Chicken Coop A La Mode
I was trying to figure out what on earth to post today. It's been a busy day of errands and planting plants that have been sitting on my deck for... let's just say a long time. Ha.
Since I shared with you some chickens yesterday, I thought it would be a fine time (and I was asked... haha I won't name names) to share with you my chicken coop.
We tried to build it as cheap as possible. Which is really hard when you're just starting out on a home and don't have that nice pile of scrap materials that you tend to get. Free materials are hard to come by out here. So, we did spend a bit more than we would have liked, but, it works! Chickens see happy!
DA BUILD
Not a whole lot to say about the build. It was an interesting process, I would definitely do things differently next time but it was a great learning experience and, well, the chickens don't care what it looks like as long as it's dry and safe! CHECK AND CHECK.
Thankfully we were able to reuse some materials! The floor base is actually made from the deck off of another building that is being torn down here on the property. It was a perfect start! We used a lot of pallets in the build, but after we built we realizedc, what we did here was extra work and not really necessary, but they look cool, I guess! Haha. We covered the floor with some linoleum for easy clean up, the real cheap stuff!
Koodge and I supervising @smitty with the build. Haha. I think this stage of the build looked real nice. OH. You might be wondering, CUPBOARDS?! What?! What are those?! Well, they are my nesting boxes! I thought they would be real nice and easy. This way they open out towards me so I don't have to go into the coop to collect eggs.
So here's what it looks like open! Got those fake eggs in there, hopefully they'll lay in the boxes but... I am betting they lay some place ridiculous...
Have you ever seen a chicken "poop deck"?
Well, that's what this is! It's fantastic! Haha. Majority of poops that happen in the coop happen when they're roosting! So, POOPS just fall right into the poop deck! Then we have the small branch roosts for whoever is too lazy to get to the top portion. I haven't seen the littles use them much yet, but they're sort of dumb anyway. Haha.
So, this is basically a huge chicken litter box! Haha. I have it filled with sand and Sweet PDZ (Sweet PDZ helps with the smell! And is OK to put into your compost!).
So, about once a week, I go in and scoop the poop, throw it into the bucket and toss it on the compost pile. Here I cleaned out the far right side.
PS. Chickens are messy. I also use the deep litter method for the floor of the coop. It surprisingly doesn't smell in there bad at all! I think that Sweet PDZ in the poop deck really helps the coop as a whole. It does absolutely help that I have the window on the front there, and there's ventilation holes in the top! Though, I think it wouldn't hurt to start fresh soon. I need to go buy some more pine shavings anyhow.
Their food is in the small dishes still because I have been procrastinating making an "infinity no-spill" feeder. I will get that done this weekend and hook you up with a "how to"! I gotta get it done for my cross beak guy, really. He can get his face into the small holes but when he's hungry he's like a crazy animal and can't seem to aim. Ends up knocking it over and everything. I'll have to make a post just about him!
Here we have the chicken door and in the back we've attached the duck hut! The ducks aren't in there yet, but they will be!
So there we have it! The chicken coop! Woo! Very exciting, right? This was our first major build. Like I said, there's LOTS of things I would be differently! But, it does work, and the chickens seem real happy! Maybe I will make another big one someday! Haha!
Photos by me using my iPhone 6s, unless stated otherwise!
Check out my most recent Steemit Posts.
- Silvery Lupine [Nature on the Farmstead #2]
- What will Happen with My Steemit Earnings
- Cardinal Meadowhawk Dragonfly [Nature on the Farmstead #3]
- 200 Followers! A Milestone for a 12 Day Old Steemie
- A Free Resource No Homesteader Should Be Without
- Brewer's Blackbirds aka Crap Nuggets [Nature on the Farmstead #4]
- Meet the Chickens!
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- Nature on the Farmstead - These posts will be educational and informative about the nature that happens on my farmstead. Look forward to posts about wild animals, birds, wildflowers and plants, insects, and more!
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I really like what you and your husband are doing i.e the farmsteading, I wish more people would try to live of the land, I bet the world would be a bit nicer lol :)
BTW good to see Koodge keeping an eye on things and makes sure everything progresses as it should :D
I wish we didn't have such a set back with the gardening but, there we have it. I'm really gonna miss the fresh veggies this year! Can always buy them but there's just something about growing your own.
Thanks for stopping by Dan!
The coop looks sturdy and the chickens do look like they are comfortable. Good design on being able to access the eggs from the outside. I'm betting you'll have eggs soon!
I HOPE! My favorite lady started doing the "chicken squat" a week or two ago! Hopefully she will start laying and I will find the eggs! Haha.
Sounds like a good sign! Maybe once she has produced a few, the other girls will follow suit.
You seem to walk a lot with buildings placed far from each other.
Why do you say that?
Unfortunately I didn't design the layout of the property originally, so not much say in how far apart some things are. Ha
I mean that in a good way, that's health moving around
I noticed it's the standard in large properties it's not in reason having a large property and stacking thing's in one square.
Yeah! Also something to think about is wildfire safety! So if everything is too close together, then everything is gone in one fell swoop of the flames. :(
I understand, I was just curious. :D
I hope some thing like that will never happen, me to i was starting a conversation some how..
Yes, I hope it doesn't ever happen, but it's something we need to prepare for. Out here in the summer is wildfire season.
Week before last there was a big car accident on the highway, less than one mile away from me. It caught a part of the grasslands on fire. There were the airplanes that carried fire retardant and everything working on putting the fire out. I was definitely very scared since we have no sort of emergency plans in place! Eeeeeek! Something I am working on for sure!
Did you delete your comment? I was just pressing enter, and now your comment is gone?
A tractor is a long way off for us, financially. Unfortunately! But it is on the list, for sure! My husband REALLY wants one. Hahaha. He thinks he would be a real good tractor-man! I am sure he would, but I will be a real GREAT tractor-woman! Bahahaha. Maybe Steemit will help us afford a tractor sooner rather than later! Just gotta keep plugging along trying to figure out what people are liking from me. Oooooo.
just don't do this.
One measure is to have a tractor in hand. ready to go and separate the land by plowing.
I had my neighbour once to help me with that.
Sorry for that i was using an account i given my brother .
Im telling you tractors don't die .if you really need one you can find used one with a very good deal.
Good job on the build looks like a good setup.
Thanks!!
you're welcome.
Super nice job. I love that you used recycled materials. I like the poop deck idea. That really cuts down on changing out the shavings on the bottom. Great idea! Never heard of sweet PDZ. Good informative post!
I'm glad you liked it! Sweet PDZ is advertised for large animal stalls, like horses. If that helps you find it! It's not cheap, but not super expensive. I haven't purchased a new bag yet, and it's been in there for quite a while, whenever I got it together... I don't even know when I got my chickens in there! Hahaaha - Wait I wrote it down... Around the beginning of April! So, three months! I probably put half a bag in there on top of the sand. And then I added the rest a couple weeks ago. I really recommend it!
Where's the ice cream?? I want ice cream :) just kidding. Not really kidding. I wish we could have some chickens where we are. There's nothing like fresh eggs. I had one tomato plant this year, but the dogs got all the maters. There weren't many but I guess letting them have veggie scraps on food prep day worked against me. I will have to put next year's garden out of doggy reach.
Ha. Not sure tomatoes are good for dogs! Hahha
Is there a city ordinance against chickens? Sometimes you can get around that by getting quail instead of they're not specifically mentioned. They've got a quicker turn around also!
The dogs LOVE them! I thought the critters were getting them (bunnies and racoons) but I caught Ollie red-handed or should I say red-nosed. He just went up and bit it right off the plant. Ollie is the dog in my little tiny circle picture. I'm in an HOA neighborhood. I'd get crucified if I had chickens! We are looking to move out farther where we would have some land but it's tricky to find a decent place in an unrestricted neighborhood.
Yeah an HOA was definitely on he ABSOKUTELY NOT lost! Haha