New to BYC - *NEW* Chick owner

[ChaosMom]

…Please note, i am building the run a little bigger/longer than what is shown in the photo to give my chickens more outdoor roaming space. I am looking to start with 6 hens and add more as time comes.
Coop = 7x6 (with 6 nesting boxes)
Walk in Run = 7x20
Total run = 7x26…

Hi! I’m as new as you, and you weren’t asking this, but from what I’ve read here and learned from chicken-keeping acquaintances, you don’t need anywhere near 6 nest boxes for six hens, or even for ten.Three would be plenty, and don’t be surprised if they all wind up using the same one.

If your design already has space set aside for six boxes, you might want to consider using the space for three of them as storage for small tools, cleaning supplies, and so forth.

Sounds like you will have a fantastic setup! Good luck

 

[MapleLaurelFarms]

My questions are:
1. How should I finish the interior of the walls and floor inside the coop? Do I Prime and use a Gloss Paint? or do you have other recommendations on what to do?
2. How many inches of bedding do I need on the floor of my coop? Also, what is recommended for the material of the floor? I have seen everything from people using either Sand, Pine Shavings, Wood Chips, Hay, etc.
3. Same as question 2, how many inches of bedding do i need on the floor of my run? (The area i am putting the coop doesn't really have to much grass growing). So I figured instead of the hens being right on top of the soil, that i would put something down for them to dig and roll in.

Hi, and welcome! I'm sorta new here also (been reading and following BYC for decades but only recently joined) but not new to coop builds and chickens.

The coop looks very nice and is similar to what we have, and it sounds like you have the materials and skills to build it (high five!) but a couple of things I noticed and some others may have mentioned:

- The minuscule fenced area under the actual coop... no way would I do that. The first time you have to get under there for any reason (to get an egg, to catch a chicken to deworm, etc), you'll wish you'd never done it also. You could significantly raise the coop up to give yourself more space, but I'd just build the coop at ground level.

- I agree with @Ted Brown that you need better overhangs. Unless you already have windows lying around, I'd likely eliminate those and add hardware cloth ventilation under the overhangs. This keeps any drafts well above the chickens heads when roosting and also allows in light.

- For additional ventilation and light, we made a screened coop door using hardware cloth. We cover the door along with sections of our run in the winter months with reinforced greenhouse plastic cut to size and attached with zip ties. This protects the birds from our seasonal gale-force winds and snow but still lets light in.

- Someone else mentioned the number of nesting boxes being excessive. We have had a lot of chickens through here at one time (12-18 easily) and have never needed more than 4, and there's always one box that rarely if ever gets used.

- Regarding bedding, I'd keep it minimal (2-3 inches) inside the coop because deep litter/bedding doesn't tend to work well when fully enclosed and you'll want to scoop or clean out periodically. In the run, you can keep it shallow or go as deep as you'd like.

All of this is just my two cents and personal opinions, so feel free to ignore it. But definitely share photos and updates when your coop is complete!

 

[gtaus]

- Regarding bedding, I'd keep it minimal (2-3 inches) inside the coop because deep litter/bedding doesn't tend to work well when fully enclosed and you'll want to scoop or clean out periodically.

Many good comments in your post.

I would like to share my experience, however, using dry deep bedding inside my coop. I start off with about 4 inches of litter in the fall, add fresh thin layers about twice a month all winter, and end up with about 8-10 inches of bedding in the coop by spring clean out. My coop is fully enclosed. The deep bedding system works better with more bedding, not less.

Also, I only have to clean out my coop twice a year, which I think is about average for many of us that use deep bedding. But I live in northern Minnesota, and most of the people around here don't have the ability to clean out our frozen chicken poo in the winter months.

Frozen chicken poo can be as hard as concrete.

I don't use an active, moist deep litter system because my coop is elevated and because I want to minimize the moisture in my coop in the winter. I think you could make a healthy deep litter system in an elevated coop, but I suspect deep litter was really intended for ground contact to work best.

Where you live may determine largely on what system will work best for you.

 

[MapleLaurelFarms]

Many good comments in your post.

I would like to share my experience, however, using dry deep bedding inside my coop. I start off with about 4 inches of litter in the fall, add fresh thin layers about twice a month all winter, and end up with about 8-10 inches of bedding in the coop by spring clean out. My coop is fully enclosed. The deep bedding system works better with more bedding, not less.

Also, I only have to clean out my coop twice a year, which I think is about average for many of us that use deep bedding. But I live in northern Minnesota, and most of the people around here don't have the ability to clean out our frozen chicken poo in the winter months.

Frozen chicken poo can be as hard as concrete.

I don't use an active, moist deep litter system because my coop is elevated and because I want to minimize the moisture in my coop in the winter. I think you could make a healthy deep litter system in an elevated coop, but I suspect deep litter was really intended for ground contact to work best.

Where you live may determine largely on what system will work best for you.

I didn't go into a lot of detail in my comment, so thanks for adding more info! I used deep bedding for a decade (and know all about frozen poop lol!) but I didn't like having to clean out that much bedding annually and deal with it. It took days in our large coop and run just to get it all out.

Because it stays so dry in our coop, bedding and poop would break down some but needed further composting after removal which was even more work. Of course, a lot of that does depend on coop build and climate, but lowering the depth has greatly lightened my load, literally!

You make great points so @RJM1109 can decide what'll work best for their situation, and others may benefit from this info, so thanks again for clarifying.