Washingtonians

[Chickielady]

Hi there!

My family and I are 3-weeks new to the chicken thing, and have about a month before we're moving our growing chicks into their snazzy coop outside. We live in Seattle, and are not quite sure how to cover the floor of the coop. I've read a lot of comments on here about sand vs gravel, but I'm wondering what other chicken lovers are doing in this area of the country.

Is sand a bad idea in the rainy climate? Is gravel a better idea? Any tips for the best floor covering (on top of dirt that, until a few weeks ago, grew only moss and weeds) for our 3x10 foot run?

Thank you for your help!

Lisa

The coop itself should have a wooden floor, and use straw ,compressed straw or white shavings for floor covering.
Some put linoleum on the wooden floor, and some just paint it to deter moisture from below the ground & above from the chickens.

 

[KMoran]

The person with THEE best chicken pens is RedRooster Farms.................Annie, she has a system to drool for..................I have seperate coops & pens, but under various roofs, hers are all organized in one long barn...awesome !!!

I wonder if she has pictures of her set up?.. I would LOVE to see how its set up.

OOO I found her website that has a few pictures... Thats almost exactly what I want except I want a fully enclosed building instead of being so open. Awesome tho

 

[SadieSue]

Some of you met my friend Phyllis last weekend - she is having new flooring put down all through her home. She has a couple of pieces that were in her crafting room that she needs to find a new home. We have so many crafty folks here I thought they might be able to take advantage of this deal - these pieces are FREE. Only hitch is she needs them gone this weekend as the flooring guys will be in first thing Monday and the rooms need to be empty by then.

Wall shelving and cabinet of drawers are absolutely FREE, you come and get them! 32" television is also available for a small price. PM me if you're interested!

Please ignore the mess - this woman is typically VERY organized, but she is clearing everything out of the room.
Here are both pieces (and the television which is also available)




A close up of the shelving - which can also be turned upside down to rest on top of the cabinet!


Close up of the cabinet - all drawers are working

 

[Chickielady]

I've read sooo many Do's & Dont do's with what to use for chicks.... if it's not one thing it's another....... We were going to use Hay for ours... but while I was in the process of putting it down, before placing them in their room... I had a reaction to it (not good).... so there blew that idea... We've been using Pine Shavings & Pine Pellets with ours... Some say no newspaper, others say u can use...Pine shavings its cuz they eat it... but then if u use the Pellets & they get wet, turns into a dusty mush... so winds up being same case... ours so far are doing great with the shavings & pellets... I have no choice but to really use the Pine stuff, plus i also read it helps them build up immunities.... just DONT use Cedar from everywhere that I read. Guess it all depends really..

I use Cedar shavings in all my Big coops, white shavings in my started birds, and sand in my brooders.

 

[Chickielady]

What to put down in runs?

I think the answer has to do if you have a garden or not?

If no garden I'd use gravel.
I wish I knew the proper term but it is I believe 1.5" drainage gravel.

Reason is it is round rocks that don't form into a mud plain like was said on here. Regular gravel settles then you add in dust etc and it compacts to easy.
Also this type allows the poop as the rain hits it to go below. Realize you must not go cheap on the amount of gravel to have this happen.

Now if you have a garden I prefer sand then straw on top and scoop off the straw and part of the sand to the compost pile or garden depending on the time of the year.

I have got my sand off Craigs for free for years as well as straw some times.

X2, and I use pea gravel and what is free and available here: Oyster shell.

 

[Chickielady]

Some of you met my friend Phyllis last weekend - she is having new flooring put down all through her home. She has a couple of pieces that were in her crafting room that she needs to find a new home. We have so many crafty folks here I thought they might be able to take advantage of this deal - these pieces are FREE. Only hitch is she needs them gone this weekend as the flooring guys will be in first thing Monday and the rooms need to be empty by then.

Wall shelving and cabinet of drawers are absolutely FREE, you come and get them! 32" television is also available for a small price. PM me if you're interested!

Please ignore the mess - this woman is typically VERY organized, but she is clearing everything out of the room.
Here are both pieces (and the television which is also available)




A close up of the shelving - which can also be turned upside down to rest on top of the cabinet!


Close up of the cabinet - all drawers are working

OH I LOVE THE DESK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Chickielady]

I wonder if she has pictures of her set up?.. I would LOVE to see how its set up.

OOO I found her website that has a few pictures... Thats almost exactly what I want except I want a fully enclosed building instead of being so open. Awesome tho

Go to her user name & see her "coop"
I will see if I can fins a link.

 

[Chickielady]

I wonder if she has pictures of her set up?.. I would LOVE to see how its set up.

OOO I found her website that has a few pictures... Thats almost exactly what I want except I want a fully enclosed building instead of being so open. Awesome tho

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/redroosterfarms-page
Anna has a web site as well, I do not know if her big coop is shown though~~~~~~~~~~~~
She is one of us breeders, and has awesome birds !!!

 

[Chickielady]

They are pinkish? What does that mean?

Marans









Marans=Pinks skin, shanks & feet.

 

[Chickielady]

Plymouth Barred Rocks have yellow skin, shanks & feet.
Just sayin'........................