Dec. 1, 2025

Coop Design Secrets-Part 2

Show Notes
Transcript

Think your chicken coop is “good enough”? What Jeff reveals in this episode will change the way you look at every part of your coop—from the floor under their feet to the air they breathe. Most poultry keepers focus on predators, bedding, or heat… but the real secrets that make coops safe, healthy, and long-lasting are hiding in plain sight.

In this episode of Poultry Keepers Podcast, Rip, Carey, and poultry nutrition expert Jeff Mattocks break down the most misunderstood parts of coop design. You’ll learn why insulation isn’t necessary (even at –30°F), how poor airflow silently harms your birds long before you smell ammonia, and why choosing the wrong flooring can invite bumblefoot, mud problems, and rapid coop deterioration.

They also dig into practical setup strategies: coop orientation, shade vs. sun, rooftop ventilation, predator-proofing, choosing between DIY and ready-made coops, and how to avoid the biggest mistake new keepers make—underbuilding and falling victim to chicken math.

If you’ve ever wondered why some coops stay clean, dry, odor-free, and predator-proof—and yours doesn’t—this episode gives you the missing pieces.

listen now to uncover the design flaws most flock owners never notice… until problems show up.

FREE WORKBOOK:
Download the Coop Design Workbook with ventilation calculators, square-footage guidelines, and referenced materials inside the Poultry Keepers 360 Facebook Group, Files section.

Visit www.thepoultrykeeperspodcst.com to listen now.

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WEBVTT

00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:06.969
Welcome to the Poultry Keepers Podcast where we bring you trustworthy poultry informatioin to help you and your birds succeed.

00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:14.016
In today's episode Jeff, Carey and Rip conclude their discussion on Coop Design Secrets.

00:00:14.635 --> 00:00:17.106
Let's pick things up right where we finished last week.

00:00:27.652 --> 00:00:28.733
What about insulation?

00:00:28.733 --> 00:00:31.612
Jeff do coops need to be insulated.

00:00:31.763 --> 00:00:33.353
I'll give you a hot button issue here.

00:00:33.862 --> 00:00:35.482
They don't need to be insulated.

00:00:35.482 --> 00:00:35.813
Really?

00:00:35.813 --> 00:00:36.143
You like those?

00:00:36.167 --> 00:00:36.368
They

00:00:36.442 --> 00:00:37.222
they do not.

00:00:37.402 --> 00:00:38.932
There's no need to insulate'em.

00:00:39.033 --> 00:00:47.872
And even when I visited Kelly Geer in Saskatchewan it's an uninsulated coop in, in like north central Saskatchewan.

00:00:48.472 --> 00:00:54.393
So seeing like minus 30, degrees is still not an issue for the birds.

00:00:54.963 --> 00:01:07.983
If you have bedding on the ground, if you have enough bedding on the ground to keep their feet insulated and you've got a good roost bar for'em to get up off the ground at night, okay, they can tolerate it.

00:01:08.192 --> 00:01:13.712
You know these people that drive me crazy thinking that, oh my God, it's gonna be 40 degrees.

00:01:13.712 --> 00:01:15.242
I gotta do something for my chickens.

00:01:15.843 --> 00:01:20.552
No, just keep their feet dry and give them a happy place to sleep and they'll be fine.

00:01:21.033 --> 00:01:21.302
Okay.

00:01:21.393 --> 00:01:22.712
I saw one today.

00:01:22.862 --> 00:01:28.203
I saw a comment where someone had said they went outside and their chickens were shivering.

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They could tell it so they wouldn't bought'em a heater.

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And I was like, you're farm your rules.

00:01:34.862 --> 00:01:35.283
Okay.

00:01:35.852 --> 00:01:36.093
Yeah.

00:01:36.692 --> 00:01:44.882
The only thing that I've got heated right now, okay, is they're not, I have some baby pigs and I got a way for them to stay warm.

00:01:45.483 --> 00:01:49.293
Uhhuh, they don't, their most of theirs though is the bedding and the mama.

00:01:49.893 --> 00:01:51.903
But they don't need a heater either.

00:01:52.263 --> 00:01:53.192
Not in your climate.

00:01:53.643 --> 00:01:53.733
Yeah.

00:01:53.983 --> 00:01:56.352
We saw in the twenties the other day.

00:01:56.623 --> 00:01:57.013
Yeah.

00:01:57.018 --> 00:01:57.418
They're still

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fine.

00:01:58.347 --> 00:01:58.378
They're still fine.

00:01:58.378 --> 00:01:58.858
Don't worry.

00:01:59.337 --> 00:02:00.628
They know how to stay warm.

00:02:00.748 --> 00:02:02.037
It's part of their instinct.

00:02:02.248 --> 00:02:02.727
And

00:02:02.858 --> 00:02:13.147
I've seen wild hogs down here with pigs in, in cold winter months, and you'd see the little two or three day old pigs when the temperatured be.

00:02:13.612 --> 00:02:16.883
25 to 30 degrees and just running around just fat and happy.

00:02:17.483 --> 00:02:18.173
Okay, I'll,

00:02:18.173 --> 00:02:19.223
I'll get rid of it then.

00:02:19.432 --> 00:02:21.383
I didn't and you said the right word.

00:02:21.983 --> 00:02:23.723
So a so's milk.

00:02:23.772 --> 00:02:27.763
And we're not talking here talking about pigs, but a pig's milk right.

00:02:27.943 --> 00:02:34.062
Is very high in fat and very high and energy, and that's why it helps them get through it then.

00:02:34.302 --> 00:02:35.652
As long as that piglet Yeah.

00:02:35.832 --> 00:02:38.233
It's got the energy to do it right.

00:02:38.832 --> 00:02:39.223
Okay.

00:02:39.823 --> 00:02:40.543
Yeah, really.

00:02:41.143 --> 00:02:49.152
If you were in total confinement and you were a little sparse on bedding, you could put a heat lamp in the corner for'em in a protected area, but.

00:02:49.752 --> 00:02:50.307
No, I have, so

00:02:50.307 --> 00:02:58.078
I have so much bedding that I had to raise the heat up just to make sure that the bedding didn't catch on fire.

00:02:58.348 --> 00:02:59.877
Yeah, they don't need it.

00:02:59.877 --> 00:03:00.087
But

00:03:00.337 --> 00:03:02.798
I, it was gonna get in the twenties, so I didn't know they.

00:03:03.397 --> 00:03:04.478
Now they're a week old.

00:03:05.078 --> 00:03:06.638
I love Rob Garren's comment.

00:03:06.638 --> 00:03:09.337
I guess I need some pig milk for myself this winter.

00:03:09.853 --> 00:03:10.143
Yeah.

00:03:10.742 --> 00:03:11.983
I don't know where you it.

00:03:12.143 --> 00:03:13.157
I don't where I don't know

00:03:13.157 --> 00:03:16.022
anybody milking a pig, but No, it'll do it.

00:03:16.203 --> 00:03:16.522
You can do it.

00:03:16.608 --> 00:03:19.397
Hey, look, people do everything these days.

00:03:19.638 --> 00:03:20.268
I know.

00:03:20.448 --> 00:03:21.707
You can milk an almond, right?

00:03:21.768 --> 00:03:22.907
Why can't you milk a pig?

00:03:23.027 --> 00:03:23.538
There you go.

00:03:23.638 --> 00:03:23.848
Yeah.

00:03:24.448 --> 00:03:27.157
Sue Dobson said she rigs her pop doors.

00:03:27.758 --> 00:03:29.918
So they pull open from the outside.

00:03:30.518 --> 00:03:32.127
Yeah, that would make a lot of sense.

00:03:32.608 --> 00:03:32.788
But

00:03:33.298 --> 00:03:34.323
you don't wanna have to, it goes back to

00:03:34.323 --> 00:03:35.907
that work smarter, not harder.

00:03:36.508 --> 00:03:45.298
Speaking of, I saw some pictures that she sent me where she had finished her coops up after she got the Livestock Conservancy grant.

00:03:45.568 --> 00:03:46.337
And they look nice.

00:03:46.342 --> 00:03:47.002
They look nice.

00:03:47.002 --> 00:03:47.013
Yeah.

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They're nice and tall.

00:03:49.212 --> 00:03:51.793
She did that and they look really good.

00:03:52.393 --> 00:03:53.323
They're top notch.

00:03:53.443 --> 00:03:54.043
Top notch.

00:03:54.643 --> 00:03:56.983
Jeff, what about floor construction?

00:03:57.582 --> 00:03:58.423
What's your thoughts there?

00:03:58.427 --> 00:03:59.888
And I know it's gonna very.

00:04:00.487 --> 00:04:03.518
From geographic location to geographic location.

00:04:04.117 --> 00:04:06.217
Personally, I would never have a solid floor.

00:04:06.818 --> 00:04:16.418
And I'll tell you what, with the modern poultry flooring the way they've designed the plastic flooring with the openings in it, that would be the only way I'd go.

00:04:16.418 --> 00:04:16.807
Yeah.

00:04:16.807 --> 00:04:20.588
I saw lawyer voting for me to milk pigs, but that's all right.

00:04:21.067 --> 00:04:21.577
That's all right.

00:04:22.177 --> 00:04:25.028
Jeff that I think I've done worse is not that expensive.

00:04:25.627 --> 00:04:30.187
It's not and the longevity of it is amazing, right?

00:04:30.247 --> 00:04:33.338
I can show you poultry houses with floor in it for 20 years.

00:04:33.788 --> 00:04:37.208
So it's built it's built for it, right?

00:04:37.267 --> 00:04:40.148
And there's multiple different kinds.

00:04:40.148 --> 00:04:42.067
You can get stuff that's snapped together.

00:04:42.067 --> 00:04:43.177
It makes a floor.

00:04:43.507 --> 00:04:47.798
You put it over a two by four frame then it can drop out.

00:04:47.827 --> 00:04:51.848
So you can actually have a catch pan for the droppings.

00:04:52.447 --> 00:04:55.898
Underneath to make clean out a lot easier as well.

00:04:55.927 --> 00:05:03.247
When you want to clean it, hitting that with a pressure washer, soap, and water it, you're not gonna worry about rotting or anything else.

00:05:03.848 --> 00:05:09.127
Now, if you don't want to do like the PVC, the plastic flooring, I get it.

00:05:09.637 --> 00:05:13.637
So I would always use pine flooring.

00:05:14.237 --> 00:05:15.317
I like a soft wood.

00:05:15.918 --> 00:05:21.668
And usually I would use one by ones and leave a three quarter inch gap between them.

00:05:22.267 --> 00:05:24.588
And birds had really good footing.

00:05:25.187 --> 00:05:31.177
It also helps, believe it or not, a little bit with ventilation, so you don't get that bad air trapped in there.

00:05:31.627 --> 00:05:36.817
But the old fashioned style before the fancy plastic poultry flooring would've been.

00:05:37.418 --> 00:05:47.408
Wood s slotting, generally pine and like a one by one, and spaced appropriately so the birds can tramp through it, right?

00:05:47.468 --> 00:05:57.398
And then you could go in there with a scraper, periodically knock off the high spots, but you're gonna be replacing wood somewhat frequently, right?

00:05:57.458 --> 00:06:04.177
It's going three to five years, probably before the urine and the manure or whatever, but.

00:06:04.778 --> 00:06:07.807
Before you're gonna have to think about replacing some of it, but,

00:06:08.288 --> 00:06:16.507
so I was having some problems with, in one of the areas where I have pens, every time it rained, it would flood and it didn't care.

00:06:16.567 --> 00:06:21.067
I like how much sand I mixed in there, how much peat moss I mixed in there.

00:06:21.668 --> 00:06:27.427
It just, it would be a mess and I really hated my bird standing in it.

00:06:28.028 --> 00:06:32.348
I hated my birds having to stay on the roost to avoid it.

00:06:32.947 --> 00:06:56.528
So I got a couple pieces of that stuff and made it to where they have a two foot by five foot section, which these pens are five foot wide, so it comes out two feet where the birds can get there, they can walk around, they can roost on it, whatever they want to do, but they're out of the muck when.

00:06:56.963 --> 00:07:00.562
It happens and they seem to really like it.

00:07:01.163 --> 00:07:08.692
Look, I cannot stress enough how important a dry, they're dry feet, right?

00:07:08.903 --> 00:07:10.583
Keeping their feet dry.

00:07:11.182 --> 00:07:23.702
Even in the summertime, even when it is, spring, fall, whatever, and muddy, they gotta have a place they can go because that moisture just like our skin, if you get your hands.

00:07:24.043 --> 00:07:29.233
In water or moist for too long, or your feet in water moist too long, it softens the skin.

00:07:29.833 --> 00:07:37.773
It's just giving me a prime opportunity for some type of injury to allow bumblefoot to catch up and get in there.

00:07:38.182 --> 00:07:40.853
So it just keep their feet dry.

00:07:41.452 --> 00:07:45.663
We talked around ventilation a little bit.

00:07:45.963 --> 00:07:52.052
But Jeff, give us your quick thoughts, A quick rundown on ventilation.

00:07:52.117 --> 00:07:58.958
I know we want to do it because of the moisture and the ammonia buildup, but where do you place the vents to bring air in?

00:07:58.958 --> 00:07:59.673
To take air out?

00:08:00.273 --> 00:08:07.862
I always place the vents up in the peak because I, I don't want air moving directly where the bird is, right?

00:08:07.862 --> 00:08:15.233
So I'm positioning them above where the bird will either be roosting whatever, wherever the bird's living.

00:08:15.233 --> 00:08:28.752
I want it, a good two to three feet above them and, I wish more people would invest in not everybody has electric, but I, I wish they'd invest in a, a hundred dollars bathroom exhaust fan for the one end.

00:08:29.112 --> 00:08:35.852
And put it on a timer so it runs five or six times a day, calculate your cubic feet right.

00:08:36.302 --> 00:08:39.773
And figure out how long it needs to run.

00:08:39.773 --> 00:08:45.293
The fan will tell you if it's a hundred CFM or whatever it is, it'll have a rating on it.

00:08:45.868 --> 00:08:49.557
And then you need to have an inlet vent and you need to have an exhaust.

00:08:49.557 --> 00:08:55.888
So you use the bathroom fan as the exhaust and set it up on an amount automatic timer to run.

00:08:56.488 --> 00:09:03.837
And you should have a 100% air exchange every six or six times a day about every four hours.

00:09:04.437 --> 00:09:19.238
But it's most critical actually, like if you're putting it in the roosting area, because in the run they're gonna be mostly wire and open air, so I'm not worried about there, but where they're roosting, confined space, roost, nest boxes, things like that.

00:09:19.748 --> 00:09:21.488
I need to get that air exchanged.

00:09:22.028 --> 00:09:28.148
And if people are paying attention, there's a lot of manure underneath that roost.

00:09:28.748 --> 00:09:33.878
That seems to be their favorite place right before, right when they wake up in the morning, right?

00:09:33.878 --> 00:09:36.878
They're gonna dump out and get a fresh start.

00:09:36.998 --> 00:09:39.427
And that's where it was for my birds anyway.

00:09:40.028 --> 00:09:47.437
70 to 80% of the manure that was deposited in a day was under the roost.

00:09:47.768 --> 00:09:51.577
So if you're doing roost bars, you know that should be your heavy spacing.

00:09:52.177 --> 00:09:56.077
Now if you're a morning feeder versus an afternoon, that may not be true.

00:09:56.677 --> 00:10:08.597
But I was an afternoon feeder, I like to feed one to two hours before the sun went down, so I would get a lot more manure under the roost while they were sleeping or up on the roost at night.

00:10:09.197 --> 00:10:10.472
Just depends, they gotta have air.

00:10:11.072 --> 00:10:12.363
Oh, let me ask this.

00:10:12.363 --> 00:10:24.123
Let's say I've got a nice big open run and I built a shelter for them that's got a two foot doorway for them to come.

00:10:24.243 --> 00:10:32.852
That's out of the, run into that roof bars everywhere and up at, right at the under the roof line.

00:10:33.452 --> 00:10:34.697
I got like a two inch gap.

00:10:35.298 --> 00:10:52.263
For natural flow, will I get enough flow from the wind or do I really need to try to put in some type of, even if it's a slow moving fan that's solar powered do I still need to put in some kind of fan to help move the air?

00:10:52.863 --> 00:10:54.003
You should put in something.

00:10:54.602 --> 00:10:55.982
The wind doesn't always blow.

00:10:56.173 --> 00:10:59.903
You cannot depend on natural air movement.

00:10:59.903 --> 00:11:03.442
You have times of the year, like right now, we've got plenty of wind.

00:11:03.923 --> 00:11:05.722
I wouldn't worry about my exhaust fan.

00:11:05.822 --> 00:11:10.113
And I wouldn't, if I had my coop set up right, I wouldn't worry about airflow at all.

00:11:10.113 --> 00:11:10.173
Yeah.

00:11:10.773 --> 00:11:14.383
There's days, where there just is dead calm.

00:11:14.513 --> 00:11:17.452
So you're not gonna, you don't have anything consistent.

00:11:17.798 --> 00:11:23.227
To guarantee that you're getting that air exchange that you need on a daily basis.

00:11:23.827 --> 00:11:25.898
And it doesn't take long for ammonia to build up.

00:11:26.197 --> 00:11:26.437
Yeah.

00:11:26.437 --> 00:11:27.518
No, I don't take long at all.

00:11:27.597 --> 00:11:31.107
So by the time you can smell it, it's already too late.

00:11:31.528 --> 00:11:31.798
Yeah.

00:11:31.927 --> 00:11:41.067
If you're gonna, if you're gonna be home every day and hanging out with your chickens and you can do that game time decision, if you're gonna run the fan or not run the fan, that's fine.

00:11:41.572 --> 00:11:45.472
The fail safe for me is to put it on a timer, get a pin timer.

00:11:45.523 --> 00:11:47.202
And just let it run.

00:11:47.293 --> 00:11:47.503
Yeah.

00:11:47.503 --> 00:11:56.332
Even if it's a windy day and you wasted, 15 cents of electricity, at least you were on the safe side instead of the negligence inside.

00:11:56.932 --> 00:11:57.113
But

00:11:57.712 --> 00:11:59.332
I love this comment from the roost.

00:11:59.332 --> 00:12:03.202
If your chicken coop stinks, you don't have adequate ventilation.

00:12:03.802 --> 00:12:05.003
It shouldn't stink either.

00:12:05.003 --> 00:12:05.182
That's

00:12:05.182 --> 00:12:05.513
very true.

00:12:05.567 --> 00:12:06.128
That's an easy

00:12:06.128 --> 00:12:06.457
way to

00:12:06.457 --> 00:12:06.697
put it.

00:12:06.748 --> 00:12:10.048
You either don't have enough bedding or you don't have enough airflow.

00:12:10.187 --> 00:12:17.687
That's, and I'm gonna throw in my 2 cents here and I see it a lot, particularly in the pre-made coop.

00:12:17.687 --> 00:12:25.952
You can buy where their ventilation consists of these little round holes drilled in the end walls or around it just a little two inch holes.

00:12:26.552 --> 00:12:29.972
Folks, you can't get enough airflow through those things.

00:12:30.423 --> 00:12:30.932
I'm sorry.

00:12:30.932 --> 00:12:32.043
You really can't.

00:12:32.562 --> 00:12:33.702
I prefer a long

00:12:33.702 --> 00:12:38.153
strip and that, to me that's like trying to breathe while somebody's choking you.

00:12:38.753 --> 00:12:39.592
Yeah, exactly.

00:12:39.592 --> 00:12:40.373
Will it function?

00:12:40.373 --> 00:12:41.123
Yes.

00:12:41.393 --> 00:12:42.413
Is it adequate?

00:12:42.533 --> 00:12:42.773
No.

00:12:43.373 --> 00:12:43.732
Yeah,

00:12:43.942 --> 00:12:46.013
but, and it won't last for a while.

00:12:46.403 --> 00:12:50.363
The people building these things are not the people who are using them.

00:12:50.363 --> 00:12:52.552
So they don't fully understand.

00:12:53.033 --> 00:12:53.482
That's true.

00:12:53.753 --> 00:12:55.493
They're not listening to our show.

00:12:55.957 --> 00:12:56.408
They don't.

00:12:56.597 --> 00:12:58.457
And then even if they did put, probably

00:12:58.457 --> 00:12:59.628
don't even have chickens,

00:12:59.837 --> 00:13:00.107
right?

00:13:00.197 --> 00:13:02.927
If they did put adequate ventilation in there.

00:13:03.227 --> 00:13:13.337
Now the chicken huggers out there, the chicken mamas that are worried about putting blankets on their chickens and keeping'em warm at 40 degrees, right?

00:13:13.557 --> 00:13:15.868
They're gonna think, oh, that's too much air on'em.

00:13:15.878 --> 00:13:20.288
They're gonna block holes anyway, just, yeah, they, they need air.

00:13:20.408 --> 00:13:24.967
Air is more important than temperature and I don't know how to get that through people's heads.

00:13:25.567 --> 00:13:25.868
Okay.

00:13:26.168 --> 00:13:27.038
Exactly right.

00:13:27.038 --> 00:13:34.187
Air quality is a lot more important, now there's some breeds that are shy on feather, they have less feathers.

00:13:34.768 --> 00:13:40.258
Like your hard feathered birds don't have the same insulation capacity as your softer feathered birds.

00:13:40.857 --> 00:13:46.258
They weren't necessarily built, they didn't come from a region of the world where it ever really got cold.

00:13:46.748 --> 00:13:51.158
You might wanna do some type of protection for them.

00:13:51.187 --> 00:14:01.388
I'm not saying coddle them or get a heater, but you may want to, set up your coop a little bit differently cause they don't have the insulation factor that, you

00:14:01.388 --> 00:14:01.628
know, a

00:14:01.807 --> 00:14:03.097
Rhode Island red would have.

00:14:03.697 --> 00:14:06.128
Jeff, I've raised modern games for a while.

00:14:06.727 --> 00:14:08.347
And they're very tight feathered.

00:14:08.347 --> 00:14:10.357
There's not a whole lot of insulation there.

00:14:10.957 --> 00:14:11.107
Yeah.

00:14:11.587 --> 00:14:17.227
But as long as those birds were in a draft free situation, they were happy.

00:14:17.227 --> 00:14:21.937
Even when we'd get temperatures down 25 on below that.

00:14:22.447 --> 00:14:22.748
Yeah.

00:14:22.763 --> 00:14:30.052
If you keep your right, if you can block the wind, and give them a dry place to be, they're gonna be happy.

00:14:30.653 --> 00:14:36.043
They just don't, as long as it ain't drafty, and blowing rain on'em or something, they'll be fine.

00:14:36.643 --> 00:14:36.883
Yep.

00:14:37.482 --> 00:14:41.962
Got some comments here Owen, that Tyson Dallas wants to know.

00:14:41.993 --> 00:14:45.082
So you don't use any bedding with the poultry floors?

00:14:45.682 --> 00:14:46.793
No, you don't need to.

00:14:47.393 --> 00:14:49.702
You can put some shavings on'em if you want.

00:14:49.852 --> 00:14:50.783
It's not gonna hurt.

00:14:50.832 --> 00:14:52.243
I would use a medium flake shaving.

00:14:52.842 --> 00:14:58.812
Something like a peanut hall, if you far enough in the south that you can get bag peanut halls, they'll work.

00:14:59.332 --> 00:15:05.072
But smaller bedding, like the small stuff, a lot of it's just gonna fall right through the floor.

00:15:05.202 --> 00:15:12.432
I would not be using a straw hay or anything big in course'cause it's just gonna defeat the purpose of the poultry flooring.

00:15:12.613 --> 00:15:16.773
It's already slotted to allow manure to get to drop right down through it.

00:15:17.373 --> 00:15:19.312
Sue's also got a good point here.

00:15:19.773 --> 00:15:21.633
Ventilation is so important.

00:15:21.633 --> 00:15:23.643
It keeps him from getting frostbite.

00:15:24.243 --> 00:15:24.482
Yeah,

00:15:25.082 --> 00:15:25.863
it does actually.

00:15:25.863 --> 00:15:29.192
People don't, they don't believe it, but it, they don't grasp it.

00:15:29.383 --> 00:15:30.582
If you bottle'em up.

00:15:31.182 --> 00:15:38.623
And they're living in a higher humidity environment between body moisture and the moisture coming off of the manure and different other forms of moisture.

00:15:38.952 --> 00:15:43.783
But the higher the humidity in their living space, the quicker they'll actually frostbite.

00:15:44.383 --> 00:15:44.533
Yeah.

00:15:44.533 --> 00:15:46.363
So she's a hundred percent right.

00:15:46.962 --> 00:15:47.863
Absolutely.

00:15:48.462 --> 00:15:49.602
Got one more here.

00:15:50.202 --> 00:15:55.972
You can buy solar powered fans and we were talking about that a little earlier and he's thinking about doing that.

00:15:56.572 --> 00:16:02.753
And particularly if you're in a situation where you don't have electrical close enough to your coop, that.

00:16:03.352 --> 00:16:04.643
That's a good way to go.

00:16:04.793 --> 00:16:05.812
I would recommend that.

00:16:05.812 --> 00:16:06.503
Absolutely.

00:16:06.802 --> 00:16:09.923
I would check the CFMs and make sure that they're gonna do the job.

00:16:10.503 --> 00:16:24.727
I might even go a little further on Tyson's, where, if you had a deep cycle battery that you could put an inverter on and still have your solar panel to charge your battery, that might be a better way to go, Tyson just saying you might,

00:16:24.878 --> 00:16:25.118
well.

00:16:25.717 --> 00:16:35.368
Something like that, you could move the solar panel over because if your coops are like mine, I like, mine's in the shade.

00:16:35.967 --> 00:16:39.643
I've got, I like from my run, I like for everything to be in the shade.

00:16:39.927 --> 00:16:48.773
It's not always possible, but if you only have that number one, if it's just got a solar panel on it, it's only gonna run during the daytime.

00:16:49.373 --> 00:16:51.557
Yeah, your chickens are in there pooping all night.

00:16:52.158 --> 00:16:58.128
Probably not in the daytime as much'cause they're out roaming around the run and all that good stuff.

00:16:58.727 --> 00:17:00.258
Because I thought about that too.

00:17:00.798 --> 00:17:07.127
'cause I like for stuff to be automated and, I don't want to have extension cords running all over the place.

00:17:07.127 --> 00:17:09.137
But they are getting cheaper.

00:17:09.738 --> 00:17:15.357
Those list, those lithium phosphate deep cycle batteries that you had showed me and I've seen'em before.

00:17:15.538 --> 00:17:16.323
Oh yeah, they're great.

00:17:16.333 --> 00:17:23.573
They're getting realistic and, if you hook those to a solar charger and you put an inverter on it.

00:17:24.173 --> 00:17:24.982
And a timer.

00:17:25.432 --> 00:17:27.833
Actually, you wouldn't even need the inverter.

00:17:27.833 --> 00:17:29.393
You wouldn't have to have one 10.

00:17:29.813 --> 00:17:32.423
'cause if you consider using, no, you get a DC fan.

00:17:32.962 --> 00:17:33.262
What?

00:17:33.363 --> 00:17:34.053
And a camper.

00:17:34.053 --> 00:17:38.792
Where you have a, like camper exhaust fan for the bathrooms in there, you can get it.

00:17:38.792 --> 00:17:40.383
12 volt exhaust fan.

00:17:40.982 --> 00:17:41.252
Yep.

00:17:41.313 --> 00:17:42.423
That's not a problem.

00:17:42.593 --> 00:17:47.212
And you can run it because you lose extra, you lose wattage going through the inverter.

00:17:47.542 --> 00:17:50.123
Inverters are not truly efficient.

00:17:50.722 --> 00:17:55.042
And so you're gonna lose some of your voltage, some of your wattage there.

00:17:55.583 --> 00:18:03.113
But yeah, solar to a smaller, 100, 200 cranking amp lithium phosphate probably to the job.

00:18:03.712 --> 00:18:07.492
And again like you said, we're worried about the confined space.

00:18:07.492 --> 00:18:10.073
So that's gonna be the roosting area, nest box area.

00:18:10.673 --> 00:18:16.492
And if those are tied together, then we can exhaust with one, with the one fan.

00:18:17.093 --> 00:18:20.212
And they're only really in there from sunset till sunrise.

00:18:20.752 --> 00:18:21.022
Okay?

00:18:21.202 --> 00:18:29.403
So if I can get two to three runs, fan runs while they're in there, then you know we're in good shape.

00:18:30.002 --> 00:18:30.292
Okay.

00:18:30.893 --> 00:18:33.232
Rob's got an interesting question here.

00:18:33.833 --> 00:18:36.772
Do chickens poop at night when they're sleeping?

00:18:37.373 --> 00:18:40.432
I haven't stayed up to watch, but I believe they do.

00:18:40.732 --> 00:18:41.153
Yes.

00:18:41.333 --> 00:18:41.603
So

00:18:42.202 --> 00:18:46.238
I was gonna say I've never seen them think, oh, let me go over here.

00:18:46.837 --> 00:18:48.817
They just poop wherever they are.

00:18:49.417 --> 00:18:52.798
If you go back to the coops that are designed with dropping boards.

00:18:53.397 --> 00:18:56.803
Yeah, they put there to catch the droppings when the birds are asleep.

00:18:57.403 --> 00:19:08.542
Let's talk a bit we've hit different parts of it, but just to give you some tips on choosing the best location for your coop and how to set it up, how to orient it.

00:19:08.542 --> 00:19:11.452
I guess I should say, like Jeff was saying, you want.

00:19:12.053 --> 00:19:13.917
High, well drained ground.

00:19:13.948 --> 00:19:15.627
You don't want low spots.

00:19:15.657 --> 00:19:19.978
That puddle, that just breeds disease when it happens.

00:19:20.577 --> 00:19:21.837
I always stresses them out.

00:19:22.347 --> 00:19:22.617
Yep.

00:19:23.157 --> 00:19:35.157
I always prefer to run my coops, orient my cos the long axis east and west that minimize the direct sun through the sidewalls in hot periods.

00:19:35.758 --> 00:19:38.488
And it can get seriously hot and seriously sunny down here.

00:19:39.087 --> 00:19:40.827
And that was always helpful.

00:19:41.428 --> 00:19:43.847
And like Kerry said, he liked shade.

00:19:44.028 --> 00:19:52.367
Shade helps more than the winter sun in many regions birds tolerate coal better than heat.

00:19:52.428 --> 00:19:54.407
And that's something we were just talking about.

00:19:54.508 --> 00:19:57.238
They can handle a lot more cold weather than you think.

00:19:57.837 --> 00:20:09.157
You want your coop in within good proximity to water, because otherwise you're gonna be toting water in buckets or whatever, and that gets to be a real pain.

00:20:09.758 --> 00:20:13.268
And if at all possible, you want to have it close to electricity.

00:20:13.867 --> 00:20:18.397
Because if you're running a fan, it's easy to connect to electricity.

00:20:18.847 --> 00:20:28.208
If you're lighting your coop during the winter for egg production or whatever reason it's just electricity is a good thing to have handy.

00:20:28.807 --> 00:20:33.307
And something to keep in mind about predators and a coop.

00:20:33.907 --> 00:20:39.938
If you haven't had problems with predators yet, just be patient, you will.

00:20:40.538 --> 00:20:40.958
Yeah.

00:20:41.363 --> 00:20:41.653
Yeah.

00:20:42.218 --> 00:20:50.317
And you want to think about maybe bearing hardware, cloth apron around the coop to keep the critters from scratching in and digging in.

00:20:50.917 --> 00:20:57.657
And you can check and there's a resource in the, something I wanna tell you about in a minute that'll help you.

00:20:58.258 --> 00:21:02.577
But you can check with your state wildlife agency about tips on how to.

00:21:03.178 --> 00:21:04.438
Deal with predators.

00:21:04.938 --> 00:21:08.688
Back when I worked with the Game and Fish Commission, we used to get those questions a lot.

00:21:09.288 --> 00:21:09.857
A lot.

00:21:10.458 --> 00:21:19.363
And your local game and wildlife folks, they're, you may know what you have in your yard, but they know what's in the area.

00:21:19.482 --> 00:21:19.992
Period.

00:21:19.992 --> 00:21:20.682
For the state.

00:21:20.688 --> 00:21:20.837
Exactly,

00:21:21.192 --> 00:21:21.522
exactly.

00:21:21.522 --> 00:21:21.702
So they

00:21:21.702 --> 00:21:26.442
can give you ideas not only for the raccoons that you've caught.

00:21:26.817 --> 00:21:34.557
The other items that you may find, because once you get rid of one predator, it's only time before something else comes to replace it.

00:21:35.157 --> 00:21:35.548
Yeah.

00:21:35.548 --> 00:21:38.938
Anymore where we're living, you know you're gonna see them all right?

00:21:38.998 --> 00:21:39.298
Yep.

00:21:39.397 --> 00:21:42.637
Eventually you raise chickens long enough, you're gonna see everything.

00:21:43.238 --> 00:21:49.897
Everything from mice, rats, all the way up to coyotes, neighbors, dogs, you name it, right?

00:21:50.018 --> 00:21:51.518
It's just, I did

00:21:51.518 --> 00:21:54.643
have I actually had a coyote get close.

00:21:55.242 --> 00:21:59.083
I've heard'em in the distance for many years.

00:21:59.682 --> 00:22:04.423
I had one get really close a couple weeks ago.

00:22:05.022 --> 00:22:06.883
That coyote is no longer with us.

00:22:07.482 --> 00:22:10.742
My my dogs heart earned their bags of feed,

00:22:11.343 --> 00:22:12.423
and I'll just leave it at that.

00:22:13.022 --> 00:22:18.782
A another thing about predators, folks don't, I won't say, I'm not gonna say this is a blanket.

00:22:18.813 --> 00:22:22.383
A lot of folks don't stop to consider aerial predators.

00:22:22.593 --> 00:22:24.147
Hawks, owls, eagles.

00:22:24.748 --> 00:22:26.758
They can recap it on the chicken Flo.

00:22:27.028 --> 00:22:27.833
Yes they can.

00:22:28.093 --> 00:22:28.313
Yes.

00:22:28.347 --> 00:22:31.917
And your state Fish and Wildlife Agency can help you deal with that.

00:22:31.917 --> 00:22:39.117
And that's, you can't kill'em and you can't trap'em or anything like that, but they can help you deal with those issues.

00:22:39.117 --> 00:22:41.367
So they're a really good resource.

00:22:41.468 --> 00:22:51.877
And Richard Rick's talking from his law enforcement days of working for the Fish and Game Commission and good old rednecks like me, shoot, shovel and shut up.

00:22:51.978 --> 00:22:53.387
You don't talk about it.

00:22:53.732 --> 00:22:55.413
Lead poisoning is universal.

00:22:55.623 --> 00:22:56.702
It works for everything.

00:22:57.272 --> 00:22:57.722
But you

00:22:57.722 --> 00:22:57.992
know,

00:22:58.593 --> 00:22:59.522
I didn't say that.

00:23:00.093 --> 00:23:10.627
If you don't wanna be on the wrong side of the visit and I didn't say I did, I'm just saying, I know what's mine is mine and if you start getting in the wrong place,

00:23:11.228 --> 00:23:12.097
don't monkey with it.

00:23:12.488 --> 00:23:12.788
Yep.

00:23:13.327 --> 00:23:13.597
Yep.

00:23:14.198 --> 00:23:15.762
Kerry, here's a good.

00:23:16.363 --> 00:23:19.438
I'm gonna throw something at you here because I know you deal in them.

00:23:20.038 --> 00:23:27.657
A DIY build of a coop or a readymade coop, which do you think is better and why?

00:23:28.258 --> 00:23:29.817
There's two sides to look at that.

00:23:30.417 --> 00:23:47.337
Number one, if you're, if you trust your carpentry skills and have a thousand dollars worth of tools and you, then you may be, oh time, yeah, that's one thing that you really can't buy.

00:23:47.938 --> 00:23:54.597
If you have a lot of that, then building yourself would be more cost efficient.

00:23:55.198 --> 00:24:06.928
However, there's companies out there like I, I represent one and I not only resell their product, but I have quite a few of them in my yard.

00:24:07.528 --> 00:24:13.143
And for me, when I first started going that route, it was a one and done.

00:24:13.742 --> 00:24:18.333
Because when I put a bird, you get a quality one of those, you put a bird in it.

00:24:18.363 --> 00:24:20.913
I didn't have to worry about coyotes or anything.

00:24:20.972 --> 00:24:24.962
'cause things built like a brick hen house

00:24:25.563 --> 00:24:27.002
Fortnite built like Fort Knox.

00:24:27.002 --> 00:24:27.242
Yeah.

00:24:27.377 --> 00:24:33.123
And like I didn't have to worry about it and it 20, 30 minutes to put it together.

00:24:33.482 --> 00:24:36.182
Literally, it took me longer to figure out how to.

00:24:36.782 --> 00:24:46.083
Unfold the tarp that went on the top and I say tarp it, the thing is like 20 mils thick or something ridiculous.

00:24:46.682 --> 00:24:58.083
At one point I had one of the four inch concrete cap blocks actually fall from being flown in the wind and land on one, and it busted three stitches.

00:24:58.682 --> 00:25:00.452
So it's a little more than just a tarp.

00:25:00.452 --> 00:25:01.952
It's high quality.

00:25:02.387 --> 00:25:09.387
But even with that thing's still got chickens in it now, almost a year later, don't even problems.

00:25:09.988 --> 00:25:23.607
And so spending the money for something like that when you don't have time, don't have tools or you're not somebody that's handy with tools, if you did have them, then I would definitely go that route.

00:25:24.208 --> 00:25:28.633
If you think you need chicken wire to put together pens.

00:25:29.232 --> 00:25:30.462