What are a few things you would have done differently?

[Jbum]

Being new to the “chic life” I have been taking in a lot of info lately. Very appreciative of everyone’s input BTW. But you do hear people say nope I do it this way others that way and so on. So it got me thinking well I’ll just ask in general what y’all would have done differently or changed to in your learning process.

Sorry if this is not the right spot to post this. Or if it’s already been asked I didn’t see it anywhere.

Thanks for all the help!
Jbum

 

[50-45-1]

I would have started with the chicken coop i have now, instead of the old garage converted to coop i used for years. Constantly patching and repairing it. Different preditors finding a spot i forgot or overlooked and resulting in more lost birds.
I lost alot of good chickens that i would not have if i had known better.

 

[anderstr196]

I would have built the biggest coop possible BEFORE I brought home any chicks. I’m working on my third coop for my growing flock

 

[Jbum]

I would have started with the chicken coop i have now, instead of the old garage converted to coop i used for years. Constantly patching and repairing it. Different preditors finding a spot i forgot or overlooked and resulting in more lost birds.
I lost alot of good chickens that i would not have if i had known better.

Any pics of the new one?

 

[Sarasarasara222]

I would’ve built my coop better so I can easily clean it and informed myself on deworming and all the medical info as I only recently started to think about it and I’ve had chickens for a longer time and lost a chicken due to that

 

[50-45-1]

Any pics of the new one?

7
Sure its 11X14, ( just under the minimum needed for building permit)
interior roost section with cement floor, 6X6 with removable roosts for easy cleaning.
Hardware cloth around the foundation burried a foot down and angled outward a foot. 6 nest boxes.
I designed it, my husband and i built it from reclaimed materials. All stick built, no chip board or ply wood.
Exterior cedar shake 3 colors, remnent returns to local building supply discount price.
My flock free range.

 

[Jbum]

7
Sure its 11X14, ( just under the minimum needed for building permit)
interior roost section with cement floor, 6X6 with removable roosts for easy cleaning.
Hardware cloth around the foundation burried a foot down and angled outward a foot. 6 nest boxes.
I designed it, my husband and i built it from reclaimed materials. All stick built, no chip board or ply wood.
Exterior cedar shake 3 colors, remnent returns to local building supply discount price.
My flock free range.
View attachment 1740884 View attachment 1740886 View attachment 1740887 View attachment 1740897

Very nice!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I would have built my coop first and brooder in the coop.
I would have also stuck to a smaller number of birds.

I currently have 30 but 15 would be more than adequate for our needs.

 

[IamRainey]

I was limited on space so many of the "I would haves" still wouldn't be possible for me.
But on that list is a large walk-in coop as opposed to the step-up one that permits the chickens to have additional run space. I would also have had nesting boxes with some sort of device to hold the "roof" up while I'm collecting eggs. Because I'm in an area with really HOT summers, I'd have even more generous overhang on my roof all the way around. I also would have started with an electrical source out at the coop. I'm not big on supplemental lighting in the Winter. IF my birds want well-deserved time off, they're welcome to it. But when we get triple-digit temps for weeks at a time, I need to run big box fans and it would be much nicer to do it without extension cords stretching across the yard.

What I'm very glad I did was dig my heavy gauge 1/2" hardware cloth 18" into the ground 360˚ around. I also eventually added heavy 12" concrete pavers all the way around. In 2 years and with a large coyote population in addition to other miscellaneous predators, we haven't had a single attack much less a kill.

Finally, and this may be specific to my husband & I -- who are challenged to hang a picture and had to hire a carpenter to build our coop -- I think I would have ordered from Carolina Coops. Their coops looked really expensive before I started paying retail for materials and a fair wage for labor. I think, in retrospect, it would have worked out pretty comparable AND they are very well designed coops.