Farm Need chicken coop help please

[Hermantribe]

I was very blessed yesterday to be given an early surprise birthday present by my family-- 4 hens and a chicken coop with all the fixins. Prayed for this for months! I have a wonderful family .

I just have a question about the coop. It's cedar with screen mesh and a metal tray that slides out for cleaning. How do I clean the wood? Can it be bleached on a schedule, or is it adequate to remove the straw once every week or two and clean the metal tray? Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Freeholder]

You are putting straw on the tray for bedding? I've never had that type of set-up, so I'm going to say that you'll want to clean the tray at least once a week (if you leave it too long, it will become harder to clean, I'm sure). If you are in Southern California, you probably don't have to worry about chicken poop freezing to the tray -- that would be an issue here, for sure. Don't worry about cleaning the wood, unless the chickens become infested with mites. If the coop is all cedar, that may help deter mites, but if they do get mites, the little critters will also be hiding in any crack in the coop, so you would need to do a thorough cleaning at that point. Otherwise, don't worry about it! Enjoy your chickens!

Kathleen

 

[Hermantribe]

You are putting straw on the tray for bedding? I've never had that type of set-up, so I'm going to say that you'll want to clean the tray at least once a week (if you leave it too long, it will become harder to clean, I'm sure). If you are in Southern California, you probably don't have to worry about chicken poop freezing to the tray -- that would be an issue here, for sure. Don't worry about cleaning the wood, unless the chickens become infested with mites. If the coop is all cedar, that may help deter mites, but if they do get mites, the little critters will also be hiding in any crack in the coop, so you would need to do a thorough cleaning at that point. Otherwise, don't worry about it! Enjoy your chickens!

Kathleen

There are a couple of nesting boxes on one side, with straw, and the metal tray is between the ladder and nesting boxes. There is a wood bar over the tray for roosting. I was thinking the metal tray would be uncomfortable and the straw is to keep the hens feet off of cold metal and to catch any chicken poop from a hen sitting on the wood bar. Make sense? Yes, I am in north San Diego county. We might get 1-2 nights below freezing but probably not. This is citrus country! Thanks for the reply. Now I see why the coop is cedar :-)

 

[imaginative]

Have you had chickens before? How old are these?

I doubt if your chickens will spend much time in the coop beyond laying eggs in the boxes and roosting at night. I might clean my chickens poop board every month or so

www.backyardchickens.com is the absolute best chicken community

 

[Hermantribe]

Have you had chickens before? How old are these?

I doubt if your chickens will spend much time in the coop beyond laying eggs in the boxes and roosting at night. I might clean my chickens poop board every month or so

www.backyardchickens.com is the absolute best chicken community

Thank you. These are 5 month old Rhode Island Reds (recommended to DH by the local feed store), and should start laying any day. I've never had my own chickens, but have taken care of my dad & stepmom's when they were out of town. We have a fenced area where they can roam, eat bugs & roll in the dust. I'll check the website, and I thank you!

 

[imaginative]

We would love to see pics of your new coop

Here is my latest flock when they were 6 wks old. The poop board is under the perch- I use a hoe to scrape it off once in a while- but they really dont walk on it

 

[imaginative]

Here they are laying in the run this Spring when they were 1 yr old

 

[Hermantribe]

My stepmother loves to shop, and she found the coop online. I'm sure it cost more than anything I would have bought. We've been planning on making a coop, and I was shocked my stepmother was able to talk my very frugal dad into spending what must have been a lot. As I said, I am very blessed and I want the coop to last a long time. Here's a photo taken just after my DH & son finished putting it together

 

[summerthyme]

I'll admit, I HATE "poop boards" whether they're under rabbit hutches or chicken roosts. They can make a bigger stinky mess than anything else, and scraping poop every couple of days isn't on my list of "fun things to do".

That said, I'm not sure you can do much in terms of deep bedding in that coop... although you should be able to put down at least 6" of shavings/sawdust or chopped straw or shredded paper and keep adding bedding so you don't have to clean more than once a month. In our setup, we literally only clean pens once a year... when it's time to clean, it only takes a scoop shovel- basically, we have a foot of compost to shovel out. No odor, either. If needed, I add bedding under the roosts and any place that is a bit damp (around the entrance door when they're still going in and out in the snow... we'll be closing things up when the weather gets cold- like tonight, from the sounds of things!)

The chickens scratch up the bedding and manure, which blends it and basically composts the manure.

If you must have a poop board and clean frequently, I'd strongly suggest starting a compost pile close by and putting the scrapings into it... the stuff is WAY too "hot" (too high in nitrogen) to apply directly to the garden in any quantity, but that compost will grow some incredible crops next summer.

Summerthyme

 

[Parakeet]

Chickens poop a lot at night while they're roosting. We have a couple of wooden board (approx. 18' X 24" ea) on the floor beneath their roost to catch droppings at night (similar to your metal trays). In the morning I take the boards out and scrape the droppings into our compost bin with a shovel. I leave the boards in the sun to dry during the day and put them back in place before they turn in for the night.

As for cleaning the coop, we scrape down any wooden surfaces that have droppings on them with a shovel and clean up any loose feathers laying around. I've never needed to wash our coop and I, personally, wouldn't use bleach, maybe a vinegar and water solution if I felt it really needed it.

 

[imaginative]

Thats an awfully nice looking coop there. You'll probably want to keep that door open so they can move around outsde of that enclosed run.

Thats a perfect birthday gift if you ask me

 

[Willow]

We do the same thing that ST does. Clean once a year and during the year we add bedding if needed. We have two large areas in the barn that serve as coops so we just put lots of bedding on the ground in the coops.

This year we actually kept the chicken poop in a separate pile and when we added new raised beds used it as part of the material to fill the bed. We will see how that works next year when we use the raised beds for the first time.

Willow

 

[Freeholder]

The chickens will need to be closed into the coop for a week or so to start with, so they get used to roosting inside of it. And I would make sure the door is closed at night, so you don't have to worry about predators getting in while you sleep.

Looks like a really nice little coop!

Kathleen

 

[bluelady]

The chickens will need to be closed into the coop for a week or so to start with, so they get used to roosting inside of it. And I would make sure the door is closed at night, so you don't have to worry about predators getting in while you sleep.

Looks like a really nice little coop!

Kathleen

Yes, and used to laying eggs in it. Otherwise you'll be looking everywhere, and if you're lucky you'll eventually find a couple dozen in a very weird place. Or not.

 

[TerriHaute]

My chicken coops have always had a poop board, and I prefer it. When DH built the latest chicken coop, I made sure a poop board was in the design. The trick I developed was to put a thin layer of something down on the clean poop board: peat moss, pine shavings, straw. The chickens play around with it a little bit, especially straw, but it is easy to spread it back into place. Then when it is time to clean the board, the whole mess slides right off and into a bucket. Not much scraping involved and the layer of whatever is immediately replaced. In the winter, it gets dumped straight on the asparagus bed or garden. During growing season, it goes into the compost pile.

 

[Dio]

My chicken coops have always had a poop board, and I prefer it. When DH built the latest chicken coop, I made sure a poop board was in the design. The trick I developed was to put a thin layer of something down on the clean poop board: peat moss, pine shavings, straw. The chickens play around with it a little bit, especially straw, but it is easy to spread it back into place. Then when it is time to clean the board, the whole mess slides right off and into a bucket. Not much scraping involved and the layer of whatever is immediately replaced. In the winter, it gets dumped straight on the asparagus bed or garden. During growing season, it goes into the compost pile.

Terri, I am in the process of designing my next coop....do you have any pictures of yours?

 

[TXKajun]

My chicken coops have always had a poop board, and I prefer it. When DH built the latest chicken coop, I made sure a poop board was in the design. The trick I developed was to put a thin layer of something down on the clean poop board: peat moss, pine shavings, straw. The chickens play around with it a little bit, especially straw, but it is easy to spread it back into place. Then when it is time to clean the board, the whole mess slides right off and into a bucket. Not much scraping involved and the layer of whatever is immediately replaced. In the winter, it gets dumped straight on the asparagus bed or garden. During growing season, it goes into the compost pile.

This is what the feed store my Dad used work at did. They had a large aluminum pan that slid in and out (about 3'X4' if I remember right), underneath the wire the birds walked on. Every day, they had to slide out the pan and scrape it onto a large trash can using a big putty knife kinda thingy. Then they'd haul it out back of the feed store and burn it. Smelled really foul (fowl? ) but what else do you do with 40-60 gallons of bird poop every day??

 

[summerthyme]

This is what the feed store my Dad used work at did. They had a large aluminum pan that slid in and out (about 3'X4' if I remember right), underneath the wire the birds walked on. Every day, they had to slide out the pan and scrape it onto a large trash can using a big putty knife kinda thingy. Then they'd haul it out back of the feed store and burn it. Smelled really foul (fowl? ) but what else do you do with 40-60 gallons of bird poop every day??

You COMPOST IT!! And then spread it on gardens for the best production ever!

Summerthyme

 

[CnMO]

WOULD LIKE HELP ON BUYING A COOP,

Rural King ( www.ruralking.com ) has on sale a Ecoflex Fontana Chicken Barn / ECHK-103B, reg price 89.99 on sale for 44.94 and the Pen is ECHK-103P reg price is 29.73.

Would this coop be ok for 4 -6 grown pullets in a subdivision in the suburbs?

Sorry I don't know how to post the pictures

Thank you for your advise and help.
C

 

[imaginative]

Would this coop be ok for 4 -6 grown pullets in a subdivision in the suburbs?

That coop is about 9 s/f....theoretically. it works for 2 chickens. Chickens ought to have 4 s/f per bird in the coop & 10 s/f in the run. In cold weather- they would be able to stay warmer at least.

One of the best things about having chickens is- imo- designing and building the coop. Spend some time @ www.backyardchickens.com for some really great ideas and designs. Do you already have the chickens?

 

[summerthyme]

That coop is about 9 s/f....theoretically. it works for 2 chickens. Chickens ought to have 4 s/f per bird in the coop & 10 s/f in the run. In cold weather- they would be able to stay warmer at least.

One of the best things about having chickens is- imo- designing and building the coop. Spend some time @ www.backyardchickens.com for some really great ideas and designs. Do you already have the chickens?

Agreed... if you don't have *at least* 5 square feet per bird, they're just too crowded. Crowding leads to "social issues" including pecking, egg eating and cannibalism, as well as potential disease problems due to ammonia in the air and difficulties keeping the bedding clean.

If your space is limited, at least consider getting half a dozen bantam hens... the banty eggs are about 2/3 the size of the full sized bird, even though the hens are about 1/3 the weight.

Summerthyme

 

[CnMO]

Imaginative, and Summerthyme,

Thank you so much for your help and professional advise, I always learn something from you all.

The price was so cheap I thought I would buy some for friends this Christmas, I'll just buy 1 pen and coop sort of a starter Kit,

The advantage of this small unit , it will be easy to hide from HOA and neighbors

In Rural Kings description they claim it would hold 4 to 6, But I didn't think so. Thank you two for taking time to look at the coop.

And I will advise them all on the smaller Bantams.
Just giving them the Set-up with the basics will help later on when needed/shtf

C

 

[BenIan]

I have a similar set up but my run is a little longer and taller. I have about 5-6 inches of straw and pine shavings on the floor of the run and they keep it churned up pretty good. Also, I don't have a poop board. About one a week I rake the pine shavings from the floor of the coop down into the run and they churn it up for me. Then I put fresh shavings into the coop. Takes about 10 minutes. I live in a hot and humid climate and haven't had smell issues yet.