Wire size for coop floor under roosts???

[igrowgrass]

Thanks for the picture Tinzman8.

Advice is always appreciated from someone who has been where I am trying to go LOL.

I am going to put some birds on 1"x2" rabbit wire and see how they do with it. The entire floor of the coop isn't going to be made out of it, just under the roosts so I am not worried about them having to live on the stuff.

Also, my egg mobile will always be surround by electric netting. So there should never be any coons anywhere near it. If there are, the dogs will take care of them at the first sound of commotion. I'm never worried about that.

 

[tinzman8]

No problem, yeah sounds like we're building something similar, I'll be running electric netting too. What dimension is your egg mobile going to be? And how many birds you thinking

 

[igrowgrass]

I'm think about 8' x 12' right now with 48 layers in there.

I am still in the design stages, but I figure that one side of the mobile should be roosts. I can fit 7 six foot long roosts in there for a total of 42' of roosting space, which should be enough.

On the other side will be nesting boxes. I am still deciding on whether or not they should be accessible from the outside. I don't think that it makes much a difference when your coop is big enough to get inside and walk around in.

I want the whole contraption to be small enough for me to pull without the use of a tractor. I know that some of you will say that this is impossible, but part of the reason that I need so many eggs is because I'm supporting 280 plus pounds of myself lol. I have done strongman training for years and even though I don't compete (I'm only six feet tall) I'm still pretty strong and very good at pulling things like that.

Eventually I plan on getting some kind of draft animal. I will probably try to keep a few trained steers for pulling things like that. I'd like to get away from using fuel entirely if it is at all possible.

 

[foreverlearning]

I would have some for access on the outside. Yes, they would have enough room to move around while everyone else is ranging but you have to consider the ones that forgot they had a brain. Everyone gets at least one that either doesn't care or doesn't know how to use their brain and manages to block the entrance way so others can't get in. Usually this happens when a lot of them are trying to lay or eat and the "slow" one is the bottom of the pecking order.

 

[igrowgrass]

I would have some for access on the outside. Yes, they would have enough room to move around while everyone else is ranging but you have to consider the ones that forgot they had a brain. Everyone gets at least one that either doesn't care or doesn't know how to use their brain and manages to block the entrance way so others can't get in. Usually this happens when a lot of them are trying to lay or eat and the "slow" one is the bottom of the pecking order.

I don't think that will be a problem. I was planning on 18 nesting boxes for 48 hens. That one for every three hens.

The outside access would just be for me to gather eggs from the outside.

I had planned on locking the birds in at night and letting them out in the morning after they laid. I don't know how feasible that will be and if they will cooperate with me by laying early in the morning. That is just something that needs to be seen to be addressed in the future.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My tractor was a totally different set-up than what you are planning. I did not use electric netting.

I made mine in two separate sections that could be broken apart by removing two butterfly nuts for easy moving and easy reassembly. Might be something to consider to help keep the weight down.

I don’t know how you are planning on building your nests, but that may be a lot of your weight if you build them out of wood. With 48 hens you could easily get by with 12 nests instead of 18.

I like going into the coop to gather the eggs just so I can see what is going on. I’ve found snakes, a dead chicken, and a possum in there that I could have missed if I didn’t go inside.

My hens lay throughout the day, certainly not finishing in the morning. Once they learn where to lay, they pretty much go back in to lay whenever the urge hits them. You don’t need to keep them locked in there until they all lay.

I understand that you are strong enough to move them by yourself, but do you ever plan to be gone overnight, maybe go to a wedding or funeral or take a vacation? Do you ever get sick where moving them might be a problem? Maybe something to consider if you ever have to get someone else to move it for you and you don’t have your draft animal to help.

The way I envision yours with the electric netting, I don’t think you’ll need to be moving it every day. One reasons you might need to move it is they eat the grass. With the area inside the netting, you should have enough grass to last a while. The other reason is the poop builds up to a point it starts to stink. If the weather isn’t real wet, that may be a while.

 

[igrowgrass]

Obviously, if I have to use a vehicle to move it I will. I am just trying to make it so that it can be moved by human efforts. Maybe it will take two people to move it? That's possible. I just want to make sure that it's movable by humans.

I want to move them daily to keep them moving behind the cattle to help clean up after the cows. Every fly larvae that the chickens eat is one less fly that bothers me later in life. Free food for the birds. Free fly control for me. Its one of those things that is hard to pass up if you can get it.

Also, I move the cattle every day and I move the sheep every day. Moving the chickens every day is not really a big deal.

I laugh when you ask if I ever go to weddings or whatever. I don't have that luxury now LOL, so the chickens will make no difference. My house is always open to visiting friends and family. They can come and go as they please and my house is literally their house. I never turn down guests. So, they understand that I don't go to events because I will always accept whoever wants to visit with open arms.

This is one of the reasons that I moved to Georgia. I had to pick a place where I knew I would be happy for the long term. The climate and the growing season are great here. The hunting and fishing here are great. There is just enough big city/backwoods for me to find anything I need. I love it.

If I REALLY needed to go someplace or if I was REALLY sick and laid up I can call on people for help. The nice thing about growing your own food is that you don't really get sick. When you eat food that has actual nutrition and no chemicals it is amazing what your body can do with it.

Thank you guys for all the input. I appreciate all of the comments and its helping me make some decisions in designing things.

Oh, and I had planned on using 5 gallon buckets for nesting boxes. I was going to build a 2x3 frame to hold them in place and just use the buckets. I figured that they would be easy to clean and easy to replace if something happened to one or two of them. I have been using them successfully with the small amount of birds that I have now. I want to put their perch a little further away from the bucket opening. I think that it would make it easier for the chickens to land on. Also, I want to make it look a little less roosty. Some of them are sleeping on the perch in front of the nest buckets at night.

 

[aart]

Obviously, if I have to use a vehicle to move it I will. I am just trying to make it so that it can be moved by human efforts. Maybe it will take two people to move it? That's possible. I just want to make sure that it's movable by humans.....

Depends on several factors...what kind of tires you use, how flat and smooth is the land.......and, of course, how heavy the thing is.
I do hope you post pics of your build.

 

[Irishhenman]

I would use 1" welded mesh square wire ( I think it is called hardware cloth in some countries) under the roosts because 1/2 inch might be too small and a lot of droppings could get caught in the wire and the point of the wire would be defeated.

 

[The Lazy L]

1" x 1" wire screen is what I have under my BOs roosting bars. Coop is a 30" above the ground.

Chickens walk on it fine without "breaking a leg". And I have not had any predators get thru it. (Jinx that now didn't I?)