October and even my vet couldn't figure out why). When I can, I let them roam the backyard after work for a couple of hours before it gets dark. My chickie babies seem very happy, so I'm VERY happy.

 

[Ghost]

I'm a little late, but here's a bit about a "treat platter" I made them that works great, year-round. Simply remove the protective cap on one of the nails that's sticking up, and shove-on a cabbage head, apple, or whatever you find appropriate:

I made it using a scrap of marine-plywood, nails, and short bolts + long nuts (as caps):

Sometimes the caps get bumped-off, which is not good because it leaves a sharp nail exposed until I notice it. But I'm sure someone could think of a better design to keep the caps from ever doing this. Also, If anyone ever wants more details on this project, let me know.


~Thanks for looking!
-Ghost

 

[Silexian]

I am in Missouri. Hardiness zone 6 for those that also garden. I use ground up corn cobs on the floor of my coops. I have recently switched to roll out nest in my main coop. So I only have one nest box per 8 to 10 hens. In the coops with traditional style nest boxes. I drop the number down to 5 or 6 per nest. I use indoor/outdoor carpet in my roll out nest. I use the loose hay that accumulates on the barn floor. From handling bales, to feed our hoof stock. Or straw in the other nest. My chickens have access to their outdoor runs daily. Most are also let out to free range every afternoon. As long as the ground is not snow covered or it is raining. Which averages out to about one day a week that they are not allowed out. They get kitchen scraps and a few scratch grains every day also. They also get suet cakes, during the few really cold, arctic blast we get. I believe more space is better. Yes I have seen all the space recommended charts. I use my chickens behavior as much as my calculator to determine coop, run and roost space. If they all have a spot on the roost, everyone can gain access the food and water, they are not picking feathers off of each other and none are getting picked on to the point of serious injury. Are all good indicators that the flock is fairly content with their accommodations.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Where did you get that bark from? Is there anything special about it or is it just generic landscaping bark or what? Im very interested to see where that ends up as that looks like a better solution than the pine shavings. Ive noticed odd smells from mine. It's from TSC so hoping it's not bad but it has an odd aroma to it, like oil or machinery, just does not seem like the smell you'd expect from pine wood, or wood that was not treated with something.

Sorry if you were asking me about bark mulch, I never got a notification. I had a local source but then they started getting bigger jobs & couldn't guarantee exactly what the bark chunks were or where they were from. So I switched to a bagged type & have had no issues whatsoever, plus it smells very nice.

There are a few different brands they sell, but I stick with GardenPro as their mulch is organic, not dyed & no pesticides.
I mix the mini chunks & large chunks, even use their mulch in my garden.

Steer clear of brands that are dyed, have pesticides or chemical weed barrier or are not considered organic. Read labels.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/GARDEN-PRO-by-Harvest-2-cu-ft-Brown-Pine-Bark-Mulch/50329679

https://www.lowes.com/pd/GARDEN-PRO-by-Harvest-2-cu-ft-Brown-Pine-Bark-Mini-Nuggets/50329683

https://www.lowes.com/pd/GARDEN-PRO-By-Harvest-2-cu-ft-Brown-Hardwood-Mulch/1000412285

 

[Rise722]

Have you had a problem with mice/rats getting into the straw bales? I hesitate to give vermine a place to hide.

 

[Ponypoor]

- What bedding/material works best for the coop floor and the nest boxes?
I use softwood shavings in the Hen House and the nest boxes.

- How can you keep the coop dry, especially now, over the winter months?
I don't have a moisture problem, the Hen House is located inside my Horse Barn, and the chickens have the run of the barn during the daytime. They only spend time in the Hen House at night.

- Roosts and nest boxes - How many do you provide, how much space on the roosts, what do you use as nest boxes and how do you make them attractive for the hens, etc?
I have 7 nesting boxes for the hens but they only use two of them most of the time. I do have golf balls in a couple of the boxes but they really aren't needed my gals (12 of them) range in age of 2 to 7 yrs old.

Everyone wants to roost on top of the nest boxes (covered in wood shavings) but only the bosses can sleep up there, the rest either sleep in a nest box, or on the roost which is a 1x6 plank covered in softwood shavings.

- What "boredom busters" can you provide to amuse and distract bored, cooped up birds when the weather is really bad?
The kiddos have the whole horse barn to play in, they go from stall to stall and dig through the shavings and hay all day, generally making a mess wherever they go

They also have a nice sand box that they can fluff around in.

The odd time they are given a head of cabbage, or left overs; once a day they get some scratch to dig around and find in the bedding. And of course there are always mice and rats to chase down and dispatch....

- What else do you provide/do to make sure the flock is happy and comfortable in there?
While I don't provide long term heating, there is a Sweeter Heater hanging in one area that they can hang out under if they are chilly on really cold days.

 

[Ponypoor]

Have you had a problem with mice/rats getting into the straw bales? I hesitate to give vermine a place to hide.

Last winter I had such a problem with mice and rats - I ended up using bait, but it was so stressful on me worrying about the chooks getting a mouse that had eaten some that I really hesitate to use it again. But I know I am getting over run again with mice and rats... Having a horse barn full of hay doesn't help.

Even locking away all grain and feed at night doesn't stop the beasties from gaining a foothold in the barn.