What to do with the coop RUN

[llombardo]

Oh, well....for now you might want to move the whole thing every few days,
rake up the waste and hose off the ground....add some shavings in the new place.
It's too small for 6 birds, especially once they get bigger and winter rolls around.

Definitely hang to avoid molds

That coop will crack if you move it even the slightest wrong way--it would be best to add another run--maybe think out of the box and make that run more portable.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi, welcome to BYC and the hensanity.
Don't be discouraged by any of this. Just remember, you don't own chickens. .... chickens own you!

Now please to excuse me, it's time for me to go clean poop ... er, I mean, coops. Yes. Coops.

 

[Cryss]

Oh, and I use wood chips rather than shavings on the ground AFTER the girls finish off the vegetation. Get em free from local tree services.

Also, get that coop off the ground! Contact with the ground will compost the lousy wood. And when it snows the locks will get moisture in them and freeze. Not fun.
And add carribiner type locks. Those slide types are no problem for critters to manuver.

 

[aart]

I agree with @aart regarding the run floor, just dirt over buried 1/2 HC with pine shavings and other organic matter.

Just to be clear I do not subscribe having HC under bedding, can damage feet.

 

[jthornton]

Just to be clear I do not subscribe having HC under bedding, can damage feet.

+1 for not having anything like that under the run.

JT

 

[Cryss]

That coop will crack if you move it even the slightest wrong way--it would be best to add another run--maybe think out of the box and make that run more portable.

I moved mine AFTER I covered it with plywood. Heavier, took 3 men. But the plywood made it stronger. Also I moved it up on a pallet covered with plywood which was covered with vinyl flooring. It worked out pretty well.
Can't wait for the new bigger coop to be finished!

 

[6chickys]

Wow, for all the condescending comments in the beginning of the thread - you sure didn’t look at the picture much did you? I have a huge fenced in area that you can obviously see in the pic- wow-
You didn’t say anything helpful- maybe look at the picture before you comment.
I appreciate the helpful comments after about the wood chips and def hanging the food and water. (That’s why they are being moved to a different spot daily-those who didn’t like where they were placed today lol. )thanks for the helpful comments. : )

 

[aart]

Sorry, but those tiny coops are a huge red flag...and sometimes we react rather rashly as we see a lot of them.

I have a huge fenced in area that you can obviously see in the pic-

It's not obvious that the small section of fence shown in the pic is part of a huge area for them.
When you said 'run' it was fairly assumed you meant the run part of the coop/run combo.
'Coop' being the smaller enclosed space....'run' being the meshed space below coop.

 

[Cryss]

The picture does show a bit of fencing behind the coop. You didn't mention that it was a run fence. It doesn't show in the picture that this fence is surrounding the coop to act as a run. It's just a fence in the back of the photo, could be your property fence.

I'm sorry you feel we are being condescending and not at all helpful. I see you only wanted help with run bedding and feeder/waterer placement. You can just ignore any advice that didn't answer your specific questions.
Good luck.

 

[slejdad]

I have basically the exact same coop and have six almost full grown hens in it. They definitely seem crowded, but so much happier than in the brooder in the garage! Planning to build a 10x6 coop with an attached 10x34 run this week. We have other chicks in brooders and 2 more coming next month. The flock will be 19 birds strong once all the hens are integrated. Planning to give them some free-range time but we're more than a little worried about predators. We were gifted a 13 hen flock earlier this year and *something* ate well