chicken coupe ideas? (sorry don't know where to post this)

farmerfischer

farmerfischer

Well-Known Member
I'm new to raising chickens and live in the northeast.. Just wondering if any of y'all have any tips or tricks that can help me out.. There's certain things that I know come from experience.So I'm asking for any thing. Heating, feeding (egg layers),even composting the manure.. I have four chickens , two astrolorps ones a rooster , one amerucana and one bantam hen.
I've researched as much as a can. Just seeing if anyone can help me out..
 
Tkm953

Tkm953

Well-Known Member
I've been raising chickens in NC for years,Aricanas, rhode islands,New Hampshire reds,buffOrpingtons etc.How far northeast ?And what do you want to know,feeding (for me cracked corn,not scratch scratch costs to much and is a waste,and laying pellets) straw for warmth and nesting boxes,I free range mine every afternoon.Hit me up for specifics .
 
eddy600

eddy600

Well-Known Member
Chickens can handle the cold no problem i spray the water dishes with Pam so the ice drops right out.Most game farmers paint the inside of their coups with a mix of used motor oil & diesel to keep the bugs away.Chickens like weed work off of day light hours to lay eggs if you want eggs all year keep a light on a little in the morning and a bit in the evening so they have about 16 hours a day of light.I found Adams flea and tick spray in the blue bottle to be the best to keep them pest free and it smells nice.To keep your birds in prime condition feed them a game cock mix with a protein level of 16% any lower and their metabolism slows and they get fat and slow.YFIS Eddy
 
ROOSTERMAN

ROOSTERMAN

Well-Known Member
I have 15 hens and 1 rooster, 4 guinea hens, (and wild turkeys) in S NY, and I love all my birds.

Check out Back Yard Chickens, large fourm with tons of dedicated poultry people

It's best to have your coop in full sun or as close as possible, It should be secure from predators, locked up tight at night. Mine is about 16" off the ground so when it's nasty out they can hang out under the coop and out of the elements (this helps alot when theirs snow on the ground)
Your coop will have to have a good amount of ventilation, I left my roof rafters open but with hardware wire on it to keep animals out, I also have 1 16"-30" window as well as 2 10"-14" vents. If I ever get the time I want to cut a copula in as well.
Make the layer boxes in the shade, Outside access is nice, My roof over the boxes is hinged to allow acess.
Make your perch(s) out of sassafras if possible, bugs hate something about that wood.
My coop is heavily insulated although its not necessary in my environment
I keep one of my waters on top of a 2'by2' chunck of black marble which helps the water not freeze, but I still have to dump the ice dayly in the coldest parts of winter, I also have a heat pad under another water in the coop, Its a homemade one made out of pipefreeze heating cables with a 'thermocube' thermometer (15$) works great.

Good Luck
 
farmerfischer

farmerfischer

Well-Known Member
Tkm953 said:
I've been raising chickens in NC for years,Aricanas, rhode islands,New Hampshire reds,buffOrpingtons etc.How far northeast ?And what do you want to know,feeding (for me cracked corn,not scratch scratch costs to much and is a waste,and laying pellets) straw for warmth and nesting boxes,I free range mine every afternoon.Hit me up for specifics .
Click to expand...
I'm in the tip of michigan.. Thanks for replying.. Any suggestions on how to house an ass hole rooster ( astrolorp) and he's just starting to spurr. Should I use side cutters and clip them off as they grow.
An old women that raised poultry said for me to do that. But being in the woods I'm not sure I want to disarm him..
Anyway here's my coupe I'm working on. the run is 9' by 12' and 8' high.
And the coupe is 5' by 7' and 7' tall. The box's are off the ground about 1' 1/2
And straw lined . I'm currently using one heat lap..
 

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farmerfischer

farmerfischer

Well-Known Member
ROOSTERMAN said:
I have 15 hens and 1 rooster, 4 guinea hens, (and wild turkeys) in S NY, and I love all my birds.

Check out Back Yard Chickens, large fourm with tons of dedicated poultry people

It's best to have your coop in full sun or as close as possible, It should be secure from predators, locked up tight at night. Mine is about 16" off the ground so when it's nasty out they can hang out under the coop and out of the elements (this helps alot when theirs snow on the ground)
Your coop will have to have a good amount of ventilation, I left my roof rafters open but with hardware wire on it to keep animals out, I also have 1 16"-30" window as well as 2 10"-14" vents. If I ever get the time I want to cut a copula in as well.
Make the layer boxes in the shade, Outside access is nice, My roof over the boxes is hinged to allow acess.
Make your perch(s) out of sassafras if possible, bugs hate something about that wood.
My coop is heavily insulated although its not necessary in my environment
I keep one of my waters on top of a 2'by2' chunck of black marble which helps the water not freeze, but I still have to dump the ice dayly in the coldest parts of winter, I also have a heat pad under another water in the coop, Its a homemade one made out of pipefreeze heating cables with a 'thermocube' thermometer (15$) works great.

Good Luck
Click to expand...
Thanks.. I like stoner forums. People think outside the box on here. I've been to a few chicken forms. Didn't make an account..some sites are to lineal.
 
Hookabelly

Hookabelly

Well-Known Member
BarnBuster said:
there's a few on here who raise them i think @Hookabelly @420God
Click to expand...
Lots of good tips here. I'd add that austrolorpes are prolific layers and quite hardy to the cold. Bantams are smaller if i remember right and smaller eggs of course. We would compost the chicken manure separate from the steer manure. It's more acidic. It's got to sit out for a season before you can use it on plants. I'm in WA state so maybe dif. where you live. I know some folks here who put a few hens in a giant wire cage during the warmer days in fall/spring before planting and just move the cage around the garden. Of course the cage has to be big enough for them to walk around and graze on the bugs. We had to put a heater in the coop during the winter months so the hens and the water wouldn't freeze. Ours liked to eat table scraps (not meat) but like potato peelings, greens, rice, etc. I loved having hens.

Make sure you collect the eggs (for eating) early so those that are fertilized won't develop into chicks.
 
Indacouch

Indacouch

Well-Known Member
ROOSTERMAN said:
I have 15 hens and 1 rooster, 4 guinea hens, (and wild turkeys) in S NY, and I love all my birds.

Check out Back Yard Chickens, large fourm with tons of dedicated poultry people

It's best to have your coop in full sun or as close as possible, It should be secure from predators, locked up tight at night. Mine is about 16" off the ground so when it's nasty out they can hang out under the coop and out of the elements (this helps alot when theirs snow on the ground)
Your coop will have to have a good amount of ventilation, I left my roof rafters open but with hardware wire on it to keep animals out, I also have 1 16"-30" window as well as 2 10"-14" vents. If I ever get the time I want to cut a copula in as well.
Make the layer boxes in the shade, Outside access is nice, My roof over the boxes is hinged to allow acess.
Make your perch(s) out of sassafras if possible, bugs hate something about that wood.
My coop is heavily insulated although its not necessary in my environment
I keep one of my waters on top of a 2'by2' chunck of black marble which helps the water not freeze, but I still have to dump the ice dayly in the coldest parts of winter, I also have a heat pad under another water in the coop, Its a homemade one made out of pipefreeze heating cables with a 'thermocube' thermometer (15$) works great.

Good Luck
Click to expand...
OP judging by this guys name here on Riu I'd get info from him ....he would probably know best about keeping your cock cooped up and your chickens happy as well ....GL



Some cocks are extremely crazy and there personalities differ from cock to cock ....as well as there appearance , just ask @whitebb2727 he's got a few cock around....
 
farmerfischer

farmerfischer

Well-Known Member
Hookabelly said:
Lots of good tips here. I'd add that austrolorpes are prolific layers and quite hardy to the cold. Bantams are smaller if i remember right and smaller eggs of course. We would compost the chicken manure separate from the steer manure. It's more acidic. It's got to sit out for a season before you can use it on plants. I'm in WA state so maybe dif. where you live. I know some folks here who put a few hens in a giant wire cage during the warmer days in fall/spring before planting and just move the cage around the garden. Of course the cage has to be big enough for them to walk around and graze on the bugs. We had to put a heater in the coop during the winter months so the hens and the water wouldn't freeze. Ours liked to eat table scraps (not meat) but like potato peelings, greens, rice, etc. I loved having hens.

Make sure you collect the eggs (for eating) early so those that are fertilized won't develop into chicks.
Click to expand...
Yeah the eggs don't sit long til we pick'm up. I had two more hens but a Fox made off with them.. So instead of 12 every 3 days I'm down to 6 or 7 eggs..
 
tusseltussel

tusseltussel

Well-Known Member
I'm down to 3 hens had a dozen but they die sometimes. they are simple to take care of. they do better in the cold than the super hot it seems to me. I've never list one in winter always in hot hot weather so a moveable coup might be nice to put em in the shade in summer. it's gotten down in the lower teend and they dI'd ok but we get a couple weeks in the low 100s and they don't like that at all. good luck. proper coup water and feed they are simple.
 
farmerfischer

farmerfischer

Well-Known Member
Sorry out cutting boughs.that time of year ya know. Lol. I got my chicks from a tractor supply store back in April. For the most part I let them free range then at night they always go back to their coupe.. Turns out chickens are kind of smart. Lol. I've been feeding them Dumor layer fee. And they love Apple peels and potatoes. They annihilated June bugs this summer. Just mainly spiders now.
Quick question. Is ok to feed them egg shells..many people do, even me. Just wondering if there's any con's to feeding them their own shells
 
NaturalFarmer

NaturalFarmer

Well-Known Member
I'm up in Maine, We raise between 25-50 chickens. When building your coop, I would recommend facing it south and using the clear panels for roof to get some solar gain and early morning light in the winter. I also vent the bottom with hardware cloth just below their roost to get rid of codensation. Make sure you don't get drafts with wind but you want ventilation. For winter, I would get a battery operated lantern but no heater. Put it in the coop at the end of the day and this will give you a few more hours of light then recharge it in the morning....=more eggs during winter.
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