What would you have done differently?

[Killlakilljoys]

We all make mistakes. Sometimes its ignorance, sometimes its truly a blunder. Knowing what you know now, what would you have done diffrently with your coop? What was your great mistake?

 

[Aunt Angus]

External nesting boxes. They were internal at first. I retrofitted it, but still. And of course - I wish I'd made it bigger.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Placing an 8' X 8' coop with nesting boxes under my 5' high house ( they also have an 8' X 15' roosting area outside the house and attached to the coop ) They get to free range a fairly large yard as far as city yards go and I take them for walks in the empty lot next door. Of course the coop is illegal, but then the number of hens I have is illegal and I kept an illegal rooster for 4 years before a neighbor busted me. Maybe I wouldn't have done anything different in hindsight.

 

[Killlakilljoys]

External nesting boxes. They were internal at first. I retrofitted it, but still. And of course - I wish I'd made it bigger.

Tell me more about these external nesting boxes?

 

[chkva]

I like my coop, but I wish it came in a bigger size. It's composite wood and it's been really great, but I'm limited on how many chickens can fit. Now we are building another coop for my 3 chicks.

I would've moved to a new location so the neighbors dog didn't destroy my fence! Thing claws it like crazy to try to get my chickens scraps, which is fruits/veggies. Thing must be hungry

 

[MROO]

I would have painted the interior white. Not only would it have made the inside brighter by reflecting light, but it would have been easier to clean out ... and I wouldn't have to tear everything out of it to paint it now!
Oh - and I would have stayed out of TSC, last Spring. I ended up with WAY too many extra babies!

 

[Aunt Angus]

Tell me more about these external nesting boxes?

The kind you open from the outside of the coop. The ones most coops have. I was just so new at building that I was afraid to make them. I figured it out. Thanks, Google!

 

[Alaskan]

I would have made everything WAY BIGGER, coop, runs, etc.

Way more roof on my run.

I would have dug the fencing much deeper into the ground (dustbathing hens have greatly lowered my run).

I would have insulated all of the roofs.

Bigger, bigger, bigger

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oh, where to begin! The floor to my coop is unsealed particle board. That'll get fixed this summer. Exterior nesting boxes would be awesome! But the biggest, worst, most horrible mistake, which I hate to confess, and hang my head in shame as I do, is this: there is no foundation under the building.

And I know better! I do! But my excuse is this. I came to a rain-soaked area of the country after having spent the first half-century of my life (give or take!) in the Great American Southwest, where a two-inch rain means the raindrops are two inches apart! The ground is like concrete! So when I had the pre-fab building delivered and they asked -yes, THEY ASKED! - if i wanted a foundation under it, the little cash register in my brain went, Hang on, how much is THAT going to cost? - and I said No, thank you.

So now after 8 years my beautiful building sags and the door doesn't hang right.

I feel like a dope! Gentlepeople, beginners and novices everywhere, learn from my mistake! Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Oh, I also wish I had had it wired for electricity so I could put a heated waterer in it in freezing weather without having to run a 50-foot heavy-duty power cord from the well house. Oh, and lights! Lights would be good! Sigh, I'll probably think of more later!

 

[Willowspirit]

I would have painted the interior white. Not only would it have made the inside brighter by reflecting light, but it would have been easier to clean out ... and I wouldn't have to tear everything out of it to paint it now!
Oh - and I would have stayed out of TSC, last Spring. I ended up with WAY too many extra babies!