Need interior decorating ideas on new coop!! Please I'm New to chickens...

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rasmussenranch

rasmussenranch

Hatching
6 Years
Apr 19, 2013
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This is a snap shot of the inside of my converted goat shed to chicken coop... I know eventually I'm gonna need nesting boxes, but since my girls are only 3 weeks; I'm ok for now.. I even designed a roosting bar for them to play on for now.. They aren't venturing out of their pool yet, but hopefully this is sufficient enough. I am probably going to need to cut windows in it in the summer, but I need some help in any ideas anyone has!!! Like the floor, it's the ground. Is that ok? Thank you in advance!!
 
I personally like deep bedding method. I use wood pellets about 3 or 4 inches thick. If you wet it down it turns into a lovely sawdust that the girls love to dust in. Other people like to use wood shavings. I think it is a personal preference. The deep bedding is really absorptive and helps with keeping the smell down. Looks like they have a mansion to roost in! I love it!
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A lot of what you put into your coop is personal preference, but here are some guidelines that I found during my research that has proven beneficial for my chickens.
-To avoid feet and leg injuries, roosts should only be 18" off the ground. You can create a ladder effect with the roosts so that they can jump up to higher levels.
-Make sure they are able to roost higher than the nest boxes, otherwise they'll roost and poop in them.
-Inside coop area should have a minimum of 4 sq ft, outside run should have 10 sq ft, per bird.
-Using the "deep litter method" for keeping the coop floor clean has been easy. I use pine shavings. Do not use cedar shavings, they are toxic to chickens.

Hope this helps. Have fun!
 
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Rule of thumb around here is 4sqft per bird in coop and 10sqft per bird in run, I think of that as a minimum-the more room the better. If you have weather or predator problems you may need to confine to coop and you want plenty of room to avoid squabbles and maximize the ventilation ratio.

You'll need about 1 nest per 4-5 birds and 10-12 inches of roost length per bird. Roosts should be at least 2".

I can't believe those birds haven't made it out of that pool!! They look pretty crowded in there.
 
4' square minimum seems like a lot for a small flock; my coop is exactly 4' square, and I was astonished how big that ended up turning out to be. It looks more than big enough for three full sized chickens. For those of us in smaller yards, we don't really have the option of an enormous sprawling coop. Perhaps when you start increasing the numbers, and you've got like, 30 birds and they need their own space once in a while, I can see the rule of thumb. But by that thought, 30x4= a 120' space. For just the coop.
 
Pent said:
4' square minimum seems like a lot for a small flock; my coop is exactly 4' square, and I was astonished how big that ended up turning out to be. It looks more than big enough for three full sized chickens. For those of us in smaller yards, we don't really have the option of an enormous sprawling coop. Perhaps when you start increasing the numbers, and you've got like, 30 birds and they need their own space once in a while, I can see the rule of thumb. But by that thought, 30x4= a 120' space. For just the coop.
Click to expand...
When they say 4 square feet they don't mean 4 feet by 4 feet they mean 4²ft per chicken (eg. 2ftx2ft). A 4ft by 4ft coop would be 16²ft and would fit 4 full sized birds using this formula. That said, there are plenty of folks who have happy healthy flocks at considerably less than 4²ft per bird.
 

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