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Chicken Coop Renovation -- Need Interior Layout Ideas

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John:
Here is a topic from earlier this year that may be of interest...
http://ameraucana.org/abcforum/index.php?a=topic&t=1463

Here is another...
http://ameraucana.org/abcforum/index.php?a=topic&t=1401

The old wire chinchilla cage in one of my photos (mounted some wooden coops - with 7 doors) was used to house extra bantam coops during the breeding season.

John:
Here is a link to another topic with more pictures of wire cages.
http://ameraucana.org/abcforum/index.php?a=topic&t=1224

Scott:
Erica & John -- Thanks for the feedback.  Looks like I have much to consider.  

While we were clearing out my coop and preparing it for insulation etc I found a couple dozen eggs up in the loft.  In speaking to my wife those eggs were estimated to be 35+ years old.  The insides were petrified.  Now that all of the dust has settled, its on to insulation and siding the interior so I can house my birds that I pick up from the Indy show.  

Erica:  Earlier last year I built a hoop coop similar to the links below with cattle panels.  I\'ve had turkeys and my started birds in this enclosure and its been rather easy to move it around.  

I am currently using corn cob bedding and its pretty effective, however its expensive.  I am hoping to try shavings and see how well it does to dry up and contain the smell.  

http://www.plamondon.com/hoop-coop.html

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=172799&p=1

Tailfeathers:
Scott, I have several pens of various sizes that I use for breeding pens so rather than tell you what I have now, I\'ll just say I would recommend pens that are at least 4\' wide x 8\' long x 4\' high.  6\' high would be even better.  I was hoping to build a whole new setup this year but never got around to it.  Now that the wife is back, I may still get to it this year but more likely it\'ll be on my \"To Do List\" for next year.

Right now I keep all my roosters in one chainlink 6x12x6 pen.  Then once the breeding season starts, specified females (that are all of the same lineage) go into each of my pens with a specific rooster put in as well.  My birds are all toe-punched.  For those pens that don\'t have a rooster in them, I rotate one of the roosters into that pen back and forth a couple of times a week.  

Each pen is given a #, that # is written on the eggs as collected, and each chick is then toe-punched according to the # on the egg.  

I can also get a 6th pen going by taking birds in the main coop that haven\'t had a male with them (so I know they\'re clean), and then putting them in a pen once I\'ve collected all the eggs I want from that pen.  Then the birds that were in that pen are put in the coop and I\'ll collect those eggs for at least a week to 10 days and incubate them too.

Hope that helps.

God Bless,

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