Think wide, easily cleaned shelf under the roost. Think wide enough that no matter which direction the chickens face the 'business end' production will drop straight down to the shelf.
Terry in Tennessee
Hummm, would a 4x6 coup with 8 nesting boxes be big enough for 4 polish and 4 hamburgs, the "main" part of the coup (no the nesting boxes will have roosts they will also beable in a run with roosts for most of the day.
Okay, so we live on a little farm, and we have this shed/workshop which has too rooms and on the side there is or what was an outhouse, it hadn't been used in years (17+) when we were talking about coops mom had said well we could turn the outhouse into a coop. I was like that's a good idea, but pushed it to the back of my mind. Well after reading about the polish and how they can get picked on i decided to take up my mom's idea! Today being really nice i decided to start gutting it!!!
The Front Door!!! i love the rustic look of the door, were going to leave it or get another door and distress it!
Just a side view
a back view! when were all done the run is going to be there!
the inside
So today i gutted it! Took everything out, but the walls and 2x4s, Even part of the roof!
So what were going to do is build the boxes where the "Pottie" is now two on each side with the middle having the door to the run, on top there is going to be three nesting boxes. The boxes are going to be 14x14in, the hamburgs are going to get lost in them!
I even ripped up the floor, were going to put chicken wire down over the supports, then ply wood on top, then that vinal stuff that makes it easy to clean, i can't think of it's name. This is going to be one awsome coop!!!
Here is it after i got done today!
(inside view as the same as above) we still have to level out the floor and ad supports.
Now for the polish coop, were starting that this weekend with my grandfather!
So funny, sounds like the conversation between me and my husband. Evertime I tell him what I'm going to build he wants to change it. After a month and a half of this I just walked away and told him I was going to cancel my order. Now he's listening to me and helping to tear apart an old shed so we can recycle the wood. ( he wanted to just burn it and buy new wood, what a waste!) Sometimes men just think they have to save the world, got to love them. haah
My husband does the same thing! He's a brilliant carpenter, so I just go with it. So far he's built me an 8x10 coop on a trailer so it can be moved, a 4x8 silkie coop out of an old 4x4 playhouse with a 4x4 porch which is absolutely adorable & just finished another 4x8 silkie coop of his own design. The new 4x8 & the 8x10 are designed so they can be divided into 2 pens each. They're super secure & can all be moved with the backhoe. Last night he started building 6x8 breeding pens to put in our "barn" which is actually a 20x20 shed. Monday he said he was doing 2 pens to start. Yesterday, he insisted he had said just 1! Silly man! Women remember everything!! Especially since he had me buy the lumber!
After he's done with the 2 breeding pens, he's gonna put up fence so we can get GOATS!!!!! YAY! I've decided that chickens are like a gateway drug...hahahahaha!