Where Do I Even Start?!

[Exotica]

Finally added the hardware cloth! I am working on the roost.
My flock now has 12 chicks (dang chicken addition!!)

I will add pictures once everything is done.
A feed store 15 miles away from me was selling wine crates for $5.99
and since I bought 5 silkies to add to my flock, I bought two. I now have 4 nest boxes for 12 birds.. am I doing this right?

Back of the windows; is that enough screws?:




I found this and am thinking about using it as my roost. Since I'm obviously very inexperienced, if you guys think it won't work I'm going to scrap it and just build my own with a little sandbox underneath. What I like this besides it being free

and not having to put in any labor to make a roost is that
it has wheels that I can just wheel out to spray down every once in a while! It also has it's own droppings board that I can just scrape daily. I will also add a layer of zeolite! I plan on having Koop Clean on the coop floor. Can I use DLM in there? I'll put something at the door so the litter won't fall out when the door is opened.
(Please keep in mind that the two wine crates next to the milk crates will be moved lower to the ground for my silkies to lay their eggs in)





I also want to add that I took your advice and bought a 10 inch battery powered fan. I will hang the fan facing outside on the back window so it sucks in air through the door. Oh and it's been about 100 F in Southern California every day but inside here it is super cool. I believe it's because it has cement floors, is insulated (maybe something to do with how the roof was built too?), and is next to my tree that provides shade. In fact, it's cooler in there than my home!

 

[Mutt Farm]

The cloth looks great, plenty of screws. You might want to put a trim strip around the edges. Your nest boxes could be closer to the floor...12-24" is about right. 4 is fine and they will love what you have. Nice to have 2 different styles.
Your "roost" is clever! All hens will want to roost on the highest roost. With 12 hens, if you can put 2 long bars as the top roosts you'll have less quarreling. Love the progress and the pictures! and yes, it's HOT here! Your house will be perfect to keep them cool.

 

[room onthebroom]

My poor girls are baking too... especially the little ones who aren't used to it. We're all out of watermelon, but pomegranates are in season right now & the girls love them. I found a bunch of youtube videos that show how to cut them up without too much mess & I sometimes put the seeds in the fridge to make them even more refreshing. I'm almost out of pomegranates too, anybody have any other cooling tips???

 

[Mutt Farm]

My poor girls are baking too... especially the little ones who aren't used to it. We're all out of watermelon, but pomegranates are in season right now & the girls love them. I found a bunch of youtube videos that show how to cut them up without too much mess & I sometimes put the seeds in the fridge to make them even more refreshing. I'm almost out of pomegranates too, anybody have any other cooling tips???

I put frozed water bottles in the waterer, it stays cool all day. Also, you can put a pan of water with a frozed bottle so they can cool their feet. That helps a lot.

Here's a good discussion thread where folks share tricks and ideas. https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=Extreme+heat

 

[Emma Miriam]

Looking great! Definitely enough screws for the hardware cloth, that should be fine.

How wide (the long way) is that desk you're thinking of using for the roosts? You want 11-12 feet of roost length total for your 12 hens. Your five Silkies will probably roost on the lowest roost (if they use the roosts at all), so it would be good to have 4 feet of roost length there (they're bantams, so they probably don't need a whole foot each). And as Mutt Farm said, your other 7 hens will all want to be on the top roost, so it might cause some pecking order issues...though lots of people do it and it turns out fine after the pecking order is settled. Your ideal roost situation would be 7 feet of roost space up high (3 feet high, maybe) and 4+ feet of roost space down low (1 foot high, maybe, or even less). I think what you have would work, though.

Real DLM (where you only clean out the coop 1-2 times per year and add bedding often, culminating in 12 inches of bedding) is best suited for cold climates. The idea of DLM is that the poop/bedding on the bottom starts to actually compost, which produces heat. Where you live, you'd rather not have that extra heat...it's hot enough! So for your climate, I'd recommend against true deep litter. Now, that doesn't mean you need to clean out your coop very often. If you have poop boards and let your hens free range, you'll have very little poop to deal with on the floor, which means that you can start with a thin layer (a few inches of shavings/Koop Clean) and just turn it occasionally. You may only need to add bedding or replace the shavings a few times a year. So, you won't need to clean out the coop often, but don't add a ton of litter like you would with DLM, as that will create heat. Does that make any sense at all? Not sure if I explained that well...pretty much, only keep a few inches of bedding on the floor, and change it only when poop builds up, which shouldn't be too often with your setup.

Your coop looks really good so far! How high will the higher nest boxes be?

 

[room onthebroom]

Thanks for the links Mutt Farm! We do the frozen water bottle trick, but sometimes its just not enough. If this heat keeps up I might be using the frozen bottles on myself, or begging to sleep in Exoticas coop.

 

[Exotica]

The cloth looks great, plenty of screws. You might want to put a trim strip around the edges. Your nest boxes could be closer to the floor...12-24" is about right. 4 is fine and they will love what you have. Nice to have 2 different styles.
Your "roost" is clever! All hens will want to roost on the highest roost. With 12 hens, if you can put 2 long bars as the top roosts you'll have less quarreling. Love the progress and the pictures! and yes, it's HOT here! Your house will be perfect to keep them cool.

Oh! I'll move them a feet or two closer to the floor then! In that case, I'll add two bars to the very top and a bar to the middle one only. Will they be able to jump to the top? I'm thinking about making a separate roost for the silkies unless they can get up that high! I was thinking about instead of having a bottom roost bad, to put their food and water there so it's raised. Thank you for the compliment! I drove by it on someone's curb and it just popped in my head!

I put frozed water bottles in the waterer, it stays cool all day. Also, you can put a pan of water with a frozed bottle so they can cool their feet. That helps a lot.

Here's a good discussion thread where folks share tricks and ideas. https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=Extreme+heat

Great idea!! Today I just dunked my girls in water to keep them cool. They seemed to enjoy it and it stopped their panting instantly!

Looking great! Definitely enough screws for the hardware cloth, that should be fine.

How wide (the long way) is that desk you're thinking of using for the roosts? You want 11-12 feet of roost length total for your 12 hens. Your five Silkies will probably roost on the lowest roost (if they use the roosts at all), so it would be good to have 4 feet of roost length there (they're bantams, so they probably don't need a whole foot each). And as Mutt Farm said, your other 7 hens will all want to be on the top roost, so it might cause some pecking order issues...though lots of people do it and it turns out fine after the pecking order is settled. Your ideal roost situation would be 7 feet of roost space up high (3 feet high, maybe) and 4+ feet of roost space down low (1 foot high, maybe, or even less). I think what you have would work, though.

Real DLM (where you only clean out the coop 1-2 times per year and add bedding often, culminating in 12 inches of bedding) is best suited for cold climates. The idea of DLM is that the poop/bedding on the bottom starts to actually compost, which produces heat. Where you live, you'd rather not have that extra heat...it's hot enough! So for your climate, I'd recommend against true deep litter. Now, that doesn't mean you need to clean out your coop very often. If you have poop boards and let your hens free range, you'll have very little poop to deal with on the floor, which means that you can start with a thin layer (a few inches of shavings/Koop Clean) and just turn it occasionally. You may only need to add bedding or replace the shavings a few times a year. So, you won't need to clean out the coop often, but don't add a ton of litter like you would with DLM, as that will create heat. Does that make any sense at all? Not sure if I explained that well...pretty much, only keep a few inches of bedding on the floor, and change it only when poop builds up, which shouldn't be too often with your setup.

Your coop looks really good so far! How high will the higher nest boxes be?

It's not that wide ): Probably two feet? You gave me a great idea though, instead of having wood bars that are the length of the desk, I'll use bars that are 6 feet long (two on top for a total of 12 ft) and just have them extend outwards but attach them the same way. Hopefully they're smart enough to figure out to climb from the middle and move out towards the end. Maybe I'll just have the top bars and the middle? Or top and lowest? I was hoping to make a separate roost that's low to the floor, move this next to it and at the very bottom (where the metal with holes is) put their food and water containers so it's raised (and since there is a desk above it, no poop will fall on it). I was thinking about using DLM to make it easier for me! Is it easier than sand? Also, I'm going to unscrew all the nest boxes since I have an electric drill and it's super quick then move them lower!

Thanks for the links Mutt Farm! We do the frozen water bottle trick, but sometimes its just not enough. If this heat keeps up I might be using the frozen bottles on myself, or begging to sleep in Exoticas coop.

You're welcome to come join my girls anytime, although you're going to have to "pay" for rent by laying some eggs for me!