Chicken Coop Build

beatitudes8 (55)in #homesteading • 7 years ago (edited)

Chicken Coop

I was asked If I would post about my chicken coop. Well here goes hope you get some good ideas for your own coop. Its 8x12 ft 2 x 4 framed with 3/4plywood and a linoleum floor. Please keep in mind as I show you the pictures this is a chicken coop where chickens poop where ever they want and never clean up after themselves.
I have a three level roosting bar system that runs down one of the 12ft sides. We have a heat lamp with a thermostat controlled plug set to come on at 38 degrees F*for those cold winter nights.

The linoleum over the floor was one of the best decisions I made while building this coop. It cleans extremely easy and protect the wood floor from the damage from the high ammonia and uric acid of the chicken droppings. You can find left over linoleum pieces at your local flooring place dirt cheap :). The outside is a weather proof wood siding

We keep 2-3 bags of pine shavings on the floor at all times. Its great for not only absorbing moisture, but odor as well. We remove and replace the pine shavings once a year usually after winter and then do monthly cleanings on heavily "used" areas of the coop like under the roost. The linoleum makes the sweeping and clean up of the old shaving a breeze. The poop does not stick to it therefore its a simple shoveling process instead of scraping.

Here is a pic from the web of the nesting boxes that I want

Here is a pic of what we are currently using. It works but its not as easy to clean and it lacks privacy for the hens while laying.

Here is a couple of post on a chicken contest and the true story of our oldest chicken.

CONTEST
Big Girl
I also have a rain catchment system set up and a automatic door I'll go over at a later if anyone is interested.
What are some of your ideas?
We covered the windows for winter here.