Catio to Hen House

[krthaymp]

I do recommend that you use the brick pavers or cinder blocks as an actual "foundation" to raise the catio up, if that's the route you go.

So I'm thinking DLM may actually work best in this way for the chickens and cleaning amount, but my drawback is 1. finding enough yard debris and new material to add and 2. I'm really unsteady on my feet and afraid of tipping over in the coop. Not something I want to fall onto/into. I think I can compensate for that, and it's probably not going to be as bad as I'm afraid it will be.

When you say paver bricks as the foundation, I'm thinking of a perimeter made of the pavers that the frame of the catio sits on with the inside of the catio on ground. Do you mean that or making a solid patio floor were the substrate would be on top of the concrete pavers?

So I would probably leave the platforms, and just add a roosting bar or two that run across from one side to the other, above most of the other stuff. Think about which ways you will walk inside, and run the bar so it doesn't cross that space.

I might worry about chickens catching toes in the wobbly bridge/hammock thing, so I'd be inclined to leave it out or replace it with a plain board (wide like a shelf or skinnier like a roost).

Hammocks are definitely coming out - should have mentioned that. I have plans for THOSE in the house for the cat. I'm thinking of doing two heights of nesting boxes... I can convert the two boxes this comes with, use two buckets, and two milk crates. That should cover everyone's favorites, haha! I'll eventually modify one of the outside panels so I can access the eggs without going in, but that's a project for another time.

And now that you mention it, it probably will be easier to leave the platforms and run a roosting bar or two across the whole structure, but I'll need to see once I've got the space built where they'll fit best.

And I haven't mentioned it before, but I'm adding the plastic or metal corrugated roofing panels, and they will overhand a bit to help keep rain out, since I'm leaving a space open all around above roosting height.

A plan is coming together! Getting excited finally instead of stressed about housing.

 

[NatJ]

I'm thinking of doing two heights of nesting boxes... I can convert the two boxes this comes with, use two buckets, and two milk crates. That should cover everyone's favorites, haha!

How many hens do you plan to have? Most hens are quite happy to share nestboxes, so 6 nests would probably be enough for about 24 hens (which is more than you should have in that amount of space.) Unless they all go broody at once, which is the only time it does help to have as many nests as there are hens.

Or are you figuring they will all share 2 nests, and you don't yet know which two will be the favorites? I could see that happening.

So I'm thinking DLM may actually work best in this way for the chickens and cleaning amount, but my drawback is 1. finding enough yard debris and new material to add and 2. I'm really unsteady on my feet and afraid of tipping over in the coop. Not something I want to fall onto/into. I think I can compensate for that, and it's probably not going to be as bad as I'm afraid it will be.

If you fall over onto deep litter, you just need to brush the dust off yourself after you stand up again. There might be one or two smears of fresh poop, but that would happen with any kind of litter. Deep litter tends to be more clean on top, because the chickens keep scratching it up to look for bugs and other treats, and that causes them to bury the fresh poop. The buried poop decomposes fairly quickly, or at least dries out and falls apart, so once it is buried you mostly don't have to think about it.

As for finding enough material, yes that is a consideration. But if you were to use shallow litter and change it regularly, you would probably need just as much material in the year. The main difference is whether you take out the old stuff before adding new. If you run short, you can buy a bag of wood shavings or a bale of straw or a truckload of wood chips or any of the other things you might use if it were changed regularly. Do keep your eyes open in the fall: if you have neighbors that rake leaves and put them in bags, you might be able to use those as chicken bedding and save someone hauling them to a landfill or composting site!

It would be nice if they didn't charge $200 for shipping. That makes it not on sale . I looked at a couple different versions around that price point ($436) but the one you already chose appears to have the most room for the price atm.

I see two sizes in the Amazon listing. The purchase price is different, but the shipping price is almost the same, which makes the the larger one a better deal in terms of dollars for square feet. Even the smaller one is better than most prefab things sold for chickens, but bigger is nice when possible!

 

[paintedChix]

So I'm thinking DLM may actually work best in this way for the chickens and cleaning amount, but my drawback is 1. finding enough yard debris and new material to add and 2. I'm really unsteady on my feet and afraid of tipping over in the coop. Not something I want to fall onto/into. I think I can compensate for that, and it's probably not going to be as bad as I'm afraid it will be.

When you say paver bricks as the foundation, I'm thinking of a perimeter made of the pavers that the frame of the catio sits on with the inside of the catio on ground. Do you mean that or making a solid patio floor were the substrate would be on top of the concrete pavers?

A plan is coming together! Getting excited finally instead of stressed about housing.

O. Falling inside coop is a bad idea. I fell in house almost a year ago & w/ other complications that hindered healing & strengthening, I'm just now starting to walk w/o an ankle brace in house. So I understand.

W/ little yard debri, it can be more difficult. Then, you could do the shreded paper & cardboard.

As to pavers, you can position them as part of your apron, but I meant raising your coop onto them or cinder blocks to raise wood base up from ground contact. As to having them for full floor, I have brick under our carport by the house (there when we purchased). I don't know if they installed it correctly or not, but it's uneven. That makes it difficult to clean & sweep - I've raised rabbits, ducks & chickens there. Eventually, we will need to pull up all the pavers, re-level area & add either gravel or sand & put pavers back in place. That will be a major undertaking, as full brick area is the size of one "car slot"... And like previous carport that had a cement floor, in the humidity, it sweats. This causes bedding to get wet - even when not raining.



I don't have pics of a coop sitting on a foundation of pavers above ground level.

I screen shot some pics...



I recommend to raise both the wood form of prefab coops or your catio and metal to extend their life. Its not absolutely necessary. Just helps to save some money down the road...