All About Coops Pt. 2
Flock of pastured meat birds at The No Lack Farm.
Chickens have several needs beyond food and water to ensure their health and productivity. Comfort, hygiene, and the ability to express natural behavior are all things that will enable your flock to live a productive life. These criteria are met when chickens range freely. But where circumstances do not permit such liberty, you can incorporate the following chicken coop basics into their enclosures. With a little thought at the design stage, a chicken coop interior can meet a whole range of everyday needs. Free-range birds also benefit from these provisions if their pasture does not naturally provide them. In fact for a multitude of reasons, including convenience and ease of egg gathering, I recommend some sort of chicken coop home base for your flock to return to every evening. Because the opposite is like playing with fire eventually you will begin to lose birds to predation at night.
What do Chickens Need in a Coop?
Although chickens are social animals, they still need personal space so that they can withdraw to tranquility and avoid aggression, just like us. In addition, they need enough room to stretch and flap without causing a ruckus. So, there are several aspects that you need to prioritize in the plans. Like providing enough space, the coop should be designed so that different areas meet different needs. Chickens want to perform activities together, so each area should accommodate multiple birds at one time.
Also, keep in mind the future size of the flock, as overstocking can lead to problems. Look guys, chicken math is real. If things go well a flock of five can easily become 10-15 in a couple of years. Issues you will face in crowded coups include not only disease and parasites, but also behavioral problems that arise due to frustration, such as feather picking.
Being able to perform certain activities are important to all chickens, such as dust-bathing and preening. Even plump broiler chicks who appear to sit around all day benefit physically and mentally from items that they can interact with. Studies show that adding daylight, perches, pecker blocks, and straw bales to broiler barns improved the chicks’ confidence and activity levels. Chicks kept in an enriched environment recovered quickly from stressful events. For active laying and dual-purpose breeds, pen enrichment that elicits positive natural behavior is all the more vital.
Space, stocking density, and internal structures are important to get right when building or buying your coop and run. But if we keep these overall principles in mind, we will ensure a good start for a healthy flock. So, let’s take a minute and look at chicken coop basics that are important for you to consider as pertaining to your chicken coop interior and run layout.
1. Roosts
Roosts are very important and yet very overlooked. But the fact is that chickens naturally perch on branches at night out of reach of predators. So, having adequate roost space is important, especially when training your birds to go into the coop at night. If the conditions are crowded and miserable they won’t go!
So, we overcome this issue by providing roosting bars or branches inside a shelter that we can close up at night. Bars should have rounded edges and be about two inches wide, so that birds can grip them comfortably. Height depends on the size of the adult bird. But a good rule of thumb is for your bottom perch to be at least 24 inches off the ground with each other bar at 18-24 inches higher. As far as length goes, you just need to ensure that each bird has at least a space of 12 inches wide to sit. If it is cold they will sit close together, if it is hot they will spread out. I think you, get the picture.
Roosting is a natural instinct, so you don’t need to teach them how to do it. You just need to teach them where home is. Adults who are at the bottom of the pecking order may huddle on the floor or sleep in nesting boxes, it just happens. But that is also why good animal husbandry practices should be in place at all times. Because floor nesting exposes them to droppings and an increased risk of disease and parasites. So having plenty of personal space on the roost is a must. Make sure that there is enough room for hens to get away from their neighbors when required.
2. Nesting Boxes
Chickens require a secluded spot to lay their eggs and can spend some time choosing the ideal nest. They are looking for somewhere concealed but with good visibility, just like out in the wild. Box-like structures with three sides and a roof are ideal when they are slightly raised up from the ground. Each box should be at least twelve inches wide and deep and eighteen inches high for medium-sized laying hens, with larger breeds requiring more. Depending on the size of your flock, provide 2-4 boxes (this is sufficient for most backyard flocks), even though you may find they all choose to lay in the same one. Having enough nesting boxes will help prevent fights over the boxes and broken eggs, as well as eggs laid on the floor by those who cannot wait. Line nesting boxes with comfortable and CLEAN bedding, such as straw, shredded newspaper or pine shavings. You will need to regularly change the bedding to keep it clean, dry, and parasite-free. Again, I recommend sprinkling diatomaceous earth over the bottoms of your boxes before adding the nesting material. This will go a long way in helping to prevent things like mites.
3. Scratching Area
Anyone who has ever experienced a happy chicken has noticed their trademark behavior of scratching at the ground. Chickens have a natural urge to scratch and peck the ground in search of food. Given the opportunity to range, they will spend up to half of their day foraging in this way. The urge cannot be fully satisfied by providing food in a container, and a chicken without dirt or litter to scratch will quickly become bored and frustrated. When this happens chaos will erupt, and fights will begin. When confined to a pen or coop, it is helpful to scatter a little grain in bedding or sand for them to scratch. Of course, it should go without saying, this will need to be kept clean to avoid disease.
4. Dust Baths
Unlike most birds, chickens do not take water baths. Instead, they flap around in dirt daily or as needed. These dust baths are necessary to keep their feathers and skin in good condition and free of parasites like mites. When preening, they clean and oil their feathers from a preen gland located on the top of their tail above the vent. When they dust-bathe, they remove the stale preen oil and parasites. In addition, chickens dustbathing makes them feel good!
It is important to make a dust bath within the chicken enclosure so they can carry out this behavior at will. The site should be dry, sheltered, and kept clean. Chickens much prefer dirt or sand and will make a place to bath if there is enough room in your run. If not take a large pan and put clean sand and dirt in it for them to bathe. You can also add a little diatomaceous earth in to enhance parasite control.
5. Sunning Area
Chickens enjoy stretching and spreading their wings in the sun’s warmth. Like preening and dustbathing, this is a group activity, so a place in the sun should accommodate all. A sheltered spot in the enclosure could serve as both dust bath and sun lounge.
6. Foraging Area
Free-range chickens are busy most of the day running around and foraging. If this isn’t an option for you, at least make sure your run supplies enough room for chickens to mimic this behavior. Add dry leaves, straw and shavings for them to scratch through. This will go a long way in making sure your confined birds do not get bored and frustrated. Keep in mind also that stationary pens quickly get scratched up and messy. There are coops and pens on wheels that are movable: arcs or chicken tractors. These are great if you have the space! And with one of those, you can set up several pastures that the chickens can be let into in rotation, allowing each run to recover before the birds return. Ideally, if you are able, chickens can be let out in the yard during the day to roam freely, as they are naturally inclined to return home to roost at night. You may want to protect any sensitive areas you do not want scratched up though and predators both land and aerial should be considered!
7. Hideouts and Shelter
Even free-range chickens need overhead shelter. Otherwise, they may be fearful of venturing out. Lowline bushes and trees are ideal, as chickens can hide under the canopy or within foliage when they suspect danger. Alternatively, you can put up a low-level shelter that is as simple as a tarp suspended close to the ground.
Within the coop, certain birds may feel the need to hide away from aggressors. While some will take to perches or nesting boxes, others conceal themselves inside a bucket on its side or behind a partition. Providing such recesses can help reduce aggression within the coop.
Well, that is two coffee cups worth of advice to consider when building or buying a chicken coop so I think that is a good place to put a comma on or conversation today.
Next time I think we will discuss the ultra-controversial topic of what should I feed my chickens.
Any questions, comments or concerns? You can reach me at thenolackfarm@outlook.com.
Until next time, Stay strong in your faith, love your family and support your local community farmers!
And remember those who fear God will Lack nothing! Psalm 34:9
Kevin
