What do you EXACTLY put in a chicken coop?

[JoanaUrie]

Hi - We just built our coop and put the chickens inside. We placed grass/sod pallets underneath the coop (so it is what the chickens are walking on in the run area) and then pine shavings inside the house and nesting box area. I had heard that the grass was really good and healthy for the chicks, but I am now realizing how much poo they are getting on the grass and that there probably is not going to be a way to clean or even rake the grass to pick up the poo and clean this part of the coop out. I don't want them living in their poo, obviously. Since you are also using grass, I wanted to see what you are doing about the poo...any suggestions? Please help! I didn't want to cover the nutritious grass with pine shavings, but it can be healthy to never pick up the poo either, right? Just want healthy chicks! Thanks so much!!!

 

[JoanaUrie]

meant to say "can't be healthy to never to pick up the poo". oops!

 

[Tigertrea]

My hen house will likely have wood shavings on the floor. The run was grass when I put them out 4 weeks ago. Now is dead grass where they have not cleared it to dirt. I have raked the run out twice now. I actually didn't even rake everything out. I just raked it all into a pile in one of the bare spots and they used it to lay in. they were cute squabling over the dried grass. The next day I sprinkled some feed and grit on the pile and they scratched through it. So far this is working for me. I don't mind the work once every week or 2.

In the house so far I have one temporary roost. This week I will be building the roosts though. Then I will work on nest boxes. I'm still tossing ideas around for nest boxes though. I know the chickens won't really care, I just want something "easy" for me. So far I am going with deep litter in the house. I think i may put a poop board on top of the nest box though since I am pretty sure it will wind up under the roosts when I get my lay-out done. But, my poop board will likely be a mix of shavings and Stall dry so that I can just brush them off into the litter on the floor and let the chickens turn it over. I am hoping that I will not need to clean out the coop until spring.

As for them walking on their poop....they eat it, I don't think walking on it offends them much lol. But, It does bother me when I have to go into the coop or run. That is the reason I have raked the run out and turned over the coop shavings myself a few times. Not "necessary" things to do but, it made me feel better lol.

 

[snoggle]

I couldn't figure out why mine were laying eggs in corners instead of in their lovely nest boxes. On a whim I built a chicken ladder, out of some scrap wood, to help them into their nest boxes. As soon as I did that, they started using the nest boxes. Even though they can fly onto the roost, they couldn't fly into the nest boxes. Depending on how yours is set up, you may need to give them a ladder to get into their nest boxes.

 

[PAChickenChick2]

Ventilation, Ventilation, Ventilation!!!!

Before you do anything...make sure you have TONS of ventilation... No matter if you live where it's hot all the time, cold all the time, or a mix of both...chickens produce a lot of moisture and if you don't have a way to deal with that they will get sick.

vents up at the top of the coop...windows...anything you can think of. Much better to have too much and have to cover it than to have to do an emergency operation on your coop later.

One word of caution though...chickens don't do well with drafts...so take into consideration where you will be putting their roosting bar so that the air flow isn't blowing across them.

This is a great site..and folks here will jump at the chance to offer help and suggestions. This is the post that covers ventilation perfectly =]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

 

[Gilmore768]

I use pine shavings. Why not cedar shavings? I've seen a couple place that condem that.

 

[lost70344]

My husband built a new chicken house for our ten, two and a half month old chickens. I closed off the laying boxes to prevent access so they would not start a bad habit of sleeping in them. They have a removable ladder type roost to sleep on with a tray that pulls out from the outside for cleaning. They have a large fenced area to scratch and play during the day connected to the drop door of the house. My question is what supplies ie really necessary inside the house? I left the food and water outside the house figuring the house was time for sleeping. Was that ok?
I'm fairly new at this and would appreciate any advice you can give me.

Thank you very much,
Charlene

 

[lost70344]

The aroma of cedar shaving can cause respiratory problems in chickens.

 

[curious chickee]

My husband built a new chicken house for our ten, two and a half month old chickens. I closed off the laying boxes to prevent access so they would not start a bad habit of sleeping in them. They have a removable ladder type roost to sleep on with a tray that pulls out from the outside for cleaning. They have a large fenced area to scratch and play during the day connected to the drop door of the house. My question is what supplies ie really necessary inside the house? I left the food and water outside the house figuring the house was time for sleeping. Was that ok?
I'm fairly new at this and would appreciate any advice you can give me.

Thank you very much,
Charlene

My coop is set up just for roosting and laying everything else is outside, mine sleep from dusk to dawn so that is all they do in the coop. Everything is in the enclosed run, food & water.