VIDEO Please Critique (but be gentle)

[micstrachan]

To clarify, the ONLY place inside where I see water inside is where that wall meets the floor. The bottom three inches of the wall and bedding get wet, but nowhere else. (And it used to leak where those monkey bar supports enter the upper floor, but I sealed it with silicone from the outside. Will probably need to touch that up every so often.)

 

[aart]

No. It leaks through the outside (original play structure) boards, into the space between those boards and the plywood, oozing out onto the bedding at the floor level. I assume the rain gets driven between the boards when it’s rainy and windy. So I can either seal it from the outside or remove the plywood to seal it from the inside and then put the plywood back. Not super practical since roosts, poop deck, and linoleum floor were added AFTER the plywood.

Ohhh...too bad it has interior sheathing.
Would it be more work to remove interior sheathing....
.... or caulk everything on outside of wall .
Tough call.

 

[micstrachan]

I know, right? And I need to wait until we have some consistent dry weather.

 

[aart]

Might be able to remove most the interior sheathing, without involving the floor?
Pic of inside of that wall?
Did you use nails or screws, am assuming you added the sheathing?

 

[micstrachan]

Here is where I think it leaks:

And this is just for fun:

Looks like sheathing was installed in pieces. LOTS of screws.

But the really bad news is that when I pulled the bedding back, it uncovered SIGNIFICANT mold. I can’t use bleach right now, since it won’t have time to ventilate or dry. Might treat it with peroxide for now, which I have done in the past. Otherwise, my sweet girls will have to wait. Thankfully, they don’t spend much time on the floor of the coop.

 

[micstrachan]

Oops. Forgot the mold photo.

 

[micstrachan]

And I don’t normally keep feed in the coop. Only when it’s raining heavily.

 

[HennyPenny2019]

Hello. I’ve been wondering about the ventilation in my coop and was hoping for feedback. Please be gentle. This is a refurbished play structure and we rent our place, so building a new coop from scratch is not an option. Opening myself up for criticism for the benefit of my beloved birds.

Dimensions: 5’x5’ and about 6’ tall.
Windows: three 20” (ish) square windows. Pop door below. Several drilled holes above.

Second level: 3.5’x5 and about 4-5.5’ tall (sloped ceiling.) There is one more window I failed to show in video on the second level. It’s about 3 inches tall and 3 feet wide along the top of the last wall.
Windows: one 12-16(?) inch circle above. One 3x36 inch window above. One open 2x3-foot (ish) door (hardware cloth) that is always open except in the windiest of storms (on the side that gets less wind.)

I also included a video showing the run.
Dimensions: 16’x10’
Addition: 8’x12.5’
There is a gate between the two sides that is always open, but can be closed for separation/integration. Only the original side has access to the coop. I should have moved the red mini coop to the second side before I built it. Oh well. Hindsight rocks. Also wanted to clarify: Entire ru is enclosed in hardware cloth. Only the side between the two halves is chicken wire.

There is a hardware cloth skirt all the way around that is only about six inches deep, but sticks is out a couple feet. Have never seen any evidence of digging predator, but we do have gophers, who occasionally make it into the run. I do realize this is a gateway for rats or weasels, but don’t see any way around that. I am not aware of any weasels here and put all the feed away into bins almost every night.

They also have an acre or so for supervised free ranging.

Dust bathing is a challenge right now. I do rake away litter to reveal the dirt floor, which amazingly is still dry in the center of the run. But they love to dig through the litter and cover any earth I’ve uncovered.

Also, I did ALL the hardware cloth completely on my own, so please be nice. There are also some hoaky wooden blocks here and there to block any rat holes. Ugly, yet effective.

Coop is cobwebby and dirty right now, but will get a good spring cleaning. They got fresh litter in the coop pretty recently. I clean out turds once or twice a week from the coop and throw them in the run. It makes pretty glorious fertilizer for the pasture.

Overall, I feel pretty good about their set up, but don’t want to miss anything. If you see anything glaring, please let me know. Thanks.

Wow, I think it looks great and seems you’ve put a lot of thought into it. You should have a bunch of happy hens

 

[micstrachan]

Is there a elevator too. Lol.
Sorry, couldn't help myself. Haven't seen a two story chicken condo before.

Haha! That’s funny. I know; it’s a little Winchester’s Mystery House-ish, but it works for us. LOL.

 

[micstrachan]

Wow, I think it looks great and seems you’ve put a lot of thought into it. You should have a bunch of happy hens

Aw, thanks. I love them and want them to be happy.