This is a year late but i had to comment. Im 71 and raised chickens most of my life. This is a FANTASTIC coop! On the old fashioned farm they had an old shed for chicken coops. Keep out the predators and drafts and your fine. All these other comments are a bit overkill for chickens. You did a Great job for your birds.
This guide is a good resource of videos, pictures and drawing. It does not have plans, so if that's what you're looking for don't bother with this book. th-cam.com/users/postUgkxLum--iPp9YKZ09j1BMdHaBMLkrGfIbcm What this book does have is a lot of great information on the building of sheds, design ideas, building options, etc. The author goes through the steps to build a foundation, framing, roof, even ideas on internal storage and external finishes. The text is easy to follow and understand. There are many sidebars that give tips and advice which most laymen probably wouldn't have considered. The photographs are great quality too. This is a great book and I'd recommend it highly for anyone needing or interested in building a shed.
Great job for a starter coop! I do have one recommendation: take out the heat lamp. As long as your coop is draft free with ventilation, that is all they need. I’ve been raising chickens in New England for 30 years and they do not need heat. This is a MAJOR fire hazard.
I would love to get more info about how you raise your chicken here in New England. I live in Cumberland and want to get a chicken but I’m getting very stressed of the amount of things that every one si telling me from different states. Maybe you can help me get an idea of what I’m getting into? Lol I am building my own chicken coop I hope :) I am just scared of what will happen on the winter! :(
Maria Urena as long as your coop is built properly with some insulation, ventilated and draft free, there is nothing else really to do during winter. Dry coop, access to fresh water, extra treats. They produce tons of heat so they keep each other warm.
For electrical stuff, one thing to mitigate fire hazards is getting a surge protector. Most fires start from shorts/surges. A surge protector will help w/ that.
Just wanted to let you know that I implemented nearly everything you covered in this coop walkthrough, with some slight variations. For nearly 2 years now, our chicken coop is essentially a hands off operation with some daily visits to collect eggs and to toss them the occasional food scraps and monthly cleanings. So, I just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration.
Amanda, that is a fantastic set up. Thank you for caring for the birds. I’m very fond of mine too and always am looking to others idea to improve mine. This gave me lots of new ideas. Thank you from Roseville California
chickens have feathers; they are not afraid of cold. There is no need for a heat lamp. However, they need lots of ventilation, even in the winter time, to prevent moisture build-up.
Hi there! Thank you both for taking time to show us your flock and your wonderful chicken coop. I love it! I haven't raised chickens in over 20 years however now that I have moved and am a widow, I have learned that I should add several things from my old days, such as this, "raising chickens" for me it will be for the joy and the eggs! I have subscribed to your TH-cam, so I can continue to enjoy your adventure! God Bless! Laverna S.
We started with pine shavings, but our avian vet advised that the pine can be bad for their respiratory health. We switched to straw and they love it. They can manipulate it with their beaks too and the layers make happy clucks building their “nest” with it. :)
We ended up with a free "coop" when we moved to our house in the country. The previous owner built a small room onto the outside of the house, connected to the central air system and power system. It was for keeping cats in. We took out the carpet, put hay and roosts in. 6 hens and 1 roo - the AC saved them from a severe heat wave in the summer before their combs came in, and the heat keeps their water from freezing in the winter. The storm door, siding and solid floor have kept out raccoons, possums, cats, hawks, owls, skunks and coyotes. The down side is that we can hear Mr. Wook, our rooster, crowing through the vents in the morning!
Cherna Gast I love this ! 💕 I think u would like to see one decoratated it , look at this one ! Cutest family and coop ever ! th-cam.com/video/blnII-Gz1qM/w-d-xo.html
Amanda, you guys did an amazing job building your coop! I've seen so many different ones for sale and they are cheap. None of them have even half the smart features that yours has. Well done!
I used to be horrible at building chicken coops. I used to pay a fortune for them too! I no longer suffer from those problems anymore. Here's a great guide for building affordable chicken coops: ChickCoop.xyz
I'm a young farmer who has just commenced keeping of broilers, incubating eggs, keeping free range chicks, Hans, ducks, domestic guinefouls, domestic rabbits and few goats. It's encouraging to learn from you who have long started with farming with the intension to feed the world. We thank God for such idea of releasing farming potential and close hanger and starvation gap. GOD BLESS YOU FARMERS.
Very Well Done coop!! You covered all the basics really good! Only suggestion I offer? Open that nesting box for them even Before they are 'ready' to lay. It will help a Broody hen 'get the idea' on laying. Yes, it is more to clean, but worth it. If they get in the habit of laying eggs on the ground because you didn't have that nest box open soon enough, they are likely to continue that habit. Good Luck!!
You and I have very different definitions of the “deep litter method” - I learned it from the TH-cam channel Oak Abode and she only cleans it out twice a year. This allows the shavings to break down and compost in the coop.
Not a bad first effort, but I do have a couple of suggestions: You are defeating the purpose of the deep litter system inside the hen house by cleaning it so often. A deep litter system is almost like a compost or healthy soil, and I believe your chooks will get health benefits, when you actually let the fungi and bacteria develop in your litter and by removing it so completely and so often you are starting from scratch each time you clean the coop. Make sure that litter is at least 4 inches deep to start, then add light layers of litter as necessary. Continue to do this until it is to deep to accommodate within your coop. It should last at least a year. When you do finally clean out the coop, make sure to leave some of the old litter in the coop, so those microbes are retained to inoculate the new litter. It would have been good if you had built your coop to accommodate at good 10 to 12 inches depth of litter. You need to do more research on the health benefits of deep litter as you are missing the point. Now for the chicken run: You are concerned about moisture, so use woodchips to the depth of 8 to 12 inches. A cubic meter of woodchips can hold up to 700 litres of water, so they are ideal for preventing your run getting muddy. The carbon of the wood will use the nitrogen of the chicken poo to breakdown, keeping your run odor free and dry. No need to continuously clean out your run. It will eventually breakdown and be a huge bonus for your garden. You have the best free compost workers in those hens, so why on earth is your compost pile not in the chicken run. Chickens adore scratching through compost, turning it for free. It gives them something to do. Every now and then, pile it up for them again, sprinkling some grain in it for them to find, and it will keep them happy and busy. All your kitchen scraps, weeds, fall leaves, grass clippings should be going into that little run to make your chickens happy and give you a great compost. Less with the clean and tidy and more organic matter and your chickens will thank you.
Absolutely, and I hope she pays attention to sound advice. So many new chicken keepers go immediately to TH-cam to share what they do, without thinking that they could be way off of what they should be doing. it's cultural these days. So anxious to share, without doing thoughtful research. Thanks Kazzana, chickens everywhere appreciate you :)
lol, I love keeping chickens. They are so much more than most people think. For such timid birds, they can be so brave. I have seen mine face off a hawk to protect her chicks. That takes guts. My dog was late to the party. I forgot to tell her about insoluble grit, like granite, and can't bear to watch that video again, to see if she had it covered. All the best from New Zealand.
Good advice Kazzana! So much is wrong with this. Here is one for you, I don't ever clean my run, I wish I would have never built a stationary run and coop! I take my old deep liter and put it in the run. I have poo boards so my litter stays pretty clean. My run is on a hill so my litter ends up on one side of the run and I noticed it working it's way out of the run, and what is on the ground is the most beautiful compost and I didn't even move it all I have to do is dig it up and put it straight on my garden! I also spread fresh straw when the run gets to mucky from wet weather. Only because I don't like washing my eggs all the time. And I never spread the wood chips I just put them in a pile and the chickens take care of the rest. Let your chickens do the work! They don't mind, they love to scratch!
Love it! I do not recommend using a heat lamp. We used to use them, but they are a fire hazard and we had 2 of them explode. I found the heat mats are much safer and the chickens have to option to be on them if they need and off if they don't. We put them on top of cinder blocks so they are not in the bedding. Of course, they are not put outside until they have feathers. For the pen we put down 2-3' of pea gravel and I hose it down every day to wash the poop down. I tried other methods and just had mud when it rained. Our chickens free range in our fenced yard during the day and they are shut in at dusk.
Your coop is pretty good. I would do one further thing though. Add a sand box. Chickens like all birds bathe by rolling in the sand. It also cleans the mites and redistributes the oils on their feathers. No need for anything elaborate just dig 1" of soil from under the house and walkway and add sand. Keep your chickens happier and healthier. God Bless
I'm just conversing here....I too added a heat lamp when the temperature went down to 18% here in SC. My husband almost had a fit because he was worried about fire. I ignored him untill I read an article on The Chicken Chick website. I hadn't thought thru floating feathers, flying chickens, shavings, etc. The coops lost by fire freaked me out and I got rid of it. There is a flat screen heater for coops that I would consider.
I love that you made the coop large enough for the chickens to run around. Chickens love having room and places to exploring. Going to upgrade to your style of feeding system this spring!
Love the video and the names of your lil babies! Unfortunately in Louisiana that coup would blow over on hurricane season. We gotta build it with 4x's the lumber.
For safety: make a hard wire cloth basket to enclose the heat lamp and secure to the ceiling with wire. For predator protection: use plywood strips to secure all hard wire cloth by pinching it in between two layers of wood that are screwed together (racoons can easily pry open the edges where you attached the hard wire cloth to the wood, given enough time for them to get to figure out your setup - they kill every bird in the coop as soon as they get a small opening to get in); cement and/or skirt all walls by laying hardwire cloth or stall mats around the edges. I ended up laying hardwire cloth on the floor and cementing the edges and all seams and putting soil on top, so nothing could get in from the floor.
If you want a great tip .. put a compost bin in your chicken run .. Use it for all your wood shavings from the coop and add in any green leaves, grass clippings etc from the garden or kitchen .. The hens will love it, it provides a natural extra food source .. and you will end up with outstanding compost and lower food bills, and healthier happier hens
I have been searching How to bu8lt chicken coop. Your coop is the most simple, easy to clean, and sturdy enough against predators, i love it. I have four girls, and I'm planning to build just like yours except for the roof. Mine will have full roof, because chicken run can be soak real bad when it rains. Thank you so much.
Great video and great time saving, work saving ideas. I keep a few chickens as well. The naysayers don't know what they are talking about. You have incorporated a lot of good ideas that are well thought out. Any time you build something from scratch, plans always need a little tweaking, but that is to be expected. Great job. Thanks.
You don't have to clean the run. Put your compost pile in the chicken run. Chickens speed the process up and they love digging through the pile especially if you mix grain in it
So glad to see that people can love chickens and make their lives so comfortable and safe. I subscribed and loved this informative video. Viva chickens!
Good job! Easy access is important. In my barn, I built a couple of small rooms for the hens during the cold Northern Michigan winters. Cleaning those rooms is like doing Yoga.
Thank you! You are a smart, articulate woman with a very comfortable demeanor that makes you easy to listen to, understand and also retain the info given as the mind is neither wandering nor stunned at some bad "yoke". SO GLAD I found your videos! I LOVE what you've done here, why, and that you've shared. Keep on Keepin' on!!
Dagem Mengesha I love this ! 💕 I think u would like to see one decoratated it , look at this one ! Cutest family and coop ever ! @Weed ‘em & Reap is the best channel ever !!! I want everyone to know ! th-cam.com/video/blnII-Gz1qM/w-d-xo.html
As a liberal finding herself, she has no clue that things have natural tendencies. She probably spent as much time writing chicken laws as she did building this coop.😂
Just a suggestion regarding critters esp raccoons. ....they are super smart. Add a latch with a hole you can hook a carbiner into to secure (where a padlock would normally go ) raccoons can undo and open barrel locks with the notch .... Great set up !!!
Love how simple you kept this. I never seen feeders like that but love that idea.. Great job. Subscribed to your channel. You clearly put in alot of thought for your chickens comfort. :-)
I have 17 hens and 2 roo's i made a few different styles of nests i tried on the floor low level nest and a few 4 feet high. I found they like the higher nests not sure why but they picked 2 and thats where they lay. I used natural tree roosts as well they do like to cuddle i had to completely cover the coop with wire because of predators. They have been a true hassle. Thanks for sharing and Takecare and keep safe.
They will always roost and lay at the highest possible point. If they could access the roof they would probably go there. Throwback instinct from living in the wild.💕
I am most certainly going to enjoy this. My wife and I are planning to move back to her country of origin and we will most certainly have chickens running around there along with other things. Those these chickens may not be able to stand the weather there, I will still learn loads so I'm not making dumb mistakes. Thanks so much.
At 06:47 are those marijuana plants growing in the background? If not, what are they? Thanks. And won't the hardware cloth on the run cave in with snowloads?
great ideas and great video! thanks. you mentioned near the end that you got into raising chickens to take care of your tick problem in your lawn. since the chickens are enclosed in the run/coop, how often do you let them out of the enclosed area for them to get rid of the ticks?
Having seen a number of chicken coops over the years, I'm really impressed with the thought put into your design! This is something I'd like to copy when I get into a place of my own. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the great video. Could you please tell me where you got the waterer assembly with the little yellow tab that the chickens peck to get water. I think that is a fabulous idea and have never seen one. Appreciate all the effort to bring this video to TH-cam and share with us. Thanks again!
I built a coop on 2" x 8" skids. Every 4 to 6 months I would drag it to a new spot, leaving a great new gardening plot each time. And I have a dog named biggie-shortie, cause she's big and short-legged. No other reason...
Nice coop Amanda. You and your husband did a good job. My husband and I just finished building an area around our coop, but it is difficult to clean. I like your idea. Best of all is the trough PVC system. Going to definitely back that too! Thanks for sharing.
Awesome! That was inspiring and so simple!!! Also, every little detail was thought out well. Thank you for making it a little less huge and scary seeming for us who just have eggs about to hatch, knowing I have to probably get started on a coop for the Summer. And I love the names! :)
Nice job, great suburban coop. I have the same restrictions in my community, 6 birds max. The automatic feeders and waterer are a great time saver when you have to commute to work. Smart! Not everyone can live the farm dream. You made owning chickens work in your context. Congrats!
i would never live in a community how can you deal with ppl saying what u can n cant do. i have a few dozen but i could have a few thousand and still nobody could say shit. i love my freedom too much. i can walk out, or open a window and shoot whatever, or whenever i want for example. grow a few dozen pot plants in my front yard..i guess when your used to living with no freedom youre immune to it
Like your chicken coop, great ideas ! i just hope you have latches that lock, any kind of predator with hand like feet could very easily open that lid . When chickens start laying I would make sure you have a safe locking system !!
Logical Guy I love this ! 💕 I think u would like to see one decoratated it , look at this one ! Cutest family and coop ever ! th-cam.com/video/blnII-Gz1qM/w-d-xo.html
One of my friends has ten chickens and a rooster. They free roam her farm. A hawk got one but for the most part nothing bothers them. There are four dogs and ten cats that roam the property that were raised with chickens so they all get along. I’m sure the dogs and cats help put off predators. She has a coop and the rooster rounds them up each night and then the lady closes the door. The only issue with that set up is they poop all over the drive way and porches which sucks.
I'm not offended at all. Those are black created names. We should be proud that they are being pronounced correctly and accepted, even if only for chickens. What starts out as a joke will be taken very seriously in the future.
Do you have a lay out of the plans used to build this? I'm wanting get chickens and this looks like a perfect set up. I need ease and efficiency as well.
Im about to build my first chicken coop, i'm a professional flooring guy of 20+ years, you best believe the floor of mine is getting some sort of vinyl floor put down on it hehe, I got a big smile when you said yours ways, good thinkin
There are many interesting and more advanced things, even a chicken coop, in developed countries. I think we are in Indonesia more than 200 hundred years left behind. Beautiful.
Great set-up...Maybe think about putting a screen over the top of the pipe coming from the end of the gutter to prevent leaves from going into rain barrell. Just a thought.
11:31 There is a screen on the rain barrel, though putting another on top of the pipe to prevent it from collecting twigs and leaves would also make sense.
It doesn't have to be an exact size - you design the floor size based on the number of chickens you have/want (and make it bigger because of "chicken math") - the rule is 2 sq. ft per bird, but if you have bad weather/cold winters, you'll want 4 sq ft per bird (so, 6 chickens will be 24 sq ft which can be 4' x 6'. Make it 4' x 8', the size of a sheet of plywood and you can have a doz. birds). Another way to build it is to base it on the size lumber you can get, like pallets and plywood sheets (4' x 8') then build on it from there. Don't make the walls too high if you get cold winters but high if you have hot summers. Ventilation holes should be at least 1" in diameter and on opposite walls like they showed. If you have cold winters, design the nesting boxes to be inside unless you want frozen eggs. Or, be there to collect them not long after they're laid.
I haven't found another one easier to build or clean,I love it! This design has a large front open air vent in the front and a roost in the back which allows the chickens to huddle up and stay warm in the back while getting plenty of fresh air at night even with the door closed.I'm building one very similar .The only time the vent needs closed is when its around zero or below otherwise chickens need all the fresh air they can get.
This is a year late but i had to comment. Im 71 and raised chickens most of my life. This is a FANTASTIC coop! On the old fashioned farm they had an old shed for chicken coops. Keep out the predators and drafts and your fine. All these other comments are a bit overkill for chickens. You did a Great job for your birds.
Agreed. When your chickens are a main protein source for your family you gotta keep them safe
This guide is a good resource of videos, pictures and drawing. It does not have plans, so if that's what you're looking for don't bother with this book. th-cam.com/users/postUgkxLum--iPp9YKZ09j1BMdHaBMLkrGfIbcm What this book does have is a lot of great information on the building of sheds, design ideas, building options, etc. The author goes through the steps to build a foundation, framing, roof, even ideas on internal storage and external finishes. The text is easy to follow and understand. There are many sidebars that give tips and advice which most laymen probably wouldn't have considered. The photographs are great quality too. This is a great book and I'd recommend it highly for anyone needing or interested in building a shed.
Great job for a starter coop! I do have one recommendation: take out the heat lamp. As long as your coop is draft free with ventilation, that is all they need. I’ve been raising chickens in New England for 30 years and they do not need heat. This is a MAJOR fire hazard.
Instant fried chi....ah nevermind...
I would love to get more info about how you raise your chicken here in New England. I live in Cumberland and want to get a chicken but I’m getting very stressed of the amount of things that every one si telling me from different states. Maybe you can help me get an idea of what I’m getting into? Lol I am building my own chicken coop I hope :) I am just scared of what will happen on the winter! :(
Maria Urena as long as your coop is built properly with some insulation, ventilated and draft free, there is nothing else really to do during winter. Dry coop, access to fresh water, extra treats. They produce tons of heat so they keep each other warm.
I took the heat lamp out, but then the rooster started smoking, so the fire hazard remained.
For electrical stuff, one thing to mitigate fire hazards is getting a surge protector.
Most fires start from shorts/surges. A surge protector will help w/ that.
Just wanted to let you know that I implemented nearly everything you covered in this coop walkthrough, with some slight variations. For nearly 2 years now, our chicken coop is essentially a hands off operation with some daily visits to collect eggs and to toss them the occasional food scraps and monthly cleanings. So, I just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration.
Glad to hear it's working for you! Since this video we've made some upgrades we'll be sharing soon!
Amanda, that is a fantastic set up. Thank you for caring for the birds. I’m very fond of mine too and always am looking to others idea to improve mine. This gave me lots of new ideas. Thank you from Roseville California
chickens have feathers; they are not afraid of cold. There is no need for a heat lamp. However, they need lots of ventilation, even in the winter time, to prevent moisture build-up.
Am I the only one speechless on the names? Alrighty, then. :) Excellent video.
Definitely not the only one.
@@s0mas91 facts lol
Def not
And then there’s just Lucy.
I thought the same thing 🤣🤣🤣
Nice Plants, I'm hoping to be legal soon here in Florida. Also, Great coop design. Thanks for the inspiration!
Like a legal citizen? If so, good luck man!
@@slugoo6474 😂😅 they were talking about her pot(weed) plants, n pots by the chicken coop
Hi there! Thank you both for taking time to show us your flock and your wonderful chicken coop. I love it! I haven't raised chickens in over 20 years however now that I have moved and am a widow, I have learned that I should add several things from my old days, such as this, "raising chickens" for me it will be for the joy and the eggs! I have subscribed to your TH-cam, so I can continue to enjoy your adventure! God Bless! Laverna S.
Thanks for your kind words and good luck with your flock!
We started with pine shavings, but our avian vet advised that the pine can be bad for their respiratory health. We switched to straw and they love it. They can manipulate it with their beaks too and the layers make happy clucks building their “nest” with it. :)
We ended up with a free "coop" when we moved to our house in the country. The previous owner built a small room onto the outside of the house, connected to the central air system and power system. It was for keeping cats in. We took out the carpet, put hay and roosts in. 6 hens and 1 roo - the AC saved them from a severe heat wave in the summer before their combs came in, and the heat keeps their water from freezing in the winter. The storm door, siding and solid floor have kept out raccoons, possums, cats, hawks, owls, skunks and coyotes.
The down side is that we can hear Mr. Wook, our rooster, crowing through the vents in the morning!
Cherna Gast I love this ! 💕 I think u would like to see one decoratated it , look at this one ! Cutest family and coop ever ! th-cam.com/video/blnII-Gz1qM/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for sharing this lovely coop and all your great innovations!! Happy birds!! xx
Hey Amanda and husband. You did an excellent job on the coop. Also a really good video presentation.!
Amanda, you guys did an amazing job building your coop! I've seen so many different ones for sale and they are cheap. None of them have even half the smart features that yours has. Well done!
I used to be horrible at building chicken coops. I used to pay a fortune for them too! I no longer suffer from those problems anymore. Here's a great guide for building affordable chicken coops: ChickCoop.xyz
I'm a young farmer who has just commenced keeping of broilers, incubating eggs, keeping free range chicks, Hans, ducks, domestic guinefouls, domestic rabbits and few goats.
It's encouraging to learn from you who have long started with farming with the intension to feed the world. We thank God for such idea of releasing farming potential and close hanger and starvation gap. GOD BLESS YOU FARMERS.
Very Well Done coop!! You covered all the basics really good! Only suggestion I offer? Open that nesting box for them even Before they are 'ready' to lay. It will help a Broody hen 'get the idea' on laying. Yes, it is more to clean, but worth it. If they get in the habit of laying eggs on the ground because you didn't have that nest box open soon enough, they are likely to continue that habit. Good Luck!!
Thanks so much for the tour Amanda! Really enjoyed seeing your feeding system!
My favorite part of the video. Oh and the over- sized rain barrel is very clever too.
Nice coop. Thank you Amanda for the lovely video!
You and I have very different definitions of the “deep litter method” - I learned it from the TH-cam channel Oak Abode and she only cleans it out twice a year. This allows the shavings to break down and compost in the coop.
Prob stinks bad
@@truthseeker1364 doesn’t stink at all! I’ve been doing this all summer and my coop smells great :)
@@samanthaquant7411 cool
Thanks for replying
yeah i would think it would work much like a composting toilet.
Not a bad first effort, but I do have a couple of suggestions: You are defeating the purpose of the deep litter system inside the hen house by cleaning it so often. A deep litter system is almost like a compost or healthy soil, and I believe your chooks will get health benefits, when you actually let the fungi and bacteria develop in your litter and by removing it so completely and so often you are starting from scratch each time you clean the coop. Make sure that litter is at least 4 inches deep to start, then add light layers of litter as necessary. Continue to do this until it is to deep to accommodate within your coop. It should last at least a year. When you do finally clean out the coop, make sure to leave some of the old litter in the coop, so those microbes are retained to inoculate the new litter. It would have been good if you had built your coop to accommodate at good 10 to 12 inches depth of litter. You need to do more research on the health benefits of deep litter as you are missing the point.
Now for the chicken run: You are concerned about moisture, so use woodchips to the depth of 8 to 12 inches. A cubic meter of woodchips can hold up to 700 litres of water, so they are ideal for preventing your run getting muddy. The carbon of the wood will use the nitrogen of the chicken poo to breakdown, keeping your run odor free and dry. No need to continuously clean out your run. It will eventually breakdown and be a huge bonus for your garden.
You have the best free compost workers in those hens, so why on earth is your compost pile not in the chicken run. Chickens adore scratching through compost, turning it for free. It gives them something to do. Every now and then, pile it up for them again, sprinkling some grain in it for them to find, and it will keep them happy and busy. All your kitchen scraps, weeds, fall leaves, grass clippings should be going into that little run to make your chickens happy and give you a great compost.
Less with the clean and tidy and more organic matter and your chickens will thank you.
Thank you! A voice of reason in a world if ignorance. Terrible poultry conditions here, so sad
Thanks, I was hoping I wasn't too harsh, but a lady that takes the time to find those names, lol, might also take the time to consider my input.
Absolutely, and I hope she pays attention to sound advice. So many new chicken keepers go immediately to TH-cam to share what they do, without thinking that they could be way off of what they should be doing. it's cultural these days. So anxious to share, without doing thoughtful research. Thanks Kazzana, chickens everywhere appreciate you :)
lol, I love keeping chickens. They are so much more than most people think. For such timid birds, they can be so brave. I have seen mine face off a hawk to protect her chicks. That takes guts. My dog was late to the party.
I forgot to tell her about insoluble grit, like granite, and can't bear to watch that video again, to see if she had it covered. All the best from New Zealand.
Good advice Kazzana! So much is wrong with this. Here is one for you, I don't ever clean my run, I wish I would have never built a stationary run and coop! I take my old deep liter and put it in the run. I have poo boards so my litter stays pretty clean. My run is on a hill so my litter ends up on one side of the run and I noticed it working it's way out of the run, and what is on the ground is the most beautiful compost and I didn't even move it all I have to do is dig it up and put it straight on my garden! I also spread fresh straw when the run gets to mucky from wet weather. Only because I don't like washing my eggs all the time. And I never spread the wood chips I just put them in a pile and the chickens take care of the rest. Let your chickens do the work! They don't mind, they love to scratch!
What a great commentary you gave. Love your chicken and coop Amanda!
@Sharon beautiful video, i enjoyed every bit
Love it! I do not recommend using a heat lamp. We used to use them, but they are a fire hazard and we had 2 of them explode. I found the heat mats are much safer and the chickens have to option to be on them if they need and off if they don't. We put them on top of cinder blocks so they are not in the bedding. Of course, they are not put outside until they have feathers.
For the pen we put down 2-3' of pea gravel and I hose it down every day to wash the poop down. I tried other methods and just had mud when it rained. Our chickens free range in our fenced yard during the day and they are shut in at dusk.
Exactly. If the chickens are fully feathered they don’t need the heat lamp anyway.
Chickens can withstand cold. It’s heat that hurts them.
Your coop is pretty good. I would do one further thing though. Add a sand box. Chickens like all birds bathe by rolling in the sand. It also cleans the mites and redistributes the oils on their feathers. No need for anything elaborate just dig 1" of soil from under the house and walkway and add sand. Keep your chickens happier and healthier.
God Bless
good point. chickens love their dust baths. if you find anything dig around your coop trying to get in - place large stones around it on the outside.
What type of sand do you use?
I'm just conversing here....I too added a heat lamp when the temperature went down to 18% here in SC. My husband almost had a fit because he was worried about fire. I ignored him untill I read an article on The Chicken Chick website. I hadn't thought thru floating feathers, flying chickens, shavings, etc. The coops lost by fire freaked me out and I got rid of it. There is a flat screen heater for coops that I would consider.
Lisa, You only have to attach it with more than the clamp provided. Like she said they have nails securing it from falling.
@@PrinceCbass again, the concern I read about is not the lamp falling. It's something getting up to the lamp and igniting.
I love to see chickens roaming around outside where there is grass and bushes.
It's one thing to name your chickens "chicken head" names; it's another to boldly tell the world that you did.
What’s a chicken head name?
Lmaoo I see what you did there
Seriously. She could and should have kept those names to herself.
I just love how fast you talk...and straight to the point without needless yammering!
She's an English professor.
Excellent advice and into. Thanks for sharing Amanda.
I love that you made the coop large enough for the chickens to run around. Chickens love having room and places to exploring. Going to upgrade to your style of feeding system this spring!
Chickens only like a coop for sleeping and (if that's where their nests are) laying eggs. If they are awake they will be outside, even in bad weather.
Love the video and the names of your lil babies! Unfortunately in Louisiana that coup would blow over on hurricane season. We gotta build it with 4x's the lumber.
Rained all night, what a blessing for Western Colorado! Maybe we’ll get spring soon. Can’t wait to see all your babies!
For safety: make a hard wire cloth basket to enclose the heat lamp and secure to the ceiling with wire. For predator protection: use plywood strips to secure all hard wire cloth by pinching it in between two layers of wood that are screwed together (racoons can easily pry open the edges where you attached the hard wire cloth to the wood, given enough time for them to get to figure out your setup - they kill every bird in the coop as soon as they get a small opening to get in); cement and/or skirt all walls by laying hardwire cloth or stall mats around the edges. I ended up laying hardwire cloth on the floor and cementing the edges and all seams and putting soil on top, so nothing could get in from the floor.
If you want a great tip .. put a compost bin in your chicken run .. Use it for all your wood shavings from the coop and add in any green leaves, grass clippings etc from the garden or kitchen .. The hens will love it, it provides a natural extra food source .. and you will end up with outstanding compost and lower food bills, and healthier happier hens
even the chicken poop?
this tip has so much potential, thanks
I have been searching How to bu8lt chicken coop. Your coop is the most simple, easy to clean, and sturdy enough against predators, i love it. I have four girls, and I'm planning to build just like yours except for the roof. Mine will have full roof, because chicken run can be soak real bad when it rains.
Thank you so much.
Great video and great time saving, work saving ideas. I keep a few chickens as well. The naysayers don't know what they are talking about. You have incorporated a lot of good ideas that are well thought out. Any time you build something from scratch, plans always need a little tweaking, but that is to be expected. Great job. Thanks.
Linda Barnes check out the-chicken-chick.com for better coop recommendations.
Very nice. They might like a little dusting area and some grit/tiny gravel. I love the space they have and simplicity of cleaning it.
I love it! Great design, and so simple! It will work perfectly for us. Thanks so much for taking the time to share this.
You don't have to clean the run. Put your compost pile in the chicken run. Chickens speed the process up and they love digging through the pile especially if you mix grain in it
Taylor, have you ever heard of fly strike?????
So glad to see that people can love chickens and make their lives so comfortable and safe. I subscribed and loved this informative video. Viva chickens!
Good job! Easy access is important. In my barn, I built a couple of small rooms for the hens during the cold Northern Michigan winters. Cleaning those rooms is like doing Yoga.
I love the casual marijuana growing in the background.
me too
U caught that too
Can/do N.England Hens can eat the fan leaves?
It's not weed
Michael Lahr there’s a vegetable that looks similar to it
Thank you! You are a smart, articulate woman with a very comfortable demeanor that makes you easy to listen to, understand and also retain the info given as the mind is neither wandering nor stunned at some bad "yoke". SO GLAD I found your videos! I LOVE what you've done here, why, and that you've shared. Keep on Keepin' on!!
Thanks for sharing. I am watching as many chicken videos as I can to design our coop.
Great job! My neighbor is building us one similar to yours and he loved you feeding pvc pipe idea so he’s making that for us as well
feeder holes in the PVC should not be wide enough for the beak to swish wildly left and right. Terrible feed waste.
i love it when shaggy is doing something other then begging for the Scooby Snacks.
😂👌
Thanks for sharing Amanda...I found your video very educational.
Like the plants growing in the pots in background 🌴
Yeah nice looking plants
06:40 OMG!
Didn't look too healthy though..
@@karperman14 i thought that too lol. I only grow the typical plants aka food herbs and tomatoes, but those plants didn't look densely leafy and bushy
Cool ideas, good coop there. Add linoleum and a door to the back of your nest box to make cleaning out that as easy as the main floor of the coop.
I do like you coop set up. I have seen similar and absolutely adore the rain catchment and feeding set up.
Wait, What happened to tyquasia 1.0?
Dagem Mengesha I love this ! 💕 I think u would like to see one decoratated it , look at this one ! Cutest family and coop ever ! @Weed ‘em & Reap is the best channel ever !!! I want everyone to know !
th-cam.com/video/blnII-Gz1qM/w-d-xo.html
@@ramosnash7922 Yes! They are the best!
Tyquisia 1.0 got roasted.
@7:45 Just pour the hay out in one big pile and the chicks do the spreading.
As a liberal finding herself, she has no clue that things have natural tendencies. She probably spent as much time writing chicken laws as she did building this coop.😂
Nice video, I always enjoy my chickens. Thank you for sharing.
Just a suggestion regarding critters esp raccoons. ....they are super smart. Add a latch with a hole you can hook a carbiner into to secure (where a padlock would normally go ) raccoons can undo and open barrel locks with the notch ....
Great set up !!!
Love how simple you kept this. I never seen feeders like that but love that idea.. Great job. Subscribed to your channel. You clearly put in alot of thought for your chickens comfort. :-)
Excellent, informative video. Very well done. Yall did great on the coop & run...great size. Looks like you have some happy chickens 😊🐓
All our chickens had the same name - HOUDINI - because they were always escaping.
I have 17 hens and 2 roo's i made a few different styles of nests i tried on the floor low level nest and a few 4 feet high. I found they like the higher nests not sure why but they picked 2 and thats where they lay. I used natural tree roosts as well they do like to cuddle i had to completely cover the coop with wire because of predators. They have been a true hassle. Thanks for sharing and Takecare and keep safe.
Higher egg boxes are better they feel safer
They will always roost and lay at the highest possible point. If they could access the roof they would probably go there. Throwback instinct from living in the wild.💕
I am most certainly going to enjoy this. My wife and I are planning to move back to her country of origin and we will most certainly have chickens running around there along with other things. Those these chickens may not be able to stand the weather there, I will still learn loads so I'm not making dumb mistakes. Thanks so much.
Thank you for sharing! Simple and well planned with the basics covered. Continued success to you💫
At 06:47 are those marijuana plants growing in the background? If not, what are they? Thanks. And won't the hardware cloth on the run cave in with snowloads?
The Plain Truth there not weed plants. Idk what they are tho.
yes, marijuana.
Hi Cinderella Arbogast, I knew I wasn't imaging things. Thank you! I'll bet chicken manure makes for wonderful buds ;)
what better way to grow pot than with chicken manure. It is legal in CA, right?
Headly, I was just curious what they are, I honestly don't care about the legality of their plants
Great job Amanda, thanks for the tour. Some great ideas!
Make sure to surround your chicken coop with weed. We do this because stoned foxes will be to lazy to dig under the fence.
they use to have 10 chickens,,,the fox got a contact hi and got the munchies,,,,so there went 4 chickens
Idiot, weeds gotta be carboxilated to be psychoactive
LMAO!!! Nice one.
Bwaaaahahahahaha
Weeeeyyyyy to under rated comment ..🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
great ideas and great video! thanks. you mentioned near the end that you got into raising chickens to take care of your tick problem in your lawn. since the chickens are enclosed in the run/coop, how often do you let them out of the enclosed area for them to get rid of the ticks?
Loved your system…….we’re thinking about raising chickens also….and going to pattern ours from yours. Thanks!
The most unique names I’ve ever heard... lmaooo “and Lucy”
"The names MaryJane"
"THATS LIKE MY FAVORITE NAME"
Raggy is that you?
This is exactly the coop setup I was looking for - thank you so much for taking the time to share!
Having seen a number of chicken coops over the years, I'm really impressed with the thought put into your design! This is something I'd like to copy when I get into a place of my own. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the great video. Could you please tell me where you got the waterer assembly with the little yellow tab that the chickens peck to get water. I think that is a fabulous idea and have never seen one. Appreciate all the effort to bring this video to TH-cam and share with us. Thanks again!
Nice job Amanda. Everything folks need to know delivered by a pleasent friendly face.
I built a coop on 2" x 8" skids. Every 4 to 6 months I would drag it to a new spot, leaving a great new gardening plot each time. And I have a dog named biggie-shortie, cause she's big and short-legged. No other reason...
Can you tell me how to do skids?
All the sudden I became more interested in her plants
You did a great job!!! Good ideas. It’s obvious you love your kiddos.
0:21 Wow. Those are ratchet ghetto chicken names.
Also, that rooster is a pimp.
Hahahahahaha"Ratchet"... hahahahahahhaha that shit is funny on so many levels.
I know right
Ghetto names and pot
Jake Ryker i was looking for this comment lmao
I love them.
You are so chilled for the amount of weed in the background.
Nice coop Amanda. You and your husband did a good job. My husband and I just finished building an area around our coop, but it is difficult to clean. I like your idea. Best of all is the trough PVC system. Going to definitely back that too! Thanks for sharing.
Awesome! That was inspiring and so simple!!! Also, every little detail was thought out well. Thank you for making it a little less huge and scary seeming for us who just have eggs about to hatch, knowing I have to probably get started on a coop for the Summer. And I love the names! :)
Great video, and like how you built your coop. Amazing how many know it alls that are on you tube.
Amazing Coop!!! Thank for sharing. Great Ideas!!!
Nice job, great suburban coop. I have the same restrictions in my community, 6 birds max. The automatic feeders and waterer are a great time saver when you have to commute to work. Smart! Not everyone can live the farm dream. You made owning chickens work in your context. Congrats!
Cheryl Hecht do you slaughter animals too?
i would never live in a community how can you deal with ppl saying what u can n cant do. i have a few dozen but i could have a few thousand and still nobody could say shit. i love my freedom too much. i can walk out, or open a window and shoot whatever, or whenever i want for example. grow a few dozen pot plants in my front yard..i guess when your used to living with no freedom youre immune to it
and obviously money is an issue for most
@@douglasclosen1372 suck it up I love fried chicken
Like your chicken coop, great ideas ! i just hope you have latches that lock, any kind of predator with hand like feet could very easily open that lid . When chickens start laying I would make sure you have a safe locking system !!
Nice work, Amanda!
came for the chicken coop, sub'd for the nice "landscaping"!
Do you feed the Pot you growing there to the chickens ?
The first thing I saw!!
Logical Guy I love this ! 💕 I think u would like to see one decoratated it , look at this one ! Cutest family and coop ever ! th-cam.com/video/blnII-Gz1qM/w-d-xo.html
Yes to make em edible ba dum tsss!
Nice and simple. Five years on, I hope your chickens are still doing well.
One of my friends has ten chickens and a rooster. They free roam her farm. A hawk got one but for the most part nothing bothers them. There are four dogs and ten cats that roam the property that were raised with chickens so they all get along. I’m sure the dogs and cats help put off predators. She has a coop and the rooster rounds them up each night and then the lady closes the door. The only issue with that set up is they poop all over the drive way and porches which sucks.
sooo why she has black names for the chickens?
I was wondering why I didn't see any comments about this.
Cocks, because of the cocks... I am getting me chickens this year, I am gonna name my chickens after white pop stars...ok country singers...
I mean, she’s wearing crocs so, yeah
Someone always has to bitch get over it already
I'm not offended at all. Those are black created names. We should be proud that they are being pronounced correctly and accepted, even if only for chickens. What starts out as a joke will be taken very seriously in the future.
Very well done video. You speak intelligently. Very informative. You covered all the points and explained this topic very well. Just subscribed.
That was AMAZING!!! SO VERY CLEVER BUILDING!!!
Hi hope you're having a good time today
Do you have a lay out of the plans used to build this? I'm wanting get chickens and this looks like a perfect set up. I need ease and efficiency as well.
Cool!! Appreciate your detailed sharing of your coop, run, watering and feed trays.
PLEASE, PLEASE make a video on how to make this. Or just some instructions and the materials you used.
the idea behind deep litter is to clean once a year!
Im about to build my first chicken coop, i'm a professional flooring guy of 20+ years, you best believe the floor of mine is getting some sort of vinyl floor put down on it hehe, I got a big smile when you said yours ways, good thinkin
This is the best coop I have found so far. Would you happen to have any building plans for it?
I've seen a lot of coops, and I think that your systems excellent
There are many interesting and more advanced things, even a chicken coop, in developed countries. I think we are in Indonesia more than 200 hundred years left behind. Beautiful.
Great set-up...Maybe think about putting a screen over the top of the pipe coming from the end of the gutter to prevent leaves from going into rain barrell. Just a thought.
11:31 There is a screen on the rain barrel, though putting another on top of the pipe to prevent it from collecting twigs and leaves would also make sense.
I saw a screen on the top of the barrell
@ŧώїżđэđ ľїŏή You get the stupid award for REALLY not paying attention.
Could you post dimensions to build your
coop.I really like it and want too build one in my backyard thanks.
I would love that as well.- is there any way to get dimensions? Thank you :)
It doesn't have to be an exact size - you design the floor size based on the number of chickens you have/want (and make it bigger because of "chicken math") - the rule is 2 sq. ft per bird, but if you have bad weather/cold winters, you'll want 4 sq ft per bird (so, 6 chickens will be 24 sq ft which can be 4' x 6'. Make it 4' x 8', the size of a sheet of plywood and you can have a doz. birds). Another way to build it is to base it on the size lumber you can get, like pallets and plywood sheets (4' x 8') then build on it from there. Don't make the walls too high if you get cold winters but high if you have hot summers. Ventilation holes should be at least 1" in diameter and on opposite walls like they showed. If you have cold winters, design the nesting boxes to be inside unless you want frozen eggs. Or, be there to collect them not long after they're laid.
I haven't found another one easier to build or clean,I love it! This design has a large front open air vent in the front and a roost in the back which allows the chickens to huddle up and stay warm in the back while getting plenty of fresh air at night even with the door closed.I'm building one very similar .The only time the vent needs closed is when its around zero or below otherwise chickens need all the fresh air they can get.
I like this coop, like how high it is off the ground, too. Any chance you could post the dimensions of the box and the run?