# Chickens ordered, Now on to the coop!!!



## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

Ok everybody, I really need some advice. We are getting serious here lol. I have ordered my girls (8 hens) from a breeder, she keeps them til they are pullet stage. So I will be picking them up in September. Need some advice on the run floor. I live in the Piedmont Triad region just west of Winston-Salem, NC. Our lot has a gentle slope where we are planning the coop, just enough for good drainage. However our lot is really rocky. I mean REAAAAAALy rocky. DH is not going to do any digging, it is impossible, so we are building up with cinder blocks over either welded wire fencing or hardware cloth to prevent predators. My question is what to fill the run with? Our dirt as you can see (pics below) is red, and gets really muddy. We are situating the coop back in the woods as far as possible to eliminate the red mud factor. I had thought sand, but read that if you have a lot of humidity it doesn't work so well. We thought about filling a bit with crushed run gravel then topping off with mulch or straw,I want (as I am sure everyone does) what will work best at keeping the run as dry and odor free as possible. Our situation does not allow for full time free ranging, may be able to let them out a little when we are there with them but not much. Any suggestions appreciated, here are a couple of pics of our site, Nothing whatsoever grows on the mud on the side as you can see.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Any chance of locating the coop closer to the house? The reason I ask is being that deep in to the trees and away from all the activity around the traffic areas will mean predators will be probably trying non stop to get at them. Which mean a Fort Knox type of run and coop to keep them safe. Plus the concern about trees and big tree limbs landing on the coop. I know a number of people that lost coops to trees falling on coops.

I see the low spot, not a good place to position it. If there's good run off from the positioning the only thing you really need to do is put a thick layer of straw down. As it breaks down it will create a layer of top soil.


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## OldBrickHouseFarm (Sep 30, 2014)

Good points. 
Definitely go for the best drainage possible. If it gets muddy now, it will be a mud hole when chickens enter the scene. Either go for a higher spot or build up the run area before you build.
I like in the woods for shade. Heat is harder on chickens than cold.
That said, falling limbs and trees is a problem. I had one run badly damaged from a huge limb falling on it.
After building the first coop here, I looked up and there was a huge wayward tree leaning right over it. 
It would have been so easy to fell the tree before I started building.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Same thing happened with us and a tree. Hubs jumps to fast in to things and then when something like that crops up it becomes a challenge trying to deal with it.

I was lucky with my last two coops, they could be situated away from the tree threat but still rec'd a ton of shade from the trees due to their height. 

I knew someone who put all of her coops under pine trees. Huge mistake because a big storm came through and broke the tops out of the trees, she lost several coops.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

robin416 said:


> Any chance of locating the coop closer to the house? The reason I ask is being that deep in to the trees and away from all the activity around the traffic areas will mean predators will be probably trying non stop to get at them. Which mean a Fort Knox type of run and coop to keep them safe. Plus the concern about trees and big tree limbs landing on the coop. I know a number of people that lost coops to trees falling on coops.
> 
> I see the low spot, not a good place to position it. If there's good run off from the positioning the only thing you really need to do is put a thick layer of straw down. As it breaks down it will create a layer of top soil.


Our lot is really narrow, situating it at the edge of the woods parallel to the house will keep it out of the red mud and will be about 15 feet from the side of the house. Our backyard is tiny dropping off sharply in the back to creek bottom. No room there because of our patio and Katies swingset. our property on the other side ends at the driveway so no side yard there and I really didn't want it in the front.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Then if that is the only place you will have to consider building the area up like Old Brick mentioned. Probably 2X6's around the perimeter. Making sure that there is diversion from the high side to get water to shed away from the area. Pay attention to the roof and where water sheds from it.


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## OldBrickHouseFarm (Sep 30, 2014)

Gutters and downspouts on coops have helped me a lot. Especially this year with the wettest June on record and on pace to be the wettest July.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Yep, I had to do that with my old Guinea coop. It was an existing building for livestock. The highest point on the property was where the house was, everything else was downhill from it. When it rained the water shed off the shed roof and ended up in the coop since it was lower than the outside terrain. The hubs built a gutter out of 1X4's and just like that the water problem was solved.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

I just realized that the first photo may be a little misleading. What you see there is not the start of the coop, but the fence that marks our property line. The coop will be in front of that backing up to the fence but not touching it. There will be enough room to walk around it etc. No trees in front of it, the fence behind it and those trees you see on the side. It starts on the high point of our land and slopes a bit toward the left from the point of view of the photo.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I pretty much knew that. The problem we have is that we're not there and can not see the lay of the land to provide you with concrete fixes to keeping water out.

I fixed my problem by putting down heavy duty plastic and then the bedding over top. I used the plastic that they put down to go under a concrete slab. Stuff is beyond tough. I ran it up the sides and have yet to see a tear from where I was walking or the chickens were digging.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

Robin, what do you use for bedding? I have differing opinions, some swear by sand others say deep litter method (which I plan on using inside the coop, but wasn't sure about the run.) So much conflicting info, it is hard to know what to do!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Out in the run, sand is fine. It really helps keep mites at bay. But after a while, depending on how much foreign material ends up in it, it will have to be redone. 

I always provided my non free ranging with flakes of straw to dig through and do whatever with. If you do something like that the sand will disappear pretty quickly. 

If the layer of sand is thick enough you won't have to worry about mud. But that would be a lot of sand so a strong back is needed. I think I moved two tons of it in to my old Silkie coop. After two years it desperately needed to be redone. I solved that by moving.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

Ok, the plan is to put sand in the run (it will be under roof) 6" deep. I am using pine shavings in the coop with a poop board with PDZ in it. My next question is do you put a separate waterer inside the coop for night time? I plan on having PVC feeders and waterers in the run.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

My feeders and waterers were in the coop. Driving rain will get the feed wet. Waterers outdoors can go green with algae very quickly. 

If it gets really windy quite a few birds don't want to be out in it and will stay in the coop.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

NC... Freezing? Lots of snow?

I think the idea of using crushed run gravel to build up the base sounds perfect. That will make the coop and run above grade so that the water will rush AROUND it and not through it.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

Alaskan said:


> NC... Freezing? Lots of snow?
> 
> I think the idea of using crushed run gravel to build up the base sounds perfect. That will make the coop and run above grade so that the water will rush AROUND it and not through it.


Our winters are actually pretty moderate. Some winters we don't even get snow at all, but the average is one or two small storms that will give us about 4-6 inches. Rarely temps dip below zero but that is very rare. when we do have snow it usually melts in a few days if not the very next day.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Heck, Alaskan, there are parts of the SE that would challenge some areas of Alaska's cold weather the past few years.


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## 8hensalaying (Jun 5, 2015)

We have had some unusual weather the past couple of years that is true! I think it makes the national news because it is unusual and we are not equipped to really handle it. Plus what we usually get is ice and sleet which is imo much worse than snow!


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

Yeah... It was super cold and snowy on the East coast last year. Snow and freezing means that you need to think out exactly where water flows, how frozen ground will change things, if ice and snow will make it harder or impossible to open doors and nest boxes.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I used to keep a hammer hanging on the fence wire so I could beat the lock open on my coop doors. I stored filled waterers upside down in an insulated bin so I could just swap them out in the morning. Put the frozen ones out in the sun and let them thaw during the day. Sometimes that didn't work and I'd have to take them in to thaw and refill.

We had one ice storm since we moved here. Other than worrying about chunks of ice falling out of the live oaks and not being able to open the truck doors for two days, the rest was pretty easy.


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