Whats your favorite, must have, feature of your coop(s) at home?

[nurseshelly]

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Elmo! I love the idea of poop trays!

When we built our henhouse 3 yrs ago, I wanted one with the wire mesh over it, but I thought the poo would just plop on the wire with very little going through, so we didn't put anything under the roosts. We just put extra wood chips under them. I never thought of the boot trays. Where did you purchase them? I love this site!!

We built a poop board to sit under the perch, it catches tons of poo, we just put sand on top so nothing sticks and then use a kitty litter scoop to scoop off the poop, works great, takes 2 minutes to do both coops. Here is a picture of it.

 

[perchie.girl]

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PapaChaz

If you wanted to purchase something this is what I was considering But I have to buy seven or eight so its a one at a time thing for now.

http://www.enasco.com/product/C17242N

Its called a goat mineral feeder. Designed to hang on the wall of a goat pen. If they are designed for Goats Believe me they are very very sturdy.

 

[perchie.girl]

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Ooo I like with only one teeny minor exception... The un padded un thickened sheet metal opening but that could easilly be fixed for safety. It is there a way you could open the top and the egg access and take some pictures. This is something that I could use in my hot climate. If its designed like I think its designed it would be easy to create some flow through ventialation to keep it cooler in the summer time here. just about any thing that can be done in sheet metal can also be done in plywood.

Or does it have some sort of manufacturers stamp on it. If so I can look up the patent description.

 

[perchie.girl]

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I have also heard this is a necessity for Mosquitos in Florida as well. I have seen pox pix from chickens who have been infected by mosquitos. I have also seen those pool cages gawd you guys must get eaten up... for sure.

Shade cloth properly stretched and fastened down with furring strips can do the same job too. Jus FYI.

 

[Ivywoods]

Hi Perchie-It doesn't really show in the picture, but the sheet metal is "rolled" so there are no sharp edges anywhere that the birds can access.

I went back out to look at it so I could write down exactly what it said. I tried looking up info on the company after I bought the nest, but found nothing. Here is what it says on the front (embossed into the metal) "Farm Master" and under that it says, "Our Pledge of Superior Quality."

The lid on top of the nest portion opens up. There is also a "latch" that you can lift the lid and secure it if you want a little more ventilation in there. With it closed, there are some linear vents in the top.

I'll see about getting some pics later. When I went out to look there was one hen sitting in there and 6 more eggs. I always hate to bother them. I peeked in and she gave me the "stink eye."

Oh, BTW, my husband raised percherons for a number of years. We sold the last of them a few years ago. I do miss them.

 

[perchie.girl]

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Oh goody a rolled edge. Drawing and rolling on a circle is easy for a sheetmetal shop to do. I will Dig up Farm master brands and see what I can find. LOL I love that stink eye.
A good couple of pictures and I should be able to knock out a design for it if the patent has expired. Heck even if it hasnt I should be ablet to create something that is similar without infringing. thanks a bunch.


My girl is a sweetie. Out of 44 years of having horses she is my first draft and I have had her now eleven years. I promised her she would have a forever home with me when I bought her. Canadian bloodlines on half her sires side so she has a little more feather. Believe it or not she does quite well in the desert here as long as she has some shade to park under during the hot part of the day. Its hot and Dry so the heat index is lower. And we do nothing during the hottest part of the day.

 

[elmo]

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I got my smaller ones from The Container Store:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/garage/lawnGarden?productId=10007173

You can get them lots of places though. Someone posted here a while ago about scoring some at The Dollar Store.

I did buy a larger, more expensive tray at Gardeners Supply, but I honestly like the smaller trays better. The big one is longer and heavier, and that makes it harder to maneuver out the door of the coop. With the smaller ones, I just stack them one on top of the other and take them out to the composter that way.

 

[kla37]

I'd have to say having a roofed run! Keeping the run perfectly bone dry has been nice. And the side of the coop that has 2 big doors so the whole side opens up is really nice for cleaning.

 

[OHhappychicks]

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https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/32217_roost.jpg

I got my smaller ones from The Container Store:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/garage/lawnGarden?productId=10007173

You can get them lots of places though. Someone posted here a while ago about scoring some at The Dollar Store.

I did buy a larger, more expensive tray at Gardeners Supply, but I honestly like the smaller trays better. The big one is longer and heavier, and that makes it harder to maneuver out the door of the coop. With the smaller ones, I just stack them one on top of the other and take them out to the composter that way.

Ooooo! I like the looks of that!

May have to go a boot tray hunting this week! I like your coop too.

Katydidit! We also use electrified chicken netting around our chicken lot. We didn't get it to particularly keep chickens in, but mostly to keep varmints out. In the last 3 yrs since we installed it we haven't lost any of ours to varmints. We did have 2 of our porcelain bantams go missing in that time. We think it may have been a hawk, but never did find out.

 

[gryeyes]

I, too, am going to use boot trays in the new coop.

However, the MUST HAVE feature is an automatic chicken door. Pricey, yes. Invaluable? YES! I have the Foy's Electronic Doorkeeper which uses a light sensor to open and close, and is powered by 4 AA batteries, so I don't need electric power out to the coop.