Winter coop rearrangement

We had one final set of winter prep projects to complete for the chickens inside the coop.

With 54 birds, most of whom will probably hate the snow, we need more interior places for them to hang out. We started by moving the nesting boxes to under the windows (vs facing them.) This made space to line up all of the roosts along the back wall. We attached some leftover heavy duty plastic sheeting behind the large roosts, allowing us to catch and redirect the bulk of their droppings. That frees up more clean floor space. We covered the floor in straw, including leaving a few extra bales for them to pick at.

I checked on them after dark and there were chickens perched pretty much everywhere - on roosts but also on the floor and every available surface. I’m sure they will settle in and all eventually locate a proper roost. Unfortunately, I still have a few who prefer sleeping in the nesting boxes (it’s not a good habit because we like nice clean boxes for laying eggs, but the least of my worries.)

Hen happiness = scratching in a little leftover straw.

I probably should remove the protective apron from this bird - she just needed a little time to recover some top feathers, and then I’ve just forgotten about it!

Perfect place for some of that Hobby Lobby themed artwork.  When we moved the nesting boxes to under the windows, unfortunately that meant this one is almost all the way to the ground. We may move it up a little higher on the wall under the rooster art. 

A week in, and the plastic collection system is actually working pretty well. The original design had a piece of gutter about six inches from the bottom that you can sweep out. Honestly not a  terrible idea., thinking about adding it.

4-6 girls prefer the overhead roosts. I would love to see how they actually get up there!