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 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.
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.
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
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.
Metronidazole (an antimicrobial) has been banned from use in poultry because of the human health risk if the meat or eggs are used for human consumption. Please do a little research on reputable websites before following ANY advice about giving drugs or supplements or using chemicals or herbs or essential oils etc. in your chickens' environment or feed or water. There is sometimes good advice but also sometimes very bad advice. Often all you need is to keep coops reasonably clean and follow general "best practices" for your flock and you don't need to be medicating as a preventative.
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!
I’ve had my chicken a year now. I watched this video and made my ladder roost . Works great . I hinged the top of the roost so I can raise up roost during day to access cleaning and lower at night at bedtime. I have 100 chickens. It’s a great side gig as I am retired
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.
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.
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.
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!
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 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 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!
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!
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 😂
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.
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
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.
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.
With heavy breeds 18 inches would be hard on their legs. I've see them stressed about getting down off it in the morning. Yhey avoid the ramp.Bedding might help but they seem nervous about landing on the peat straw or hay.
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.
To digress ,our old english game bantams preferred mixed seed & finer shellgrit to layers pellets ,but didn't seem to like wheat Also liked local dandelions & buffalo grass clippings cut up small, worms 🪱 when they were laying (probably besr to give them a quick rinse) and bugs
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.
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
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.
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.
Good advice 👍🏽. For everyone’s knowledge… the metal doesn’t actually get colder than the wood, but because it’s so dense it does conduct the cold to the chickens feet much faster …. So yeah don’t use metal
@@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.
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
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.
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!
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.
We have old english game bantams & made shelves of fence palings against a wooden wall at about 1.2m which they seemed to prefer ,also attached some large plastic flower pots to the fence with hay at about a metre off the ground as they didn't like them any lower 🐔 🐥 🪹
I use hard wood tree limbs, about 2" diameter and secure them on top of a sideways 2x4. They can move around easily but they prefer a rounded limb to hang on to. I keep a paint scraper next to the roost and scrape is off daily. I give them different ways to stairstep up to their roost. It gives new birds a lowly roost to go to until they are accepted on the big girl roost... make sure that top area is vented with no draft. Frost bite is from excessive moisture.
I have a 137” by 94” coop. I’m trying to figure out the size of the ladder. I’m thinking 9’x 7’ as I’m pinning it up on henges so I can lift it to clean. Any ideas?
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.
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!
"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!
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.
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
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 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.
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.
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.
Your info is excellent, brings up stuff I really needed to know so thank you. For those of us who aren't of english originally, or if we happen to be a tad slow, you do speak very fast. Catching all you say is like threading a sewing machine while it's running.
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!
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!
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
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.
I have 8 young hens ready to start laying. I have them in a 4x8 portable coop. I turn them out at daybreak every morning and lock them in at night. I have a pretty large back yard that's fenced so they have lots of room to roam scratch eat bugs and so forth. For my roost which may be the wrong thing is I have a metal rod ran through a floating tube and secured so it won't roll with the hens on it. It's a two tier roost. Usually 6 hens on the top and 2 below but at times all 8 will be on top. They are only in there at night. So far it's working well. I enjoyed your video
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...
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!
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 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 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.. 🐓 🥚
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
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 ?
Metronidazole (an antimicrobial) has been banned from use in poultry because of the human health risk if the meat or eggs are used for human consumption.
Please do a little research on reputable websites before following ANY advice about giving drugs or supplements or using chemicals or herbs or essential oils etc. in your chickens' environment or feed or water. There is sometimes good advice but also sometimes very bad advice.
Often all you need is to keep coops reasonably clean and follow general "best practices" for your flock and you don't need to be medicating as a preventative.
@@Josephine-i4d2qproduce or pet store
I have no idea how I ended up here but now I know about chickens...
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! 😆👍✨
I’ve had my chicken a year now. I watched this video and made my ladder roost . Works great . I hinged the top of the roost so I can raise up roost during day to access cleaning and lower at night at bedtime. I have 100 chickens. It’s a great side gig as I am retired
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❤
My wife has been pushing for chickens for a while and now where at that point. I appreciate your knowledge and style. Subbed.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Had to read 📚 several times
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 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 find the best to be a 2x4 with the 4” side up. I use a drywall tape knife to scrape poo off surfaces.
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 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 love how that one chicken in the background is calling you for attention the whole video.
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!
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 like how fast but packkked with information your video is.. new to chickens, thanks
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.
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
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!
Love your advice. Very valuable & I like how well you treat those beautiful, smart & loveable chickies. Greetings from Europe. Keep up the good work.
I am planning to make style roost this for our new coop with a hinge type system to flip up for cleaning
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!
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
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!
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.
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 😂
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!
I’ve always used tree branches (usually pine) and they love them.
I love your channel, love hearing you yell "hey there neighbor"
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
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.
We used 2X4. The hens love it.
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.
With heavy breeds 18 inches would be hard on their legs. I've see them stressed about getting down off it in the morning. Yhey avoid the ramp.Bedding might help but they seem nervous about landing on the peat straw or hay.
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.
To digress ,our old english game bantams preferred mixed seed & finer shellgrit to layers pellets ,but didn't seem to like wheat
Also liked local dandelions & buffalo grass clippings cut up small, worms 🪱 when they were laying (probably besr to give them a quick rinse) and bugs
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!
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
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.
Hey I’m in Utah as well and just got an acre. I’m glad I found your content as I’m constantly looking for info that’s Utah specific.
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.
Good advice 👍🏽. For everyone’s knowledge… the metal doesn’t actually get colder than the wood, but because it’s so dense it does conduct the cold to the chickens feet much faster …. So yeah don’t use metal
We use 2x4 flat surface..we scrape the roosts every day before they go in for the night.
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!!!
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.
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
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.
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!
Hate the click-bait titles, love the content.
10-12 inches bedding is key. If you have wood- paint it or stain it to keep those mites from investing.
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!
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!
We have old english game bantams & made shelves of fence palings against a wooden wall at about 1.2m which they seemed to prefer ,also attached some large plastic flower pots to the fence with hay at about a metre off the ground as they didn't like them any lower
🐔 🐥 🪹
I'm glad I didn't permanently secure the roost. That WAS my plan. Now I have seen a better way. Thanks
You should provide a climbing ladder. A 2x4 with slats of plywood screwed to it every 2 or 3 inches spaced apart.
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.
I use hard wood tree limbs, about 2" diameter and secure them on top of a sideways 2x4. They can move around easily but they prefer a rounded limb to hang on to. I keep a paint scraper next to the roost and scrape is off daily. I give them different ways to stairstep up to their roost. It gives new birds a lowly roost to go to until they are accepted on the big girl roost... make sure that top area is vented with no draft. Frost bite is from excessive moisture.
What was the space ingredient between the roost levels so they don’t poop on one another?
I have a 137” by 94” coop. I’m trying to figure out the size of the ladder. I’m thinking 9’x 7’ as I’m pinning it up on henges so I can lift it to clean. Any ideas?
Total size of the barn is 137” long by 94” wide. Yes, I’m a lady and need assistance. Thanks
I know it’s a lot to ask but no one here who has seen it offers no options nor opinions. Blessings to you Sir.
I’m located in the Ozarks
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.
You are way too much fun Ann. I love how you are always up for a challenge.
Just subscribed. New chicken owner of four. I’m so happy that I found your channel.
Thank you, I really appreciate that!
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!
"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!
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!
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
Great video man. Just recently got chickens and planning to get more in the spring and expand the chicken run. Helpful tips!
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!
Your chicken is cracking me up. My blue Dark Meat walks around like "baaaaaaaaaaawk" all the time 🤣
Seriously 😂😂😂, they just want all the attention!
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!
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.
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.
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 😂
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!
😂
We live on the outskirts of the city and can only have 6 and no roosters 😢
@WhitepepperFarmshomestead not a huge city but yeah
00:18 "Hey neighbour!" I wish I lived in a neighbourhood like that. So wholesome. 3:37 Oh no way everyone says it haha
Your info is excellent, brings up stuff I really needed to know so thank you. For those of us who aren't of english originally, or if we happen to be a tad slow, you do speak very fast. Catching all you say is like threading a sewing machine while it's running.
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 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!
Chickens lucky to be in your care. I'm new to this and this video is most helpful. Thank you
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!
Found some old pool cues, used for a roost.perfect size for chicken feet and strong. One cue easily fit 4 chooks.
Nice video.
I wouldn’t completely turn down pvc as long as it’s wrapped in rope or hey string.
However wood is easier ha.
Oh for sure! Someone could make awesome roosts from PVC if they added something onto it! I can get behind that!
Thanks bro
2x2 and 2x4 work great 💪🏻
We use 2 x 4s and clean the coop once a month. 😊 great video!
Absolutely golden video. Great advice.
1 inch pvc with carpet wrapped around it with a string of lights through it for warmth in the winter
Excellent Advices.
Thank you.
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!
Really good video with a lot of great information! Thanks and God bless you and your family!👍👍
Hey thanks!
I screwed the top of the roost to the wall with hinges so I just flip it up and latch it to clean under it
I have 8 young hens ready to start laying. I have them in a 4x8 portable coop. I turn them out at daybreak every morning and lock them in at night. I have a pretty large back yard that's fenced so they have lots of room to roam scratch eat bugs and so forth. For my roost which may be the wrong thing is I have a metal rod ran through a floating tube and secured so it won't roll with the hens on it. It's a two tier roost. Usually 6 hens on the top and 2 below but at times all 8 will be on top. They are only in there at night. So far it's working well. I enjoyed your video
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...
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...