Something I have come across recently that could be very helpful for you: Biochar. Add fresh, homemade charcoal to your bedding (and a food dish, they love it). The charcoal will soak up smells and pathogens and will supercharge your compost too.
Retired farmer with a thumbs up for your chicken husbandry. I clean the coop twice a year. Early spring an late fall. The shorter time in the winter is because they do spend a lot more time in there during the winter. When it is swept clean I spray the whole interior with a solution of dish soap tea tree oil and water. Then while it's still moist I dust with diatomaceous earth. Especially roosts and nest boxes. I also keep a dusting bath for them with beach sand diatomaceous earth and wood ash.
I love these ideas, annnd I’m already plotting in my head to put some to use myself 😂. Thank you for watching! I definitely love these birds, and I love watching how much my kids love them. They are just awesome to have!
@@mr.skeptical3071 Why were you told not to use diatomaceous earth on the floor? I use it on my coops floor, on the perches, and the entry board to the perches, dust bath and in their feed!
I have been raising chickens for 15 years and never have. I come across such an invaluable resource such as this video you make so much sense, and for such a young man, you sure are wise. Thank you so much I’m now a loyal subscriber, my chickens thank you to.
I use a lime wash for inside our coop and roost. It’s now over two years and I’ve never deep cleaned the inside. Just maintenance. It’s what the Amish do. I’ve been thankful to have it. It’s a special lime and it goes on clear, but dries white, which is really nice. Looks like a white wash.
@@michellegiles4152 I used a brand from menards. I’ll post the link. But it’s hydrated lime, type S. Sometimes it’s called Masonry lime. I use 8 cups of lime powder, 2 cups of white table salt and 1 gallon of water. I mix it with my kitchen whisk. I boil a gallon of water, dissolve the salt in it first. (And make sure to use an old pan, mine rust after using it once!) it’s hard to get 2 cups of salt to dissolve in a gallon but, it will mostly dissolve. The salt helps adhere the lime to the wood. Then I take the pot outside and add 8 cups of lime. I don’t breath it, and if it gets on your skin it can cause a slight irritation but it washes right off. I wear safety goggles since I have places that I’m applying over head. It’s fairly thick but still able to run. It goes on clear, maybe slightly chalky but dries perfectly white and you will be able to tell if you missed a spot once it dries. I soak any corner, crack and crevice. I also do the ceiling. This most recent time, I even did the roost. Before i only did the roost corners where the wood meets and insects can hide. I had no problems. I would just make sure it’s 100% dry. I did my nesting boxes too. In 2 1/2 years we’ve never had mites or lice. Our chickens free range daily and up at night so they’re exposed to the environment. But I like to think it’s the lime wash that has helped prevent any outbreaks. That and clean dust baths with DE in it. Hope that helps!
@@explaincauseidontgetit3294 thank you for taking the time to describe how you make your limewash. I thought about getting the Saturday Lime, but it's quite a bit more expensive than just hydrated lime. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a recipe to make my own lime wash. Maybe I just didn't use the correct term. Not sure. So, thank you again.
There was a time that I had some people ask me to slow down.. and I did for a few videos. Ended up being pretty difficult and recently I have just accepted the fact that I speak quickly and if someone can’t keep up I might not be the best channel for them 😂. When I’m excited about something I talk fast and it became too difficult to slow that down. You’re the first person to say you appreciate it, so thank you for your kind comment and the sub!
This guy definitely knows his stuff. I have 60ish chickens and they would always peck and fight for the top tier so what I did was made all the perches for the chickens the same hight at 4 foot high all ten feet long and now they are way happier and a LOT less pecking and fight etc. Thx for the info
My chickens have always done best with roosts at about 4 feet high and they definitely prefer having a 2x4 on the flat than anything else that they were offered.
@@nmass9925 Yep, I've been letting them free range all day also it's amazing how their eggs get noticeably bigger once they are getting all the little bugs and such, my problem now is a goshawk that keeps testing them out ...terrifying them. I think I need a pet eagle to intimidate it lol
8" is exactly what the birds need when the temperatures are low, because they ( at least ours do ) tend to huddle really close together to share body heat... that said, I agree they need more that the standard 8". We built our roost big enough that the 200 or so chickens we have, we could probably double our count and still have room to spare. Ours are so spoiled, they have their run of the barn, we only bought 20 chickens, we collect all the eggs in the lay boxes, and still get chicks. I think our girls have figured out a good hiding spot to hatch because in late spring we start seeing new chicks all over the place, it's a healthy flock that give back to us twice. We're going to need a bigger barn if they keep doing what they do.
@@WhitepepperFarmshomestead purely out of dumb luck. We left the city a couple years ago with hopes to raise our own food, 150 acers, 2 separate living areas cross fenced with a cobbled together scrap barn. It's a face only a mother could love and we spent every dime we had getting it.... it's no dream setup, we loose a lot of chickens to coyotes and water rights are the hottest topic out here. We are making do with what we have for now.... to be honest, I REALLY like your setup using a shed and when we get to it I think this is how we are going to adjust our situation here. There are other things that take priority like bulk feed and storage. For sure though, you earned a subscriber today. Keep up the good content.
Hi from Japan! Just seen your movie for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed your explanation about making a chicken coop. Thanks for nice info about 5 chicken roost mistakes. Very informative!
Treat your chickens water with Metronidazole on occasion for coccidia has saved my flock for decades. I have had birds near death and treat them with it and they snap back fast. People don't realize how important parasitic control is important especially for free rangers!! Do your research folks. Dissolve a tablet in water. Treat up to 5 days. Works great my chickens are 13 years old this year and healthy. God bless you for caring Sir.
I can tell you really love your chickens. When you talk about their little toes, I knew. Thank you. A lot of this is so common sense. I loved it. Thanks.
I made my roost on hinges, so I can fold it up against my ceiling of my coop and out of the way completely for cleaning my coop floor. Top roost also is 18” away from the wall, so the chickens don’t get their poop on the coop wall either. I built the coop out of waterproof plywood that has plastic laminate glued to the surface of the waterproof plywood. The coop is 12’x12’ with 6’ high ceiling so plenty of room to stand up in it for a guy only 5’8” tall! With it all being waterproof, I used my power washer inside the coop to spray wash everything clean. Always spray wash on hot days so the coop dries out quickly as well. Coop also has two 6 ft doors on the back, so it really easy to scrape out the soiled bedding right out the back of the coop into a cart to take to the compost pile. I try to clean the coop least once a week and takes no more then 15 minutes to do a floor cleaning and put fresh bedding down. I do keep a metal putty knife in the coop too to scrape off any poop that gets on the roost and I also bought a metal floor scraper with a metal handle same length of a broom and the metal scraper can be sharpened for scraping anything off the floor that gets stuck to the laminate flooring. Soiled bedding once loose from the floor, I use a snow shovel to scoop up the soiled bedding and toss in the cart just outside the coop. Tried to make the maintenance as easy and quick as possible since I’m almost 66 years old and also disabled. All and all for my first time building a coop and first time also raising chickens too! I’m very happy with how this coop turned out. Built it 4 years ago and the coop still looks brand new! It’s actually a coop/run/tractor on wheels! Overall size with the run is 12’x20 and the coop stands 3 ft up in the air so chickens have a nice dry area under their coop as part of their run with another 8ft x12’ x 12’ high in front of the coop where I can walk into the run. There’s screen doors on each side of the run to get inside. Makes it nice not having to walk around the coop to get in the run too! I had a old washing machine I took out the glass in the door that’s sort of shaped like a bowl and cut a hole in the front wall of the coop just above the floor level that the glass sticks out roughly 8” outside the coop like it did with the washing machine door. Chickens will get up inside the glass from inside the coop and look outside. I get quite a few compliments on the washing machine glass in the coop wall! Kind of uniqu. e you don’t see very often! Oh it’s also got 20 Dolly wheels on each side of the coop/run with a receiver hitch where I can attach the hitch to my truck to move the whole thing around my property like a tv trailer. Run area all covered in hardware cloth to keep the predators out. Only problem I didn’t thing about happening, is the darn moles/voles actually have dug holes right under my coop wheels making the wheels fall into the holes. So now moving the coop going to be a pain getting it out of the mole holes! Only way I can think of resolving this issue with the moles is to dig a trench on each side where the wheels will be and fill the trench with concrete. Sort of like some older driveways that have two strips of concrete for the car wheels to drive on. Got least a 1000 ft to move the coop tractor back and forth and hopefully not have to need to clean the run areas. Just let the run areas to compost themselves and hopefully have time to grow green grass or clover for the chickens to eat when I move the coop back on a reused area! Highly doubt anyone will see another coop/run/tractor like mine? When people see it for the first time I get some funny compliments like WOW! WHAT A KICK ASSSSS CHICKEN COOP! LOL also had it called the Trump hotel for chickens! Added a metal statue of a large rooster on the roof of the coop that keeps guard over the flock. Hawks must think it’s a real rooster since I put it on the roof of the coop no hawks have tried to attack my chickens in a while! I also let chickens free range on the 5 acres pasture from sun up to sun down. For a while I had troubles with hawks and owls killing my chickens. But the predators been leaving them alone now, hopefully it stays that way? Really makes me sad finding dead children laying in the field!
I first put a cylindrical roost up highest (5 ft) and a two by four roost diagonally from corner to corner just an inch lower. The chickens seemed to prefer the two by four even though it was too short for them to all fit. So I replaced the top cylindrical roost with a two by four at the highest level, and moved the cylindrical one to a lower level on the "ladder". Everybody seems happy with this arrangement and they all have plenty of space on the top roost. Also, because we have pretty cold winters in Northern Nevada, I made the top roost about 18 inches out from the wall, to protect them from the extreme cold.
This is awesome, I love that you experimented a bit to see what your birds liked best. They will definitely show you what they like and don’t like if you are paying attention!
I built my first chicken coop at 14 years old and now I'm 18 and I still use it. I'm kinda just watching videos about chicken sometimes to see what I can add or improve to my coop. What I use as a roost is 2 tree branches and I didn't know about the heat thing that you talked about in this video but luckily I have placed the branches pretty high up.
Great, practical advice. For the first time ever, we have 2x4 roosts and they are working really well; they stay really clean and the hens nestle down nicely on top of their feet.
Hey thanks! I appreciate that. You’d be surprised at how much fluff I have to edit out when making the videos haha. I try my hardest to stay on point but sometimes I squirrel off. The way I see it is you’re watching the video for a reason and I don’t want to waste your time. I know I like it when I watch a video that cuts straight to the chase!
Diatomaceous earth is your friend. I would add more roosting bars on other parts of the shed. This will help with the pecking order issues. I also do the deep compost method. I change the bedding out every 6 months. Having roosting bars way up is good just make sure they are a little lower than the vents in the winter. This will keep the combs from getting frost bit.
I've found red mites very happily living in DE in my coop that was under the bedding. It's no protection against red mites, especially in a humid environment.
I see a lot of successful raised coops have a steel mesh floor, it serves several functions. 1 inch squares are small enough to hold straw in winter and stop poop accumulating, plus you can rake out the fallen straw poop mix for the garden. Removing most of the straw in hot summers help keeps the chickens cool with good airflow, 1 inch squares is still comfortable for them to walk on.
I love this! I’ve got most of my silkies sleeping in our nesting boxes and this makes sense. I already planned to upgrade the roosting bars but now I’ll take this suggestions into consideration for my planning.
Good advice only mistake I had thought of doing was the plastic one thanks for helping me avoid that one. The removable roost is important and something many might overlook. 🙂👍
Although for plastic i found a pool noodle works well, cut open and put over thin wood, it's very grippy, they enjoy it, i have it on the back of a dining table chair because they sometimes join for dinner. Yes they are house trained.
We have two roosts made from saplings, nice round, 2" diameter. Everything is in accordance with your design. About 1/4 of our chickens prefer to roost on a wire divider where the wire is about 1/8“ in diameter. They are about 2.5ft off the ground, about the same height as the nest boxes. It frequently gets well below zero where we are. We have been keeping chickens for mire than thirty years. It is disconcerting/ amusing to see videos where people just make things up based on their "logical" analysis.
I used to live on a family farm where we had about 2000 chooks (chickens) split up into 4 sheds of about 500 each. For out roosts, we hung 4 by 2 timber from the ceiling on a frame using wire about 18 inches off the ground. Each 4 by 2 cross piece was maybe 18 inches apart. The spacing allowed for the birds to jump up and down from the ground directly into their position they were after - so that 8 inch rule you spoke of would work. For the most part the timber remained relatively clean with most of their droppings going over the side. Having the roosts was important because when they were on them, it protected them from crowding and smothering each other. Where I live the weather only gets down to about 0 degrees Celsius and when this happens they birds would huddle together on the perches. Each night they were locked into their sheds to protect them from foxes.
Great video. Chicken math is definitely a thing especially if you have a rooster. I started with 8 birds. Not really sure how many I have now. I have 3 runs and 3 coops.
Allways a big Yes to people that give proper advice looking through the eyes of the animal and their needs..and explain the why and how to do it. ❤Better for the animals and making sense to people who give the care.
Hey thanks! I definitely do my best to care for all our animals! Mistakes are made here and there and we learn from them and move forward! My goal is to help other people before making those mistakes 😂! Thank you for watching!
@@WhitepepperFarmshomestead I allways adopt animals in need most of the times when their old or in need allready for a long time...so if I see somebody who takes animal wellfare seriously..you have my ultimate respect..I love chickens..allthough i wil probably never own one living in Amsterdam on 3 floor(so i do it for cats and dogs)And yes adopting a lot of animals with a history or defects..i learned a lot and pass it on...my father used to adopt chickens out of the egg laying industry to give them a good pension after being obused..good anymal friendly advice means the world to me..please go on with your tips..mistakes are human and telling about them is so important..make people understand why..you do a great job!!! so yes i subcribed..
Thank you, I appreciate your kind words! We have two stray warehouse cats that we adopted, and one dog that we adopted that was abused. We have had her for 13 years! She’s 17 now!
My coop is an old 8x8 wooden shed, I have a similar ladder style roost, made from 2x2 square boards, I put 2 hooks in the upper wall that the top rung hooks into, so I can simply lift the ladder roost off the hooks and remove it to clean out the coop, there are also 2-2x4’s up near the ceiling that they can access from the ladder roost
Excellent pointers. My roost has skinny natural pine poles. The chickens seem to love it. It’s rubbed smooth from years of walking on it. Mine is hinged at the back and raises up for cleaning.
"if that makes any sense at all?" Well, yeah, it did! Enough that I've paused the episode to subscribe, like and comment. I scanned past your links and see 'growing' and that's an area I'm quite comfortable in for some time. I look forward to the rest of your videos.
Hey thanks! Yeah we have been doing a lot of chicken related stuff over the winter but growing season is just about here! We will be mixing it up a bit here in the coming months! We definitely just love growing our own food in general. With chickens and in the garden!
Great video! Most of this is common knowledge for a farmer. This is a great introduction video for someone looking to make their coop better for their flock! I use tree branches only because I like to keep things as natural as possible for them.
My dad hinged top of the roost to the wall and put a hook in the ceiling so he could lift the bottom of the roost and hook it to the ceiling out of the way. The way you did yours makes it easier to clean the roost.
I hung a thick tree branch from the ceiling, and put a ramp for them to get up there. They love being as high as possible. It's easier to clean underneath if hung from the ceiling. I used cardboard from the ceiling to create a warm pocket for them. Pecking order is definitely a thing and the 2 oldest bossy chicks need a ton of space. Great vid, thanks!
@@WhitepepperFarmshomestead you also helped solve a couple issues with the poop on the rooster too. The new coop was a surprise for me do yay. Our 6 laying hens and 2 adolescent bantums should be comfy
I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I do. And I hope and wish the best for you ! I bought ten chicks last early spring and was not ready for em. But I knew that if I had them I had to get busy. Turns out they have a nice coup for here in the south I do enjoy it.
We took a page from the Chicken Chick on our design. We made a poop board that slides under the roosting bars so you can utilize all the space in the coop. The chickens can use the space under the poop board. We put the roosting bars all the same height. We have less issues with bumble foot that way. We use 2 × 2 in the summer and switch to 2×4 in the winter. Check out the Chicken Chick...she has some valuable ideas. Great video and ideas. What breed of hen was making all the noise?
I built my big coop taking advantage of poo boards. Quite the time saver. I keep sand in mine and use a kitty litter scoop. I usually change the sand out once per year.
High roosts also have a downside. In the summer (chickens are dumb) our birds cooked themselves to death because it got so hot up there during a heatwave.
I put two computer fans in our coop to cool them. It is a small coop and we live in South Carolina so it gets hot. I used a fan pulling air in and one pushing out. Two solar cells and a battery keeps the coop cool in summer. In winter it rarely gets freezing so that is not a problem.
I'm new to having chickens 🐔.. I was a kidast time I was around chickens 🐔 😅.. but I built a coop out of pallets turned out good. But I'm glad I watch this tonight because tomorrow I'm doin the roost and was goin to use a 1x4 . Thanks for the tip. I'll ribs some 2x4 down now.
You make total sense. Only thing I would do differently is round up the 2x2 cause it's probably not super comfortable to try to grip around a square edge
Hey thanks! Honestly.. once a year in the spring, but when we do there is A LOT in there. Anytime it gets smelly in there we throw another bag or two of bedding down and we just keep doing that, then in the spring we pull it all out and use it in the garden!
I used 1x3 lumber and took a router and knocked down the corners with a radius. The entire top surface is rounded now and a perfect fit for chicken feet.
Outstanding. Brilliant. Thank you. You gave me a wonderful idea. Foam insulation covering whatever medium, would make a fine grabbing material. Plus they can pack at it and play with it. Keep the good lessons coming my good brother.
@Whitepepper Farms absolutely. I started a small channel last summer and making time for videos, let alone well edited stuff takes time. I def recognize that. Great stuff, thanks for sharing it.
I think people definitely underestimate how hard RUclips is. It’s a constant grind and when you FINALLY get that video done and ready to post… you start writing and filming again for the next one 😂. Especially when it’s a one person show. Good luck on your channel! Stick with it and don’t give up!
I love your passion and purity of joy being a humble chicken farmer! How God intended us to be exactly. Any of y’all know about quail farming? Wonder if similar… (our son is awfully allergic to chicken eggs, weep) will need to do research, much! I hope you one day are able to move to a wee setup (even if a single wide or double wide, we’re in a double wide, but the scenery beats any rock built in a cluttered city! Thank you Lord) of your own where you can have more bird paradise
Excellent video!! We are building a coop now with 10 in mind, I hadn’t seen the ladder idea, but I love it! I think we will build this instead of mounting roosts into the coop walls.
Two things. Roasts should be no higher than 18” to help prevent bumblefoot. And your top roost is so close to the wall they can’t even sit properly. I agree with the 2x4 plan for sure.
Well said... 3 things i recommend.. putty knife to scrape roost.. a spray bottle with bleach water to spray after you scrape it .. and Diatomaceous Earth in a shaker to sprinkle on the roost to make it uninhabitable to lice and mites .. And leave it in the coop ..That way you can have it all handy when the roost starts looking like it meeds attention
What if the birds roost facing towards the wall on the ladder don't they just poop on the chicken below it? Also there is poop all over the wall of your coop...
I started with four of the finest red leghorns you’ve ever seen about three years ago. Just last week I went out to tend my birds and found one of them unable to stand or walk. She appeared to have a serious leg injury in the hock area. It was the most heartbreaking thing that I’ve ever seen watching her drag herself across the ground with one leg. I could tell she was in tremendous pain. I had no choice but to put her down. I’m 67 years old and I cried like a baby while I held her. I just wish that I knew what happened so that I could prevent it from happening to the remaining three. I’ve often wondered if she hurt herself getting up or down the roost. My high roost is only four foot from the floor and I have a second 2x4 positioned about halfway up, so there’s a step ladder approach for them. After losing a girl like this, it’s hard to want to stay with it.
Oh that just breaks my heart 😭. Honestly.. accidents can happen. It sounds like you are doing everything you can to give your birds a great home, so keep doing exactly that! Sometimes unfortunate accidents happen. Try not to beat yourself up too bad, you did what you could for her!
I can definitely understand your pain. But think off it this way. Off all the chickens in the world you are giving yours what sounds like a wonderful life. So take some comfort in that and keep giving more chikens happy lives! Cheers!
I have cried for each one over the years. They do get arthritis. Any ailment you can think of for humans, chickens can usually get also. Sorry about your darling 💚
A couple of my chickens got bumblefoot. When I tried to find out what caused it, some sources said that having higher roosts was a possible cause. My chickens do not climb down the ladder, they jump/fly. It was suggested that the impact on the pad of the foot could, over time cause bumblefoot.
We'll be getting chickens for the first time ever, I don't want baby chicks I just want chickens that are a little bit older, I am excited about having chickens for the first time I'm doing it to save money to get fresh eggs as well. Love your videos
We are lucky here.. my best friend moved to this neighborhood and literally a month later the house across the street went up for sale and we bought it 😂. “Hey Neighbor” started as kind of a little joke and now for the last 3 years ANYTIME we see each other outside you hear a very loud “HEY NEIGHBOR!!” …it’s amazing 😂
Thank you for this! We are reworking our roosts, because we have cliquey chickies and 2 new pullets we need to get in before winter. I think we will make 2 ladders that meet at the bottom in the middle, maybe.
Getting my first birds this weekend , built the hoop coop and attached a nice box for the roost. Found some good thick bamboo for the roost stick. Going to try that, if it doesnt work out. Im building the ladder!
Wooo!! Congrats on the birds, and I wish you the best of luck with your first roost so you don’t have to build another 😂! But if you do have to.. we love our ladder!
Not owning any chickens and not planning on doing so, but thanks for the advice. I watched the whole video and still don’t know what to do with the intel I got
Everything you mentioned in this video is right on. At first my nests were 2 ft off the ground and had a roost on the other side just like yours but only 5 rails, but we screwed it to the wall. After a while I built one big nest 8 in off the ground, as they all lay in the same nest anyway and less likely to sleep there now. I have since added big 3-4 in branches and 2X4s out from the original roost that they use as a ladder up to the 2X4's etc. The roost is none removable....its in there! But I rake around it, only 2 legs of the roost are in my way, and I use a long handle garden hoe to scrape off the poop, and hose it down mid summer. It has a lot of ventilation if I open window and big door (they can't get out, it has a secure screen too). Or I can close it up if it snows etc. I really liked the video and am going to share it on FB on 2 chicken groups I am in. I see a lot of people who make mistakes when setting up their nests and roosts. Thanks again. *ALWAYS WEAR A MASK WHEN CLEANING OF FILLING FEED BUCKETS!
@@WhitepepperFarmshomestead Thank you for the reply! I got an outdoor “cat pen” that I’m converting into a coop, and I can remove some boards from the platforms to make the roosts more narrow. I’ve subscribed and look forward to learning more!
I made my roost out of 2x4’s, but I made the roost on hinges at the top of the roost where it meets the wall there’s a couple wooden brackets where the hinges attach to in order to have clearance for the roost to fold up against the ceiling of the coop so it’s completely out of the way when I need to clean the co-op floor it’s completely open to scrap all the bedding right out of the coop. The floor of my coop is made from waterproof plywood covered in plastic laminate like you find on many countertops. So not much sticks to it and everything slides on it fairly easily and 😅don’t have to worry about it getting wet either. I bought a floor scrapper that’s got a metal handle like a broom only has a 16” metal scrapper on the bottom of the handle that works great for anything sticking to the floor. I also use a snow shovel to pick up the bulk of the bedding and the back of the coop got 2 four foot wide doors, so I can scrape the bedding right out the back of the coop into a small trailer and take it down to the compost Ben. I take the the pressure washer to the inside of the coop least once every summer for a extra good cleaning since it’s waterproof material inside the coop the pressure washer doesn’t hurt the coop any. Coop going on 4 years old and still looks practically new inside and out. Wasn’t cheap to build by any means using the materials I used. But I wanted a coop that would hold up for years and y at the very least and hopefully last for decades? So far looks like it’s going to last decades as I hoped it would! Not having to rebuild a coop buying more materials and spending the labor again to rebuild a coop makes the expensive materials I used actually fairly reasonable in the long run . But I did have $6,000.00 into my coop , run, tractor design by the time I was done with it. Also the first coop I have ever built too. Although I’m a cabinet maker contractor by trade. So I have some knowledge with building things. It’s not built to ever fall apart that I can guarantee you! 😂
That sounds like my dream coop! The one thing I do want to do with mine is add some hinges to my roost so I can just lift it up and clean under it rather than drag it out of the coop haha!
I think that's mentioned as a minumum. Chickens prefer to be flat footed if possible, and roosting behavior can start within the first few days. Cutest roost bar ever is a wooden towel rack on the floor of the brooder. Little fluffballs will line up on it.
Thank you for sharing your video, its very practical and full of knowledge and can follow and overcome such issues you highlighted 😊😊😊thank you and stay blessed
😂😂😂I'm gonna adopt that one. My husband and I are first time chicken owners. They are about 8 weeks old, 2 of them maybe 10 weeks. A fun learning journey for sure
Thanks for the advice!! Especially about the roosting pecking order. We are all new to this and excited about raising little 🐥 We will be sure to check back as we go along. Thanks again!! The Jones Family Kentucky
We planted 8" round PVC pipe with cap,screwed on Manzanita branches horizontal to other posts making a big 20ft long section linked to 10ft one, a little lower, then back along other 20ft wall. 7 hens.
Here is a video about the chicken roosts that we built! ruclips.net/video/nEwrfQ1gIQw/видео.html
Something I have come across recently that could be very helpful for you: Biochar. Add fresh, homemade charcoal to your bedding (and a food dish, they love it). The charcoal will soak up smells and pathogens and will supercharge your compost too.
Plastic...roosting bar? No problem...just a little super glue, scrap carpet or old clothes.
@@Circle14 😅😮 b b b
Good info ty.
P😅😮😅9😅😅😮😅
Retired farmer with a thumbs up for your chicken husbandry. I clean the coop twice a year. Early spring an late fall. The shorter time in the winter is because they do spend a lot more time in there during the winter. When it is swept clean I spray the whole interior with a solution of dish soap tea tree oil and water. Then while it's still moist I dust with diatomaceous earth. Especially roosts and nest boxes. I also keep a dusting bath for them with beach sand diatomaceous earth and wood ash.
I love these ideas, annnd I’m already plotting in my head to put some to use myself 😂. Thank you for watching! I definitely love these birds, and I love watching how much my kids love them. They are just awesome to have!
Farmers are like a Marine. You never really retire. At least your mindset doesn't...
I plan on making a dust bath with D.E. and wood ash. I was told not to use D.E. on coop floor if doing the deep litter method
DE is very dangerous if inhaled. I don't recommend flinging that stuff around or needing to sweep it up. It is useless for parasites if it gets wet.
@@mr.skeptical3071
Why were you told not to use diatomaceous earth on the floor? I use it on my coops floor, on the perches, and the entry board to the perches, dust bath and in their feed!
I have been raising chickens for 15 years and never have. I come across such an invaluable resource such as this video you make so much sense, and for such a young man, you sure are wise. Thank you so much I’m now a loyal subscriber, my chickens thank you to.
Hey thanks! I appreciate your kind words!
So so… helpful!!! Thank you.. 🐓 🥚
I use a lime wash for inside our coop and roost. It’s now over two years and I’ve never deep cleaned the inside. Just maintenance. It’s what the Amish do. I’ve been thankful to have it. It’s a special lime and it goes on clear, but dries white, which is really nice. Looks like a white wash.
I’ve never heard of that, but I’m super interested! I will have to look into that! Thank you for sharing!
Is their a particular brand name of the lime wash?
@@michellegiles4152 I used a brand from menards. I’ll post the link. But it’s hydrated lime, type S. Sometimes it’s called Masonry lime. I use 8 cups of lime powder, 2 cups of white table salt and 1 gallon of water. I mix it with my kitchen whisk. I boil a gallon of water, dissolve the salt in it first. (And make sure to use an old pan, mine rust after using it once!) it’s hard to get 2 cups of salt to dissolve in a gallon but, it will mostly dissolve. The salt helps adhere the lime to the wood. Then I take the pot outside and add 8 cups of lime. I don’t breath it, and if it gets on your skin it can cause a slight irritation but it washes right off. I wear safety goggles since I have places that I’m applying over head. It’s fairly thick but still able to run. It goes on clear, maybe slightly chalky but dries perfectly white and you will be able to tell if you missed a spot once it dries. I soak any corner, crack and crevice. I also do the ceiling. This most recent time, I even did the roost. Before i only did the roost corners where the wood meets and insects can hide. I had no problems. I would just make sure it’s 100% dry. I did my nesting boxes too. In 2 1/2 years we’ve never had mites or lice. Our chickens free range daily and up at night so they’re exposed to the environment. But I like to think it’s the lime wash that has helped prevent any outbreaks. That and clean dust baths with DE in it. Hope that helps!
Very helpful thank you
@@explaincauseidontgetit3294 thank you for taking the time to describe how you make your limewash. I thought about getting the Saturday Lime, but it's quite a bit more expensive than just hydrated lime. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a recipe to make my own lime wash. Maybe I just didn't use the correct term. Not sure. So, thank you again.
I appreciate your speedy speaking. It makes watching this video so much easier. Thanks for the tips! Subbed.
There was a time that I had some people ask me to slow down.. and I did for a few videos. Ended up being pretty difficult and recently I have just accepted the fact that I speak quickly and if someone can’t keep up I might not be the best channel for them 😂. When I’m excited about something I talk fast and it became too difficult to slow that down. You’re the first person to say you appreciate it, so thank you for your kind comment and the sub!
@@WhitepepperFarmshomestead for sure dude! 😆👍✨
This guy definitely knows his stuff. I have 60ish chickens and they would always peck and fight for the top tier so what I did was made all the perches for the chickens the same hight at 4 foot high all ten feet long and now they are way happier and a LOT less pecking and fight etc. Thx for the info
That’s awesome! You’re welcome, and thank you for watching!
My chickens have always done best with roosts at about 4 feet high and they definitely prefer having a 2x4 on the flat than anything else that they were offered.
I feed mine from two different places to avoid bullying
I've only got 4 chickens
@norbertdjihnson good idea. I have 4 different feeding treys definitely helps
@@nmass9925
Yep, I've been letting them free range all day also it's amazing how their eggs get noticeably bigger once they are getting all the little bugs and such, my problem now is a goshawk that keeps testing them out ...terrifying them. I think I need a pet eagle to intimidate it lol
My wife has been pushing for chickens for a while and now where at that point. I appreciate your knowledge and style. Subbed.
I have no idea how I ended up here but now I know about chickens...
8" is exactly what the birds need when the temperatures are low, because they ( at least ours do ) tend to huddle really close together to share body heat... that said, I agree they need more that the standard 8". We built our roost big enough that the 200 or so chickens we have, we could probably double our count and still have room to spare. Ours are so spoiled, they have their run of the barn, we only bought 20 chickens, we collect all the eggs in the lay boxes, and still get chicks. I think our girls have figured out a good hiding spot to hatch because in late spring we start seeing new chicks all over the place, it's a healthy flock that give back to us twice. We're going to need a bigger barn if they keep doing what they do.
I’m pretty sure you have my dream setup 😂
@@WhitepepperFarmshomestead purely out of dumb luck. We left the city a couple years ago with hopes to raise our own food, 150 acers, 2 separate living areas cross fenced with a cobbled together scrap barn. It's a face only a mother could love and we spent every dime we had getting it.... it's no dream setup, we loose a lot of chickens to coyotes and water rights are the hottest topic out here. We are making do with what we have for now.... to be honest, I REALLY like your setup using a shed and when we get to it I think this is how we are going to adjust our situation here. There are other things that take priority like bulk feed and storage.
For sure though, you earned a subscriber today. Keep up the good content.
The new chicks must be a fun surprise.
😊 tree branches here! Some driftwood collected, nice and smooth on their little feet❤
Hi from Japan! Just seen your movie for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed your explanation about making a chicken coop. Thanks for nice info about 5 chicken roost mistakes. Very informative!
Treat your chickens water with Metronidazole on occasion for coccidia has saved my flock for decades. I have had birds near death and treat them with it and they snap back fast. People don't realize how important parasitic control is important especially for free rangers!! Do your research folks. Dissolve a tablet in water. Treat up to 5 days. Works great my chickens are 13 years old this year and healthy. God bless you for caring Sir.
I appreciate this comment! It will help someone somewhere, I know it!
They still producing eggs or just pets now?
Where do you buy it ?
I love how that one chicken in the background is calling you for attention the whole video.
I can tell you really love your chickens. When you talk about their little toes, I knew. Thank you. A lot of this is so common sense. I loved it. Thanks.
I made my roost on hinges, so I can fold it up against my ceiling of my coop and out of the way completely for cleaning my coop floor. Top roost also is 18” away from the wall, so the chickens don’t get their poop on the coop wall either.
I built the coop out of waterproof plywood that has plastic laminate glued to the surface of the waterproof plywood. The coop is 12’x12’ with 6’ high ceiling so plenty of room to stand up in it for a guy only 5’8” tall!
With it all being waterproof, I used my power washer inside the coop to spray wash everything clean. Always spray wash on hot days so the coop dries out quickly as well.
Coop also has two 6 ft doors on the back, so it really easy to scrape out the soiled bedding right out the back of the coop into a cart to take to the compost pile.
I try to clean the coop least once a week and takes no more then 15 minutes to do a floor cleaning and put fresh bedding down.
I do keep a metal putty knife in the coop too to scrape off any poop that gets on the roost and I also bought a metal floor scraper with a metal handle same length of a broom and the metal scraper can be sharpened for scraping anything off the floor that gets stuck to the laminate flooring. Soiled bedding once loose from the floor, I use a snow shovel to scoop up the soiled bedding and toss in the cart just outside the coop.
Tried to make the maintenance as easy and quick as possible since I’m almost 66 years old and also disabled. All and all for my first time building a coop and first time also raising chickens too! I’m very happy with how this coop turned out. Built it 4 years ago and the coop still looks brand new!
It’s actually a coop/run/tractor on wheels! Overall size with the run is 12’x20 and the coop stands 3 ft up in the air so chickens have a nice dry area under their coop as part of their run with another 8ft x12’ x 12’ high in front of the coop where I can walk into the run. There’s screen doors on each side of the run to get inside. Makes it nice not having to walk around the coop to get in the run too!
I had a old washing machine I took out the glass in the door that’s sort of shaped like a bowl and cut a hole in the front wall of the coop just above the floor level that the glass sticks out roughly 8” outside the coop like it did with the washing machine door. Chickens will get up inside the glass from inside the coop and look outside. I get quite a few compliments on the washing machine glass in the coop wall! Kind of uniqu. e you don’t see very often! Oh it’s also got 20 Dolly wheels on each side of the coop/run with a receiver hitch where I can attach the hitch to my truck to move the whole thing around my property like a tv trailer. Run area all covered in hardware cloth to keep the predators out. Only problem I didn’t thing about happening, is the darn moles/voles actually have dug holes right under my coop wheels making the wheels fall into the holes. So now moving the coop going to be a pain getting it out of the mole holes! Only way I can think of resolving this issue with the moles is to dig a trench on each side where the wheels will be and fill the trench with concrete. Sort of like some older driveways that have two strips of concrete for the car wheels to drive on. Got least a 1000 ft to move the coop tractor back and forth and hopefully not have to need to clean the run areas. Just let the run areas to compost themselves and hopefully have time to grow green grass or clover for the chickens to eat when I move the coop back on a reused area!
Highly doubt anyone will see another coop/run/tractor like mine? When people see it for the first time I get some funny compliments like WOW! WHAT A KICK ASSSSS CHICKEN COOP! LOL also had it called the Trump hotel for chickens! Added a metal statue of a large rooster on the roof of the coop that keeps guard over the flock. Hawks must think it’s a real rooster since I put it on the roof of the coop no hawks have tried to attack my chickens in a while! I also let chickens free range on the 5 acres pasture from sun up to sun down. For a while I had troubles with hawks and owls killing my chickens. But the predators been leaving them alone now, hopefully it stays that way? Really makes me sad finding dead children laying in the field!
I really enjoyed reading about your chicken coop. Thanks so much fo sharing!
Your coop set up sounds so good. Well done!
Gale you set the standard!! good job.
I first put a cylindrical roost up highest (5 ft) and a two by four roost diagonally from corner to corner just an inch lower. The chickens seemed to prefer the two by four even though it was too short for them to all fit. So I replaced the top cylindrical roost with a two by four at the highest level, and moved the cylindrical one to a lower level on the "ladder". Everybody seems happy with this arrangement and they all have plenty of space on the top roost. Also, because we have pretty cold winters in Northern Nevada, I made the top roost about 18 inches out from the wall, to protect them from the extreme cold.
This is awesome, I love that you experimented a bit to see what your birds liked best. They will definitely show you what they like and don’t like if you are paying attention!
I life in Utah as well. I’ll definitely need to watch more of your videos for how environmentally similar it’ll be for my birds
I built my first chicken coop at 14 years old and now I'm 18 and I still use it. I'm kinda just watching videos about chicken sometimes to see what I can add or improve to my coop. What I use as a roost is 2 tree branches and I didn't know about the heat thing that you talked about in this video but luckily I have placed the branches pretty high up.
Great, practical advice. For the first time ever, we have 2x4 roosts and they are working really well; they stay really clean and the hens nestle down nicely on top of their feet.
When I rebuild I’m going to use 2x4’s for sure!
I find the best to be a 2x4 with the 4” side up. I use a drywall tape knife to scrape poo off surfaces.
Love your advice. Very valuable & I like how well you treat those beautiful, smart & loveable chickies. Greetings from Europe. Keep up the good work.
Man, I like your videos. All solid info, no filler or fluff. Subscribed
Hey thanks! I appreciate that. You’d be surprised at how much fluff I have to edit out when making the videos haha. I try my hardest to stay on point but sometimes I squirrel off. The way I see it is you’re watching the video for a reason and I don’t want to waste your time. I know I like it when I watch a video that cuts straight to the chase!
Diatomaceous earth is your friend. I would add more roosting bars on other parts of the shed. This will help with the pecking order issues. I also do the deep compost method. I change the bedding out every 6 months. Having roosting bars way up is good just make sure they are a little lower than the vents in the winter. This will keep the combs from getting frost bit.
I’ve used DE in the garden but never even thought of it in the coop! Good stuff, I appreciate it!
Just be careful about where and how much you use. DE can cause respiratory problems over time.
I've found red mites very happily living in DE in my coop that was under the bedding. It's no protection against red mites, especially in a humid environment.
I wanted 6 chickens. Its been less than a year and i am now at 28 chickens. As i write this comment i have a 4 day old silkie sleeping on my lap
This is the script to so many peoples lives and I love it 😂
Chicken math!
😂
Never thought about their toes the way you explained it. I'm gonna change all their roosting wooden poles and go with 2x2s. Great info.
I see a lot of successful raised coops have a steel mesh floor, it serves several functions. 1 inch squares are small enough to hold straw in winter and stop poop accumulating, plus you can rake out the fallen straw poop mix for the garden. Removing most of the straw in hot summers help keeps the chickens cool with good airflow, 1 inch squares is still comfortable for them to walk on.
I love this! I’ve got most of my silkies sleeping in our nesting boxes and this makes sense. I already planned to upgrade the roosting bars but now I’ll take this suggestions into consideration for my planning.
Woooo!!! Silkies are awesome, good luck!
Good advice only mistake I had thought of doing was the plastic one thanks for helping me avoid that one. The removable roost is important and something many might overlook. 🙂👍
Thank you for watching!!
Although for plastic i found a pool noodle works well, cut open and put over thin wood, it's very grippy, they enjoy it, i have it on the back of a dining table chair because they sometimes join for dinner. Yes they are house trained.
We have two roosts made from saplings, nice round, 2" diameter. Everything is in accordance with your design. About 1/4 of our chickens prefer to roost on a wire divider where the wire is about 1/8“ in diameter. They are about 2.5ft off the ground, about the same height as the nest boxes. It frequently gets well below zero where we are. We have been keeping chickens for mire than thirty years. It is disconcerting/ amusing to see videos where people just make things up based on their "logical" analysis.
I’ve always used tree branches (usually pine) and they love them.
I used to live on a family farm where we had about 2000 chooks (chickens) split up into 4 sheds of about 500 each. For out roosts, we hung 4 by 2 timber from the ceiling on a frame using wire about 18 inches off the ground. Each 4 by 2 cross piece was maybe 18 inches apart. The spacing allowed for the birds to jump up and down from the ground directly into their position they were after - so that 8 inch rule you spoke of would work. For the most part the timber remained relatively clean with most of their droppings going over the side. Having the roosts was important because when they were on them, it protected them from crowding and smothering each other. Where I live the weather only gets down to about 0 degrees Celsius and when this happens they birds would huddle together on the perches. Each night they were locked into their sheds to protect them from foxes.
I wish I could have chickens on that scale, that’s so cool!
We used 2X4. The hens love it.
Great video. Chicken math is definitely a thing especially if you have a rooster. I started with 8 birds. Not really sure how many I have now. I have 3 runs and 3 coops.
This is amazing haha. It's crazy how quickly it can just.. get away from you! It's okay though, worth it!
Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences!!! Will keep you posted as we get our first coop built, thanks to your great tips!!!
I love your channel, love hearing you yell "hey there neighbor"
Allways a big Yes to people that give proper advice looking through the eyes of the animal and their needs..and explain the why and how to do it. ❤Better for the animals and making sense to people who give the care.
Hey thanks! I definitely do my best to care for all our animals! Mistakes are made here and there and we learn from them and move forward! My goal is to help other people before making those mistakes 😂! Thank you for watching!
@@WhitepepperFarmshomestead I allways adopt animals in need most of the times when their old or in need allready for a long time...so if I see somebody who takes animal wellfare seriously..you have my ultimate respect..I love chickens..allthough i wil probably never own one living in Amsterdam on 3 floor(so i do it for cats and dogs)And yes adopting a lot of animals with a history or defects..i learned a lot and pass it on...my father used to adopt chickens out of the egg laying industry to give them a good pension after being obused..good anymal friendly advice means the world to me..please go on with your tips..mistakes are human and telling about them is so important..make people understand why..you do a great job!!! so yes i subcribed..
Thank you, I appreciate your kind words! We have two stray warehouse cats that we adopted, and one dog that we adopted that was abused. We have had her for 13 years! She’s 17 now!
My coop is an old 8x8 wooden shed, I have a similar ladder style roost, made from 2x2 square boards, I put 2 hooks in the upper wall that the top rung hooks into, so I can simply lift the ladder roost off the hooks and remove it to clean out the coop, there are also 2-2x4’s up near the ceiling that they can access from the ladder roost
I love that! I do wish my shed was wood!
I am planning to make style roost this for our new coop with a hinge type system to flip up for cleaning
Excellent pointers. My roost has skinny natural pine poles. The chickens seem to love it. It’s rubbed smooth from years of walking on it. Mine is hinged at the back and raises up for cleaning.
"if that makes any sense at all?" Well, yeah, it did! Enough that I've paused the episode to subscribe, like and comment. I scanned past your links and see 'growing' and that's an area I'm quite comfortable in for some time. I look forward to the rest of your videos.
Hey thanks!
Yeah we have been doing a lot of chicken related stuff over the winter but growing season is just about here! We will be mixing it up a bit here in the coming months! We definitely just love growing our own food in general. With chickens and in the garden!
Such a great video and just what I was looking for. Loved the health factors and keeping stressors low!
Hey thanks! I appreciate you watching it!
Great video! Most of this is common knowledge for a farmer. This is a great introduction video for someone looking to make their coop better for their flock! I use tree branches only because I like to keep things as natural as possible for them.
My dad hinged top of the roost to the wall and put a hook in the ceiling so he could lift the bottom of the roost and hook it to the ceiling out of the way. The way you did yours makes it easier to clean the roost.
But your dads makes it easier to clean behind the roost 😂! I have thought about doing the exact same thing he did!
Different roost levels keep chickens fro fighting
I hung a thick tree branch from the ceiling, and put a ramp for them to get up there. They love being as high as possible. It's easier to clean underneath if hung from the ceiling. I used cardboard from the ceiling to create a warm pocket for them. Pecking order is definitely a thing and the 2 oldest bossy chicks need a ton of space. Great vid, thanks!
Husband just built me a new coop. Love finding this video today, I now have inspiration for the roost for our girls!!
Woooo!!! Well thank you for watching, and congrats on the new coop!
@@WhitepepperFarmshomestead you also helped solve a couple issues with the poop on the rooster too. The new coop was a surprise for me do yay. Our 6 laying hens and 2 adolescent bantums should be comfy
Well awesome! I’m so happy to help!
Surprise coops are the best kind!
I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I do. And I hope and wish the best for you ! I bought ten chicks last early spring and was not ready for em. But I knew that if I had them I had to get busy. Turns out they have a nice coup for here in the south I do enjoy it.
This information is INVALUABLE to a newbie like me! Thank you!
You’re welcome! Thank YOU for watching!
We took a page from the Chicken Chick on our design. We made a poop board that slides under the roosting bars so you can utilize all the space in the coop. The chickens can use the space under the poop board. We put the roosting bars all the same height. We have less issues with bumble foot that way. We use 2 × 2 in the summer and switch to 2×4 in the winter. Check out the Chicken Chick...she has some valuable ideas. Great video and ideas. What breed of hen was making all the noise?
I will absolutely go check her out!
I built my big coop taking advantage of poo boards. Quite the time saver. I keep sand in mine and use a kitty litter scoop. I usually change the sand out once per year.
@@ronmimnaugh7674 I've heard of people doing that, it definitley sounds like a good way to go!
Great info. Going to build a ladder roost for my coop now.
Hey thanks!! Good luck on your build!
Just subscribed. New chicken owner of four. I’m so happy that I found your channel.
Thank you, I really appreciate that!
High roosts also have a downside. In the summer (chickens are dumb) our birds cooked themselves to death because it got so hot up there during a heatwave.
I put two computer fans in our coop to cool them. It is a small coop and we live in South Carolina so it gets hot. I used a fan pulling air in and one pushing out. Two solar cells and a battery keeps the coop cool in summer. In winter it rarely gets freezing so that is not a problem.
I'm new to having chickens 🐔.. I was a kidast time I was around chickens 🐔 😅.. but I built a coop out of pallets turned out good. But I'm glad I watch this tonight because tomorrow I'm doin the roost and was goin to use a 1x4 . Thanks for the tip. I'll ribs some 2x4 down now.
Awesome!! Good luck on your build!
You make total sense. Only thing I would do differently is round up the 2x2 cause it's probably not super comfortable to try to grip around a square edge
EXCELLENT VIDEO
Question... How often do you take the coop out and rake the floor?
Thank you for sharing this great video.
Hey thanks! Honestly.. once a year in the spring, but when we do there is A LOT in there. Anytime it gets smelly in there we throw another bag or two of bedding down and we just keep doing that, then in the spring we pull it all out and use it in the garden!
@@WhitepepperFarmshomestead
EXCELLENT IDEA...
Thank you! I sure learned alot about a chicken roost.
You’re welcome! Thank you for watching!
I used 1x3 lumber and took a router and knocked down the corners with a radius. The entire top surface is rounded now and a perfect fit for chicken feet.
great vid... I heard 2x3's were best and I have used this and find it to be just about perfect..!
Thank you for watching! I agree, they are great!
Outstanding. Brilliant. Thank you. You gave me a wonderful idea. Foam insulation covering whatever medium, would make a fine grabbing material. Plus they can pack at it and play with it. Keep the good lessons coming my good brother.
You’re welcome! Thank you for watching!
Great video. Started with chickens this past year and your channel has lots of good info.
Thank you, I appreciate that! A lot of work goes into making videos and it’s definitely nice to get comments like this one!
@Whitepepper Farms absolutely. I started a small channel last summer and making time for videos, let alone well edited stuff takes time. I def recognize that. Great stuff, thanks for sharing it.
I think people definitely underestimate how hard RUclips is. It’s a constant grind and when you FINALLY get that video done and ready to post… you start writing and filming again for the next one 😂. Especially when it’s a one person show. Good luck on your channel! Stick with it and don’t give up!
I love your passion and purity of joy being a humble chicken farmer! How God intended us to be exactly. Any of y’all know about quail farming? Wonder if similar… (our son is awfully allergic to chicken eggs, weep) will need to do research, much! I hope you one day are able to move to a wee setup (even if a single wide or double wide, we’re in a double wide, but the scenery beats any rock built in a cluttered city! Thank you Lord) of your own where you can have more bird paradise
Excellent video!! We are building a coop now with 10 in mind, I hadn’t seen the ladder idea, but I love it! I think we will build this instead of mounting roosts into the coop walls.
Hey thanks!
It’s definitely an easy way to go 😂
Two things. Roasts should be no higher than 18” to help prevent bumblefoot. And your top roost is so close to the wall they can’t even sit properly. I agree with the 2x4 plan for sure.
Well said... 3 things i recommend.. putty knife to scrape roost.. a spray bottle with bleach water to spray after you scrape it .. and Diatomaceous Earth in a shaker to sprinkle on the roost to make it uninhabitable to lice and mites ..
And leave it in the coop ..That way you can have it all handy when the roost starts looking like it meeds attention
Excellent info. We need more people talking about roost angles of the boards. So many people have that corner at a bad angle.
Hey thanks!
What if the birds roost facing towards the wall on the ladder don't they just poop on the chicken below it? Also there is poop all over the wall of your coop...
I started with four of the finest red leghorns you’ve ever seen about three years ago. Just last week I went out to tend my birds and found one of them unable to stand or walk. She appeared to have a serious leg injury in the hock area. It was the most heartbreaking thing that I’ve ever seen watching her drag herself across the ground with one leg. I could tell she was in tremendous pain. I had no choice but to put her down. I’m 67 years old and I cried like a baby while I held her. I just wish that I knew what happened so that I could prevent it from happening to the remaining three. I’ve often wondered if she hurt herself getting up or down the roost. My high roost is only four foot from the floor and I have a second 2x4 positioned about halfway up, so there’s a step ladder approach for them. After losing a girl like this, it’s hard to want to stay with it.
Oh that just breaks my heart 😭. Honestly.. accidents can happen. It sounds like you are doing everything you can to give your birds a great home, so keep doing exactly that! Sometimes unfortunate accidents happen. Try not to beat yourself up too bad, you did what you could for her!
I can definitely understand your pain. But think off it this way. Off all the chickens in the world you are giving yours what sounds like a wonderful life. So take some comfort in that and keep giving more chikens happy lives! Cheers!
I have cried for each one over the years. They do get arthritis. Any ailment you can think of for humans, chickens can usually get also. Sorry about your darling 💚
Really good video with a lot of great information! Thanks and God bless you and your family!👍👍
Hey thanks!
Good point on the metal roosts. I wasn’t planning on them but we get temps into triple digits for months and metal would be dangerous.
A couple of my chickens got bumblefoot. When I tried to find out what caused it, some sources said that having higher roosts was a possible cause. My chickens do not climb down the ladder, they jump/fly. It was suggested that the impact on the pad of the foot could, over time cause bumblefoot.
I could definitely see that being an issue if your birds don’t use it as a ladder!!
How far apart are the roost bars on your ladder?
I would have to go check when I get home to know for sure, but I’m pretty sure I built them at 18” apart!
@@butterchuggins5409 they are about a foot apart.
It was my understanding bumblefoot is from a staph infection.
We'll be getting chickens for the first time ever, I don't want baby chicks I just want chickens that are a little bit older, I am excited about having chickens for the first time I'm doing it to save money to get fresh eggs as well. Love your videos
In my neighborhood, everyone waves and smiles to everyone. Kinda wish we all shouted "Hey there neighbor!" instead hah
We are lucky here.. my best friend moved to this neighborhood and literally a month later the house across the street went up for sale and we bought it 😂. “Hey Neighbor” started as kind of a little joke and now for the last 3 years ANYTIME we see each other outside you hear a very loud “HEY NEIGHBOR!!” …it’s amazing 😂
Thank you for this! We are reworking our roosts, because we have cliquey chickies and 2 new pullets we need to get in before winter. I think we will make 2 ladders that meet at the bottom in the middle, maybe.
Chickens lucky to be in your care. I'm new to this and this video is most helpful. Thank you
Getting my first birds this weekend , built the hoop coop and attached a nice box for the roost. Found some good thick bamboo for the roost stick. Going to try that, if it doesnt work out. Im building the ladder!
Wooo!! Congrats on the birds, and I wish you the best of luck with your first roost so you don’t have to build another 😂! But if you do have to.. we love our ladder!
Good advice I'm cleaning in a couple days and looks like I need some adjustments.
I heard that square roosting bars are bad for their feet and causes bumble or screwed up toes. I use tree branches but I heard bamboo is the best.
Thanks bro
Not owning any chickens and not planning on doing so, but thanks for the advice. I watched the whole video and still don’t know what to do with the intel I got
Everything you mentioned in this video is right on. At first my nests were 2 ft off the ground and had a roost on the other side just like yours but only 5 rails, but we screwed it to the wall. After a while I built one big nest 8 in off the ground, as they all lay in the same nest anyway and less likely to sleep there now. I have since added big 3-4 in branches and 2X4s out from the original roost that they use as a ladder up to the 2X4's etc. The roost is none removable....its in there! But I rake around it, only 2 legs of the roost are in my way, and I use a long handle garden hoe to scrape off the poop, and hose it down mid summer. It has a lot of ventilation if I open window and big door (they can't get out, it has a secure screen too). Or I can close it up if it snows etc. I really liked the video and am going to share it on FB on 2 chicken groups I am in. I see a lot of people who make mistakes when setting up their nests and roosts. Thanks again. *ALWAYS WEAR A MASK WHEN CLEANING OF FILLING FEED BUCKETS!
I’m going to spend more time to reply to this in depth later, but long story short, I appreciate your thoughtful comment and sharing the video!
Good job’xplaining things young man. Thanks.
Hey thanks, I appreciate that!
You should provide a climbing ladder. A 2x4 with slats of plywood screwed to it every 2 or 3 inches spaced apart.
10-12 inches bedding is key. If you have wood- paint it or stain it to keep those mites from investing.
You are way too much fun Ann. I love how you are always up for a challenge.
Does a roost need to be narrow? Can it be a platform (12”x12” flat surface)?
I’m in Utah too!
Well hey neighbor!
I would stay a little more narrow just to help keep it clean. A wide one like that would catch a lot of poop!
@@WhitepepperFarmshomestead Thank you for the reply! I got an outdoor “cat pen” that I’m converting into a coop, and I can remove some boards from the platforms to make the roosts more narrow.
I’ve subscribed and look forward to learning more!
I made my roost out of 2x4’s, but I made the roost on hinges at the top of the roost where it meets the wall there’s a couple wooden brackets where the hinges attach to in order to have clearance for the roost to fold up against the ceiling of the coop so it’s completely out of the way when I need to clean the co-op floor it’s completely open to scrap all the bedding right out of the coop. The floor of my coop is made from waterproof plywood covered in plastic laminate like you find on many countertops. So not much sticks to it and everything slides on it fairly easily and 😅don’t have to worry about it getting wet either.
I bought a floor scrapper that’s got a metal handle like a broom only has a 16” metal scrapper on the bottom of the handle that works great for anything sticking to the floor. I also use a snow shovel to pick up the bulk of the bedding and the back of the coop got 2 four foot wide doors, so I can scrape the bedding right out the back of the coop into a small trailer and take it down to the compost Ben. I take the the pressure washer to the inside of the coop least once every summer for a extra good cleaning since it’s waterproof material inside the coop the pressure washer doesn’t hurt the coop any. Coop going on 4 years old and still looks practically new inside and out. Wasn’t cheap to build by any means using the materials I used. But I wanted a coop that would hold up for years and y at the very least and hopefully last for decades? So far looks like it’s going to last decades as I hoped it would! Not having to rebuild a coop buying more materials and spending the labor again to rebuild a coop makes the expensive materials I used actually fairly reasonable in the long run . But I did have $6,000.00 into my coop , run, tractor design by the time I was done with it. Also the first coop I have ever built too. Although I’m a cabinet maker contractor by trade. So I have some knowledge with building things. It’s not built to ever fall apart that I can guarantee you! 😂
That sounds like my dream coop! The one thing I do want to do with mine is add some hinges to my roost so I can just lift it up and clean under it rather than drag it out of the coop haha!
Your chicken is cracking me up. My blue Dark Meat walks around like "baaaaaaaaaaawk" all the time 🤣
Seriously 😂😂😂, they just want all the attention!
I'm not a chicken expert but I saw some study that said 1.5in in diameter is the best for the cylindrical kind
I think that's mentioned as a minumum. Chickens prefer to be flat footed if possible, and roosting behavior can start within the first few days. Cutest roost bar ever is a wooden towel rack on the floor of the brooder. Little fluffballs will line up on it.
As a non-chicken guy, not only did #5 surprise me, but so did all the rest!
Thanks bro, very good presentation and easy to remember.
Great presentation
Thank you, I appreciate that!
Thank you for sharing your video, its very practical and full of knowledge and can follow and overcome such issues you highlighted 😊😊😊thank you and stay blessed
2x2 and 2x4 work great 💪🏻
I used wooden fence posts for my roost and I have a pulley system that I can lift it when I clean it out. Just some other ideas to add.🤗
That is a great idea! I need to do that kind of pully thing with mine. I think I now have a project for this weekend. :)
I'm sure folks know about using a tarp under the ladder roost so that the poo can roll down into a container that can be easily removed and cleaned.
We use 2 x 4s and clean the coop once a month. 😊 great video!
Keep a picture of a chicken pot pie in the hen house. With a message.
" Give me trouble and this is where you end up "
😂😂😂I'm gonna adopt that one. My husband and I are first time chicken owners. They are about 8 weeks old, 2 of them maybe 10 weeks.
A fun learning journey for sure
I enjoyed your video. Keep putting out good content.
Hey thanks, I appreciate that!
2x3’s are perfect size for roost bars
Found some old pool cues, used for a roost.perfect size for chicken feet and strong. One cue easily fit 4 chooks.
Thanks for the advice!! Especially about the roosting pecking order. We are all new to this and excited about raising little 🐥 We will be sure to check back as we go along. Thanks again!!
The Jones Family
Kentucky
You’re welcome! I appreciate you watching and stopping by to leave a comment!
We planted 8" round PVC pipe with cap,screwed on Manzanita branches horizontal to other posts making a big 20ft long section linked to 10ft one, a little lower, then back along other 20ft wall. 7 hens.