I am building a coop and in light of the resent loss of Evelyn Navarro’s hens and rooster, I wanted to know about my choice in roofing. I am planning on using the corrugated plastic or fiberglass roofing. I was going to use the white one that allows light to come through so that they have light during the day. Does anyone have experience with this type of covering? And if so will my choice also allow heat to get in and be too hot for the hens? I was also covering the run with the same? Any information would be great. I am trying to not make mistakes before I build to save me some money, and save my future hens.
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Silkies are a great, friendly and funny looking breed, but they are not good layers. If you get 100 small eggs from a silkie in a year you'll be doing better than average. Have you ordered them already? If you are getting them from a local store, be sure that they are sexed. Since silkie's are a fancy breed, they are usually sold straight run. They are used often to hatch and raise other breeds of chickens as they have a tendency to go broody often. For this reason you MUST have at least two nest boxes, with four silkies it could be that you nearly always have at least one that's trying to hatch something (which they will do even if the nest is completely empty). This also means that they will be in the actual coop part of your set up more than other birds... the heat will not deter them from going broody, so be extra sure that everything is very well ventilated, shaded and as cool as possible in the summer. When they do go broody and the temps are warm be sure to put a wide-mouth jar of cool water with them in the nest box so they will drink during the day.
You will save money in feed costs within the first year if you pay extra up front for hardware cloth and make sure the coop doesn't have any gaps. It doesn't sound like there's really going to be a place in your set-up to keep food out of sight of wild birds. Once they find it, they'll keep coming back for more. :) I've never seen a pigeon, grackle etc eating my chicken food, I know some people have pigeon problems, but like you said, the pigeons in my neighborhood prefer the neighbor's dog food.
Finally, your coop/run is pretty much maxed out so if you ever decide to expand and get more birds, you'll need to build an addition first. :)
I'm going through a bit of sticker shock right now with lumber and hardware as well for an aquaponics project I'm building, so I can definitely relate to you and your wife!!!
Craigslist has some deals. A guy out in Goodyear selling sheets of plywood for under 10 bucks. I just picked up a bunch of 2x4 scraps for $10, along with 1x8 planks and other tid bits. Someone had 6' high chain link, 50' roll for $50. Deer Valley area. And older ad for 8' 4x4's at $2 each. Check the materials section.
I read about silkies and there low egg count. That kinda made me want a different breed because eggs is the purpose of the coop. And as far as an addition goes, I live in Tempe and I don't have room for anymore that 4.
I designed the coop to have the entire front wall open so that it will stay veltilated and can close it in winter (all two weeks). After I get it put in place and ready I will post pics for a peer review session. I am willing to change ust about anything that needs it, as long as I have the money.
The sparrows do get through the chicken wire, but I leave the door open anyway for the chickens to roam during the day.
I haven't seen a sparrow in the coop for 3 days.
You just hang a few pieces where the sun will hit it and it'll blow in the breeze and it scares the sparrows, not the chickens. It's working on my tomatoes too.
The best part is it's about $6 for 100'. I only used about 10' so far.
I looked out there yesterday when the wind was blowing and it looked like the coop was a disco. It didn't bother the chickens, they were eating and ignoring the pretty show.
Now back to the roof, that corrugated material works fine? Better if you put 2 layers? How much space would you put there? 2-3-4 inches? If building with open walls you won't really need the plastic ones, would the metal ones work (with the 2 layers with x amount of space between)? Just thinking you can drill and bolt/screw down the metal ones.
Ever see a coop with roof vent? Those round spinning types or even hi-tech solar powered? Just thinking of ways to get rid of the hot air. But with the open air design maybe this is a mute point?
I like Cody had an 'old school' coop designed and based off your comments (which are completely legit) we are re-designing. My coop will be bigger, more like 8x8, because I am looking at production layers. I could have a few more questions...
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