What would YOU do?

[AnimalsComeFirst]

What would you do to make this coop suitable for 4 - 6 chickens/better?

I have 2 disabled hens, one who is partially blind and one with a broken foot. There is a little door that open on the backside of the coop, where I need to attach a ramp so that they can go in and out as they please. I am investing in a 6 x 12 chain link dog pen, which I hope to put around the coop, so that they can go under the coop in the rain and snow. I am going to be taking out the waterer and fooddish at night for more room. 2 nesting boxes, 2 roosts.

If you owned this coop/situation, what would YOU do?

 

[jeepguy982001]

i'd say make the nest boxes on the exterior that might give ya a lil more room.

 

[AnimalsComeFirst]

Quote:
How would that give me more room? For roosts?

 

[TigerLilly]

I would either move the roost board closer to a wall (toward the left in the pic) and hang the food/waterer from the ceiling on a rope or chain.

 

[Linn Bee]

The waterer appears to be right under part of the roosting board. Not a good idea IMHO.

I would combine all three ideas into my improvements. 1. Move the roost closer to the wall. 2. Hang the waterer from a rafter. 3. Build a nesting box attached to the outside wall of the coop with an access hole in the coop wall and a lid on the outside for cleaning and egg collecting.

Removing the food and water at night won't make a difference in space. At night they will only need their roosts. I could even imagine a feeding system that is filled from outside the coop and would take only a small space along a wall made much like the nesting box. That, too, would allow more room during the day when your chickens will need the floor space.

I don't know where you live, but could you make a small covered spot outside for food and water? Then moving the feed during the night would be a good idea.

Love, Linn B (aka Smart Red) Gardening zone 5a - 4b in south-est, central-est Wisconsin

 

[SteveBaz]

Kind of mentioned before me but the roost bar is over the water and I would only put 3 to 4 chicks in such a small space 3 to 4 sqft per bird.