Coop ready?

[K0k0shka]

It's a little tight, ideally it should be bigger but it might work if the chickens get along well. And if you don't add any more. The shape is what's challenging - the various areas are all so narrow. There doesn't seem to be one big open space anywhere. It would be hard for chickens to pass each other in those corridors if they don't get along well. A victim chicken would be within pecking distance of a bully chicken if it tried to pass it to get to the other side. Even brood-mates can bully each other, depending on temperaments, breeds, or if one is injured. Often times they'll leave each other alone if they have enough space to stay far away from each other. But if one gets too close, the mere proximity might provoke an attack. I'm watching this unfold with my young pullets that I recently incorporated with the flock. The hens leave them alone, unless one gets too close (and by too close I mean within 2 feet or so). Then the hen would sometimes try to peck it, for no obvious reason other than because it got too close. So if you have more dominant and more submissive chicks from the brood, once they grow up and start getting bitchy about things I can see how one might try to get to the food or water, but not have enough room to walk around a more dominant hen with enough space between them, and get harassed for coming too close.

It's a convenient use of space, along the edges of your patio, but keep in mind that there might be drama.

 

[Kel45]

The whole area is very confusing for me to figure out. There is a small, poorly ventilated elevated coop inside the run with the area beneath it enclosed with HC and an automatic door and (I think) an attached open ended shed with a roost and a ramp up to a shelf in it? What's that? It's higher than the roost so the birds will want to go up there.
I would want at least 120 sq feet of space for that many birds. You may have that. It's hard to tell.
If I have this right, the shed should be the coop and I would remove the blue elevated coop from the run then add some perches and organic matter to the run for litter.
Remove the shelf as you don't want the birds up there and lowering it will put it in the way for accessing the roost and getting off it in the morning.
How high off the floor is the roost? How far away from the wall is it?

P.S. - I love the kids coop shoes! I used that style myself. But not that color as my rooster would have a conniption.

So the blue coop, I bought from someone before we had decided where exactly we were going to put the chickens in our back yard! And then I discovered that the open ended shed that was there when we bought our house can be used as a coop area.
The HC was there on the coop underneath when I bought it! And it’s only on the sides, so the chickens can run underneath all the way to the other side of the run where the lattice and vine plant is. So it’s not enclosed, I know it kinda looks like it is in the pictures because it is on the sides.
and the Automatic door doesn’t work, which was also there already when I bought the coop, so it stays open at all times. The whole run area is predator proof so I figured I don’t really need that door to shut at night anyways.
The shelf you see that is more elevated then the roosting bar is the nesting boxes that I have blocked off so they can’t sleep in them, I am in the process of lowering them as I did hear from Someone else as well that it may be problematic that they are higher then the roost as they may try to sleep there instead
So this weekend I will be officially lowering them!
and I will be adding another roost that’s a little higher then the 3ft one already there! Its 15in away from the back wall!
What kind of organic matter would I use?
Thanks so much for all this info! I’m a first time chicken keeper if you couldn’t tell haha so I’m all for any advice!

 

[Kel45]

It's a little tight, ideally it should be bigger but it might work if the chickens get along well. And if you don't add any more. The shape is what's challenging - the various areas are all so narrow. There doesn't seem to be one big open space anywhere. It would be hard for chickens to pass each other in those corridors if they don't get along well. A victim chicken would be within pecking distance of a bully chicken if it tried to pass it to get to the other side. Even brood-mates can bully each other, depending on temperaments, breeds, or if one is injured. Often times they'll leave each other alone if they have enough space to stay far away from each other. But if one gets too close, the mere proximity might provoke an attack. I'm watching this unfold with my young pullets that I recently incorporated with the flock. The hens leave them alone, unless one gets too close (and by too close I mean within 2 feet or so). Then the hen would sometimes try to peck it, for no obvious reason other than because it got too close. So if you have more dominant and more submissive chicks from the brood, once they grow up and start getting bitchy about things I can see how one might try to get to the food or water, but not have enough room to walk around a more dominant hen with enough space between them, and get harassed for coming too close.

It's a convenient use of space, along the edges of your patio, but keep in mind that there might be drama.

I see! So the widest part where the lattice is is 5’5ft wide and the narrowest part where the food and stuff is, is 3’3ft!
And yes that’s why we ended up choosing this space, it was dead space filled with river rock, so we removed all the rock to the dirt and build everything around it and I figured the cement was good as well around it, so predators can’t dig around the space!

 

[DobieLover]

The shelf you see that is more elevated then the roosting bar is the nesting boxes

You only need 2 nest boxes for 8 girls.
When you lower the boxes, instead of closing off the hole it will leave with wood, I would cover it with HC. Use the wood you cut out to lower the boxes to make an awning over the new window if rain is likely to blow in.
Put a perch in front of the nest boxes for the to fly up on. I centered mine about 8" from the face of the boxes.
Move the ramp over to the roost bar.

I will be adding another roost that’s a little higher then the 3ft one already there

You shouldn't need that. Having multi level roosts just makes them all want to be on the higher roost.
I would just make the existing roost longer. You can scout out a branch about 1.75 - 2.5" in diameter that is 10' or so long and screw that down on the blocks. Or use a 10' 2x4.

What kind of organic matter would I use?

Dry leaves, wood chips; when you clean the pine shavings out of the coop, spread them in the run. What's available in your area?

 

[Kel45]

You only need 2 nest boxes for 8 girls.
When you lower the boxes, instead of closing off the hole it will leave with wood, I would cover it with HC. Use the wood you cut out to lower the boxes to make an awning over the new window if rain is likely to blow in.
Put a perch in front of the nest boxes for the to fly up on. I centered mine about 8" from the face of the boxes.
Move the ramp over to the roost bar.

You shouldn't need that. Having multi level roosts just makes them all want to be on the higher roost.
I would just make the existing roost longer. You can scout out a branch about 1.75 - 2.5" in diameter that is 10' or so long and screw that down on the blocks. Or use a 10' 2x4.

Dry leaves, wood chips; when you clean the pine shavings out of the coop, spread them in the run. What's available in your area?

Okay will do!!!
I was actually going to ask that, I’m actually changing out the pine shavings in the coop tomorrow, but I thought it was bad to put dirty shavings in the run area? Or I guess I just figured it was since it has poop mixed in it.
I’m sure I could get some wood chips from somewhere around here, I’m located in Reno NV. Is the dirt in the run area bad?

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

If your chicks are fully-feathered they won't need heat in those nighttime temperatures, but if you've been keeping their brooder at a temperature that is cooler than your daytime temps then you'll need to let them acclimate for a bit as has been suggested.

A flock of 6 should have:

• 24 square feet in the coop.
• 6 feet of roost
• 60 square feet in the run.
• 6 square feet of ventilation.
• 2 nest boxes, to give the hens a choice.

The blue coop seems to have no meaningful ventilation at all. But you might make it into a shade/shelter structure by pulling at least one wall's siding off, maybe more. You could use it to shelter a second food/water station in case you end up with the aforementioned potential dominance issues in a narrow space or it could function as a handy piece of run clutter to offer shade and hiding spaces.

Any kind of dry organic material can be used as bedding in the coop or litter in the run. Pine shavings in the coop and coarse wood chips in the run are frequently recommended, but many materials are locally-available and can be effective. My favorite for the run is pine straw, but that's only readily available in the Southeast.

Additionally, I find that a mix of materials works better than any 1 material used alone.

One of the great things here is that you can try whatever you can readily and affordably get, use if for 6-8 weeks, and decide if you like it or want something else.

Here's my article on Deep Bedding for the coop: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

And some rambling thoughts on run litter: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/thoughts-on-bedding-litter-why-i-chose-straw-today.1481550/

 

[DobieLover]

Okay will do!!!
I was actually going to ask that, I’m actually changing out the pine shavings in the coop tomorrow, but I thought it was bad to put dirty shavings in the run area? Or I guess I just figured it was since it has poop mixed in it.
I’m sure I could get some wood chips from somewhere around here, I’m located in Reno NV. Is the dirt in the run area bad?

Plain dirt can get muddy (probably not in your area though) but having organic matter to compost with the poop and give the birds something to scratch around in is always better.

 

[Kel45]

Welcome to BYC.

If your chicks are fully-feathered they won't need heat in those nighttime temperatures, but if you've been keeping their brooder at a temperature that is cooler than your daytime temps then you'll need to let them acclimate for a bit as has been suggested.

A flock of 6 should have:

• 24 square feet in the coop.
• 6 feet of roost
• 60 square feet in the run.
• 6 square feet of ventilation.
• 2 nest boxes, to give the hens a choice.

The blue coop seems to have no meaningful ventilation at all. But you might make it into a shade/shelter structure by pulling at least one wall's siding off, maybe more. You could use it to shelter a second food/water station in case you end up with the aforementioned potential dominance issues in a narrow space or it could function as a handy piece of run clutter to offer shade and hiding spaces.

Any kind of dry organic material can be used as bedding in the coop or litter in the run. Pine shavings in the coop and coarse wood chips in the run are frequently recommended, but many materials are locally-available and can be effective. My favorite for the run is pine straw, but that's only readily available in the Southeast.

Additionally, I find that a mix of materials works better than any 1 material used alone.

One of the great things here is that you can try whatever you can readily and affordably get, use if for 6-8 weeks, and decide if you like it or want something else.

Here's my article on Deep Bedding for the coop: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

And some rambling thoughts on run litter: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/thoughts-on-bedding-litter-why-i-chose-straw-today.1481550/

Thanks so much!!!
Could I just cut two small square windows on each side with our electric hand saw and cover it with hardware cloth for more ventilation?

 

[3KillerBs]

Thanks so much!!!
Could I just cut two small square windows on each side with our electric hand saw and cover it with hardware cloth for more ventilation?

In your temperatures in the direct sun it's likely to be an absolute oven unless you've got way over the recommended ventilation minimums.

My outdoor brooder is a 4x8 structure with 16 square feet of permanent (24/7/365), ventilation and another 10 square feet of supplemental ventilation but I had to put a picnic fly up for shade to keep the inside temperatures under 100F on a sunny, 93F day.

 

[Kel45]

In your temperatures in the direct sun it's likely to be an absolute oven unless you've got way over the recommended ventilation minimums.

My outdoor brooder is a 4x8 structure with 16 square feet of permanent (24/7/365), ventilation and another 10 square feet of supplemental ventilation but I had to put a picnic fly up for shade to keep the inside temperatures under 100F on a sunny, 93F day.

View attachment 2762070

So the blue coop is for the most part of the day, covered with shade,
Between the shade from the lattice and the shade tarp we pinned up on the side of the run structure to stop the afternoon sun from hitting that area as bad, it is for the most part in shade!
The shade fabric we bought and hung says protects up to 90% of UV rays and reduces temps up to as much as 15 degrees, and I have sat in the run on some of the hottest days so far this year, and it does feel much better after adding those tarps.
I also have a mister over that area of the run hoping it would also help!