Raising the Roost: Tips for New and Old Coops

It is coop clean up and building season! For the established flock it’s time to de-winterize the old coop and for those raising chicks, it’s time to start building the new coop. Since we did not get chicks this year I have been weekly starting to de-winterize the old coop, which means taking down some of the protective walls and windows that kept the cold and wet winter elements out, removing the layers of straw from the flooring, and adding the ceramic eggs to the nesting boxes to help the ladies remember where to sit as they start laying again. Whether you have an old coop or building a new one, here are some of my tips and Spring chores to think about:

old (existing) coop tips

Recently our ladies have been getting a bit of Spring fever and aggressively competing for food, oyster shells, and worms. After their docile winter attitudes, it’s been a reminder that it was the cold winter that brought them together, not the forced sisterhood. Here are some things to remember as you de-winterize your old (or existing) coop and some tips for your flock:

• hangry birds. Keep an eye on their feeders and keep them filled, as they become more active and begin laying again (they will be eating a lot more this time of year). Also keep all waters fresh and filled. I like to add VetRX drops to my waterer.

• keep it breezy. Make sure the coop and hen house have good airflow and clean it regularly as warmer temps will start to make things stuffy and stinky

• bug off. Add a fresh dose of Diatomaceous Earth to their bedding as insects are also starting to show up with the spring

• protein pack. Provide your hens with some protein, if they’re not roaming the yard for worms you can give them dried grubs as treats or different feeds have different amounts of protein. Chickens need protein to help them with things like growing nails and new feathers and producing eggs. The amount of protein needed can depend on age and breed of chicken.

• calcium. Provide oyster shells as a source of calcium, this is necessary to help with the building of the shell in the egg laying process. Without enough calcium hens can lay rubber (soft or no) shell eggs, start eating their own feathers, or have other complications. There are other options for calcium supplements, oyster shells are just the most common.  

new coop tips

If you are starting out with chicks for the first time you will start to see them grow quickly (if they’re not already doing so) and will soon be taking up the whole brooder space. While they grow and get ready to transition outdoors, it’s time for you to get ready by setting up their coop. There are many ways and some creative designs when it comes to putting together a coop, but no matter what aesthetic you want, here are some of what I consider must-have elements:

• spacing. Each bird should have about 3 square feet inside the hen house and 4-5 square feet within the coop. If your birds are going to primarily live in a specific area, expand the square footage of the coop. No one likes to be in tight quarters and hens will start get extra cranky with each other if they are each not given enough space.

• predator-proof the coop. Think about all sides of your coop from the walls to roof to floor. Chickens have predators that will try to get in from all sides, so making sure there are no spaces for something to squeeze or dig or reach through is important. I dug down the flooring for our coop about six inches and lined it with hardware cloth, extending it out about 12 inches around the base. Weasels, moles, and coyotes have been known to dig under and get into the coop.

• think smaller and stronger. Use hardware cloth instead of chicken wire, the smaller openings help keep your chickens in and predators out. I used ½ inch 19 gauge hardware cloth on the walls and base of my coop and found that to work well. Raccoons and hawks have been known to reach through the larger openings of chicken wire and grab a bird.

• raise the roost. Chickens like to sleep up high, so raising the hen house off the ground and then having some places for them to roost inside the house is important. Make sure to have some extra roosting space as the pecking order and temperatures will determine who gets to sleep where. Just remember, your chickens will poop while they roost, so stagger roosts so that the chicken on the bottom roost doesn’t look like they fell in the outhouse.

• balance out the air. Make sure to have openings for air flow and coverings for protection from the elements. Airflow inside the hen house and coop is important, this keeps your chickens healthy and the ammonia build up from their poop decreased. Roofing and protected areas from elements like wind and rain are important too, make sure your hens have dry, protected spaces to sit or roost on.

• doors and more. This is a piece of advice I was given and would pass on to anyone building their first coop: create doorways for you to easily enter the coop through. My foot tall hens do not need a 6 foot tall door, but I do, especially when I’m bringing in straw in the winter, retrieving eggs that were laid in random spots, and cleaning up in the spring. My original hen house had access from the roof, which turned out to be a pain. So when I built my new hen house I created a door on the front that is largest enough for me to lean or step through so I can reach to the back. This is extremely helpful when I am cleaning the coop and have to climb in to pick up the poop they conveniently dropped on the far back side. This also helps for maintenance and winterizing windows.

• food and water. Identify a space within the coop that will hold their food and water, make sure all the birds have access to both. I have my water in the center of the coop so they can all access it at any time, plus they don’t seem to fight over water. When I added the “littles” to the flock last year I added a second feeder so that everyone could find a spot to eat at the same time, pecking still goes on but they can still all have a spot at the table.

Raising and keeping chickens has many benefits. The initial set up takes some intentional planning and time, but once set up you will be all set! After that it’s sorting out your weekly and seasonal chores so that your flock stays healthy, comfortable, and safe.

Raising Chicks 101→

It’s chick season! This is the first time in three years that we are not bringing little baby chicks home and I am going to miss the trips to the garage to say hello to the wide-eyed little peeping feathered babies. However, if you are thinking about raising chickens, this is the time of year to visit your local co-op and have a look (I dare you to walk out of there empty handed!). I was super nervous and had already fallen in love as we brought our first chicks home, but soon learned with the right set up (thanks to the mentoring of a friend, good books, and lots of internet research) all would be fine. If you are thinking about chicks (quit thinking and just go get them), here is what you’ll need to get started:

Supplies for Your Chicks

• Brooder box: I used a 45 gallon bin, which comfortably fit my first three chicks and gave room for them to grow, it also has been a big enough space when a grown chicken needed to be temporarily separated from the flock (eh-em, our bully Miss Leggs)

• Screen lid: remove (or cut like I did) the lid and add a screen, this helps airflow plus makes the space for the heat lamp. If you choose to not use a screen beware that as they grow they may try to jump or fly out.

• Heat lamp: use a red bulb, in the case of any injury this will disguise the color and keep from the others pecking at the injured chick.

• Thermometer: place at 2-3 inches from the box floor so that you can measure the temperature from where the chicks hang out.

• Wood shavings: I placed newspaper underneath to make cleaning easier and then layered with about 1-2 inches of shavings. Don’t use cedar!

• Food dish: the co-op or online have great options, I like the kind that allows for a jar to screw on to the top, it makes refilling food easy (and Sweet Pea loved roosting on the top)

• Water dish: keep on the opposite side of the heat lamp so it stays cool. Make sure its shallow and not big enough for them to swim in it (chickens don’t swim!).

• Chick Starter Feed: chickens need different grades of food for their different growth stages. My favorite is Scratch and Peck Feeds Chick Starter and Grit. Chicks will eat starter feed until they are about 8 weeks old, then they graduate to grower feed till around 20 weeks, and finally onto layer feed. Check out Scratch and Peck Feeds’ Feeding Guide. (I’m not sponsored, I just really love their product!).

Caring for Your Chicks

• Pick your chicks! There are many breeds of chickens, who knew?! My friend shared this resource by The Livestock Conservancy with me, which helped me decide what characteristics I wanted in my flock. The co-ops will have a schedule of when they will be getting in different breeds, so you can compare those to what you’ve already picked out as your favorites.

• Set up your brooder before you pick up your chicks, this allows the heat lamp to warm up the box (your new, cold, scared chicks will appreciate it).

• Check food and water daily, as they grow they get messier (they’ll poop in their water, yuck!) so will need some freshening up a few times a day.

• Monitor the temperature, start the brooder at 95 degrees (this may mean lowering your heat lamp into the brooder box at first; don’t worry as at this point the chicks are too little to jump at it). Decrease the temperature by 5 degrees each week (just raise the lamp up and watch the thermometer) until it is at the same temps as outside. Watch your chicks, they will let you know what temperature they need, and as they grow feathers they’ll need less heat and be able to warm themselves.

  • Too hot: chicks will be away from the heat lamp, panting, drinking extra amounts of water (their poop will be really runny if they are doing this)

  • Too cold: chicks are huddled under the lamp, possibly shivering, and peeping a lot and loudly; huddling to sleep is normal (they even do this as adults), but huddling, shivering, and peeping loudly is not normal

---

Chickens Molting→

For the last two months the chickens have been molting. This is a process where old feathers are shed and new feathers are grown. This process isn’t fun for the chickens or me. As they shed their feathers they walk around looking unruly, a bit mopey, shiver, and longingly look at me for more dried grubs. I’m a sucker and a shivering chicken is very convincing, so they always get a handful of treats. During the molt their egg production goes down, or as with my hens it completely stops. This also sucks because then I’m out of breakfast and although I joke about how pretentious Sweet Pea is, I’m now pretty damn snooty when it comes to picking out store bought eggs. But, I want the ladies to go through their natural processes so I don’t use lighting or heat lamps to speed the molt process and egg laying up.

Instead I look for ways to keep them warm, comfortable, and well fed as nature takes its course. However, Sweet Pea must have gotten wind that I bought eggs from another flock (aka. the grocery store) because she began laying again on the lunar eclipse so I’ve declared her my “moon chicken”. Miss Leggs is thankfully looking less pathetic then when this picture was taken and began growing feathers back just before the snow came. I’m not only a crazy plant lady, I’m also now a crazy chicken lady and monitor weather, egg laying routines, and measure feather growth. It’s a glamorous life, but some chicken mom’s gotta do it.

As a chicken keeper my job is to keep the ladies as comfortable and healthy as possible during their molt, I obsess about this role more than necessary but also believe we have a responsibility to the animals we raise. Here are some ways I took care of my flock while going through their molt:

• Provide extra protein snacks (e.g. grubs, scrambled eggs, oatmeal)

• Keep fresh, clean water with added drops of VetRX to support blood flow

• Frequently cleaned the coop

• Extra-winterize the coop to keep it warm and dry (e.g. board up walls, keeping some air flow)

• Add an extra layer of dry bedding (e.g. straw, shavings)

• Dust the coop and bedding with Diatomaceous Earth (DE) to keep out mites