What Are Your Coop & Care Challenges?

[audrey2024]

Hi everyone!

I am a student studying industrial design and working on a project focused on improving common chicken-keeping challenges, and I’d love to hear from experienced keepers like you. Growing up I kept chickens and ducks for eggs so I'm very passionate about the animals, along with how I can improve their quality of life. If you have any frustrations, clever DIY solutions, or “I wish there was a product for this” moments, I’d love to hear about them! My goal is to better understand real-world challenges and explore potential solutions. All feedback is greatly appreciated.

Some topics I'm looking into...
Feeding Systems – Do you deal with waste, pests, or difficulty keeping feed fresh?
Nesting Boxes – Have you had trouble with egg breakage, hens avoiding boxes, or cleaning challenges?
Chicken Enrichment – What do you do to keep your flock entertained and prevent boredom-related issues like feather picking?
Climate Challenges – How do you handle extreme heat or cold to keep your birds safe and comfortable?
Waste Management & Bedding – What bedding materials do you use, and how do you handle cleaning? Do you compost your chicken waste?
Space Limitations – If you have a small coop or run, what challenges do you face with space and flock management?
Predator Resistance – Have you had issues with predators? What solutions have worked (or failed) for protecting your flock?

Thank you in advance for the feedback! It is greatly appreciated!!
I am open to further conversations/interviews as well. Please send me an email [email protected] if interested.

 

[chrismahon]

Hello Audrey and welcome to the forum. We had a Design student called Daniel Hibbert signed in back in 2011. He came round to our UK place for coop design information and his final year project turned out very well. In fact the coops i was designing to bring to France were pretty much identical, aside from the construction materials. I used wood and he used metal, a material which brings with it some potentially serious health issues but made the manufacture simple. Omlet have made the same mistake designing their coops around the manufacturing process without sufficient knowledge of the intended inhabitants. The first thing to be aware of is chicken keeping is anything but simple. Chickens are surprisingly intelligent creatures, but with most of their behaviour built-in from a million generations of evolution they can be somewhat unpredictable.

There are lots of pest resistant feeders on the market the best known being Grandpa's feeders which are expensive and have spawned a wide variety of cheaper and poorly designed alternatives. We use standard feeders and when mice are spotted, hang them out of reach and set traps whilst the chickens are safely away from them in the coop at night. General rule- if you see one mouse you have 15. For drinkers we keep it simple- plant pot bases which are easy to clean and de-ice.

Nesting boxes must always be below the height of perches. Eggs only get broken if eggs accumulate because there are either insufficient boxes or the eggs are collected infrequently. Broken eggs can lead to egg eating which is difficult to resolve, but not impossible.

Boredom is caused by a poor environment and keeping chickens in small runs should be avoided. I know people do it and chickens are quite tolerant generally, but it inevitably leads to stress which depresses the immune system. Chickens need to feed at three heights, ground, chest and overhead. They need a soil bath which is the mechanism by which they keep pest free and cool. They need shade, wind and rain shelter and sunlight. They need to scratch and eat grass. These things can only be achieved in a large area- over 15m2 each in our case.

Cold isn't a problem normally as long as there are no draughts but adequate ventilation- difficult to achieve in practice. Extended periods of cold will run them down so they would come inside overnight. In extreme heat ours come inside. Over 37C in the shade is the cutoff normally, but older birds would be 35C. We have an insulated room which reaches 27C max and they go in there for a few days or a week every year. They really enjoy their temporary cool environment.

Coop floors are covered with wood shavings with feed bags on top which creates a cushion floor to avoid foot impact damage. Newspaper goes on top under the perches and the poo is take off every day with a dustpan and brush and is composted for two years, otherwise it is too strong and will kill the plants.

Our latest successful predator was a polecat which got past the electric fences and squeezed into the run. In the UK it was foxes. Here there are more predators- foxes, wild boar, buzzards and stray dogs. Nothing will be 100% because human error will leave a fence off or a gate open, but a secure enclosure with an electric line around it has so far been successful. With a large space comes overhead danger, so they need cover or something to prevent landing and takeoff. We use a combination of free-standing tripods and clothes line.

Breeding, hatching and rearing is a whole new dimension to chicken keeping. My advice would be to read up on the subject of chicken keeping from a reliable source- Storey's guide to raising chickens by Gail Damerow ISBN 978-1-60342-469-1. There are a lot of books available, but be aware that just because it has been set to print doesn't make it correct- some books I've read are full of bad advice and should be removed from the shelves!

So that's my initial contribution Audrey. Unfortunately a visit to our place is probably impossible for you.

 

[Icemaiden]

Hi everyone!

I am a student studying industrial design and working on a project focused on improving common chicken-keeping challenges, and I’d love to hear from experienced keepers like you. Growing up I kept chickens and ducks for eggs so I'm very passionate about the animals, along with how I can improve their quality of life. If you have any frustrations, clever DIY solutions, or “I wish there was a product for this” moments, I’d love to hear about them! My goal is to better understand real-world challenges and explore potential solutions. All feedback is greatly appreciated.

Some topics I'm looking into...
Feeding Systems – Do you deal with waste, pests, or difficulty keeping feed fresh?
Nesting Boxes – Have you had trouble with egg breakage, hens avoiding boxes, or cleaning challenges?
Chicken Enrichment – What do you do to keep your flock entertained and prevent boredom-related issues like feather picking?
Climate Challenges – How do you handle extreme heat or cold to keep your birds safe and comfortable?
Waste Management & Bedding – What bedding materials do you use, and how do you handle cleaning? Do you compost your chicken waste?
Space Limitations – If you have a small coop or run, what challenges do you face with space and flock management?
Predator Resistance – Have you had issues with predators? What solutions have worked (or failed) for protecting your flock?

Thank you in advance for the feedback! It is greatly appreciated!!
I am open to further conversations/interviews as well. Please send me an email [email protected] if interested.

Hi Audrey.
My current challenge is how to replace the tanalised timber vertical posts that hold up our hen run. They've been concreted into the ground for 12 years & are decaying. The question is how to remove & replace each post without dismantling the run, as the hens still need to live in it to protect them from predators when we're not in the garden with them.

The chicken wire is stapled to the vertical posts & also goes across the top to form a squirrel-proof roof.

 

[chrismahon]

That's a very tricky one Icemaiden. Is it possible to cut the post just up from ground level, dig out the stump and fit a metal post foot. Once set remove the rest of the post and fit a new one? Alternative is to build a new run entirely and move them with the coop before dismantling the old one. Or perhaps just the framework and move the run mesh to it secured temporarily with string? We may be faced with the same problem in a few years, but can move them all into their 'hot weather' room at the back of the house for a week or so. It's only an unheated clay floor store room, so the only inconvenience is the cockerel crowing an hour before dawn.

 

[Icemaiden]

That's a very tricky one Icemaiden. Is it possible to cut the post just up from ground level, dig out the stump and fit a metal post foot. Once set remove the rest of the post and fit a new one? Alternative is to build a new run entirely and move them with the coop before dismantling the old one. Or perhaps just the framework and move the run mesh to it secured temporarily with string? We may be faced with the same problem in a few years, but can move them all into their 'hot weather' room at the back of the house for a week or so. It's only an unheated clay floor store room, so the only inconvenience is the cockerel crowing an hour before dawn.

Thanks Chris. Any hints for removing the Postcrete that the posts were cemented in with?

 

[chrismahon]

Unfortunately I don't know of any easy way to remove the concrete, which is why I don't use the stuff any more. Our posts are now knocked into a shallow hole and then packed all round with heavy clay soil. Not very accurate and they do move a bit over time, but can be adjusted if necessary.