Why did I do that?! Door on the Floor Edition

[Megsconk]

I see the dilemma better now. How big did you make your run?

I am thinking it would be possible with a little work to make a wired in porch so they have a side door.

I also think it is to short for deep litter.

Hmmm I didn’t even think of it being too short. Ugh so much to figure out.

 

[Chicalina]

Ok. I've just seen your second pic. That run is way too small. Can you extend it to one side by like a lot? You'd need to if you lowered the floor and made the coop bigger. How many hens do you have?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Actually it dries out really quickly in the right substrate and doesn't smell at all. Even better if you have a poop board under the roosts. Cleaning twice a year beats daily sifting of sand. The sand stinks after a while too.

In the country my coop had a composting deep litter dirt floor. It worked very well. But then again it was a horse stall in a barn so had tremendous ventilation.

Yeah the problem is our coop is so small (hello urban coop!) I think adding insulation would take away so much space.... maybe that doesn’t matter though? Here are some pictures.
View attachment 2329786View attachment 2329789

I also vote run extension....maybe along the fence....then a side door which would make that floor door obsolete.

 

[Megsconk]

Ok. I've just seen your second pic. That run is way too small. Can you extend it to one side by like a lot? You'd need to if you lowered the floor and made the coop bigger. How many hens do you have?

In the country my coop had a composting deep litter dirt floor. It worked very well. But then again it was a horse stall in a barn so had tremendous ventilation.



I also vote run extension....maybe along the fence....then a side door which would make that floor door obsolete.

Lol you guys should see the look my fiancé just gave me. “Baby, the chicken experts said we need a bigger run.”

In reality though, there are 3 of them and they do range in our fenced backyard for a large portion of the day....

I have a lot of thinking to do.

 

[Chicalina]

Where are the roosts? I couldn't see them in the pics. Good news is you have loads of space to extend that run. You can't give them too much space, and you should halve the amount of hens the coop manufacturers recommend will fit.

 

[Chicalina]

See 3 hens will never be enough. The next thing you know you've got 4, then 6, then 8. And your whole garden is the chicken run and you've had to build a whole nother coop!

This is how chicken math works!!

Plan ahead and never build just enough for what you think you need. Double it. Triple it!

 

[NatJ]

One work-around: throw more litter into the coop every day, let the chickens scratch it through the door into the run underneath. You won't end up with "deep" litter in the coop, but will end up with it in the run. And you probably won't have to do much coop-cleaning, either! (Because the chickens will keep scratching it out for you.)

 

[Megsconk]

See 3 hens will never be enough. The next thing you know you've got 4, then 6, then 8. And your whole garden is the chicken run and you've had to build a whole nother coop!

This is how chicken math works!!

Plan ahead and never build just enough for what you think you need. Double it. Triple it!

Where are the roosts? I couldn't see them in the pics. Good news is you have loads of space to extend that run. You can't give them too much space, and you should halve the amount of hens the coop manufacturers recommend will fit.

Oh trust me. I know. I literally have been looking at real estate outside the city so I can just have a cabin full of hens. (Fiancé’s looking at me anxiously because he knows you are encouraging me!)

Here Is the roost. The windows are hardware cloth right now but we already have plexiglass inserts for the winter and have a plan to re do our venting higher up In the eaves so I think I have that covered at least.

 

[Chicalina]

oh that is much clearer!

You have more vertical space that it appeared at first. You could put a 3 or 4 inch lip across those nest areas to make them into comfy nest boxes and to keep the litter contained. Do they like those spiky mats? I've always used soft natural material myself.

Tell your fiancée (in due course after the wedding) that this is just the nursery coop. You'll use it to grow on the chicks you will hatch each year, and your big girls will need a much bigger coop to live in (with the new additions joining them)

It need not cost much. A used garden shed from craigslist is perfect, painted up pretty and some scrap wood for roosts and poop board. Plastic crates for nest boxes. Easy!

 

[Megsconk]

oh that is much clearer!

You have more vertical space that it appeared at first. You could put a 3 or 4 inch lip across those nest areas to make them into comfy nest boxes and to keep the litter contained. Do they like those spiky mats? I've always used soft natural material myself.

Tell your fiancée (in due course after the wedding) that this is just the nursery coop. You'll use it to grow on the chicks you will hatch each year, and your big girls will need a much bigger coop to live in (with the new additions joining them)

It need not cost much. A used garden shed from craigslist is perfect, painted up pretty and some scrap wood for roosts and poop board. Plastic crates for nest boxes. Easy!

Enough vertical space to try the deep method?

If our dogs didn’t have to share space I think we would have more wiggle room. Plus in the city we are only legally allowed to have SIX total. Dumb. But my mom did call me this week to tell me she found an incubator in her basement so all bets are off.