What's the one thing you wish you had included in your coop?

[MaryJanet]

Wow! 130 posts of coop wisdom Thank you so much folks

 

[Aunt Angus]

Wow! 130 posts of coop wisdom Thank you so much folks

That's why I love BYC! It's social media that is actually useful!

And this is timely as I am building a new coop currently. Thanks, @MaryJanet for such a great thread, and thanks to all the contributors, too!

 

[seadrift]

I really wish I had at least made a concrete barrier around my pen. I don't have fox, raccoons, or any of those other mainland varmits, but I do have mongoose. They are similar to ferrets only much thinner, with a tiny wedge shaped head and they dig under to get in the pen and will clean out all the eggs you have every day, just taking them and stashing them for later. they will also take young chicks and hens too! They are the nastiest creatures I have ever come across..very viscous! Luckily I live up where it is cooler and only usually get on at a time so I put out a small live trap with a sardine, canned cat food or a broken egg to catch them. My neighbors on the other ranch have dozens of them and are setting traps in a row and catching them within an hour of when the trap is baited and set. They were brought to the island to kill the rats, but rats come out at night and ferrets in the daytime. Feeding feral cats makes it worse at that also feeds the mongoose and they are not getting caught and fixed, so off they go and multiply like crazy!

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

Well luckily in Montana we usually only get below zero during cold snaps. So after a week or so of sub-zero temps we get a reprieve of regular winter cold (10 to 30 degrees). We usually only have a few cold snaps per winter. And we only get really cold (-30 or below) for a few days each year. It isn't the deep cold that is frustrating, but how long winter lasts.

I have yet to experience my first Montana winter with chickens. I can say I’m not looking forward to dealing with 6’ snowdrifts and chickens...

I wish I had built my coop bigger, that’s for sure.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

... but I do have mongoose. ...!

Virgin Islands?

 

[Kdlevesque]

A bigger coop so I could have more chickens!

 

[BreanneRN]

I really wish I had at least made a concrete barrier around my pen. I don't have fox, raccoons, or any of those other mainland varmits, but I do have mongoose. They are similar to ferrets only much thinner, with a tiny wedge shaped head and they dig under to get in the pen and will clean out all the eggs you have every day, just taking them and stashing them for later. they will also take young chicks and hens too! They are the nastiest creatures I have ever come across..very viscous! Luckily I live up where it is cooler and only usually get on at a time so I put out a small live trap with a sardine, canned cat food or a broken egg to catch them. My neighbors on the other ranch have dozens of them and are setting traps in a row and catching them within an hour of when the trap is baited and set. They were brought to the island to kill the rats, but rats come out at night and ferrets in the daytime. Feeding feral cats makes it worse at that also feeds the mongoose and they are not getting caught and fixed, so off they go and multiply like crazy!

Wow, you have mongeese (is that the correct plural)? Aren't those those critters that will kill cobras, get bitten, go to sleep for awhile then continue about their day? So many problems humans solve by disrupting the habitat with non-native species, resulting in a plethora of unintended consequences. Don't envy you those mongeese, worse unintended consequences than the average act of the US congress... (which is pretty bad these days). Maybe it's time to eliminate them from the island?

 

[BreanneRN]

Most of my chickens are housed in separate coops in small groups of 1 rooster and 3 to 6 hens... I wish all my runs were securely covered, and I had seen to that first... The different small houses I have vary greatly in predator proofing, but all were bought and have different issues, but none except the condo coop houses are really very predator proof, so crucial to have the runs predator proof and covered well before you get your chickens... My EE's roost in the trees and during the day live in the yard behind a 4 foot fence and I expect to have occasional casualties in that group, but am hoping for a custom "landrace" flock to develop from them.

 

[ChickGirl007]

I wish I had included this. So, make a huge run. Then split it in half. And when your chickens have eaten all the grass in one half move them to the other half giving the grass time to grow. Chickens eat grass much quicker than you expect. Tip: chickens love freshly mowed grass and clover. Pick the clover and throw it right in there and do the same with the grass.

 

[Herb in PA]

I use the deep litter method in my coop. It only gets cleaned out a few times a year, but never smells. If I had to build my coop again (it's 8' by 10' with 7' high walls for about 18 chickens), I would put the man door into the coop about 4 1/2" above the floor. After a while, the shavings and wood chips on the floor make it harder to open the door. Also, make sure the nesting boxes are in the darkest corner of the coop.