Is the "Easy-To-Clean" Suburban Chicken Coop Really Easy to Clean?

Check out this video to see how easy to clean the Easy-to-Clean Chicken coop really is! When I first had the idea (well my wife had the idea), about owning chickens one of the first concerns I had was about cleaning up the mess. I remembered days of my youth when we had to shovel out the chicken coop, what a mess! Dusty, dirty, smelly, hard work shoveling manure, shavings, and pure filth! I wanted to design a coop that made this job easy and I think that I have attained that goal, what do you think?


The cleanup tray is the heart of the idea with this coop. All of the chicken manure and bedding can be swept into the tray from the nesting boxes and around the edges of the coop in a matter of a few minutes. The tray is then pulled out and taken back to the compost pile to be quickly cleaned up while adding some needed nitrogen to the this fall's pile of leaves. The tray can then be returned to the coop and new shavings added, and that is it!


If you have watched some of my other videos you may have noticed that I like to reuse all of our paper products that we use in our home. I use cardboard for landscaping, paper for compost, newspaper for the worm bin, paper towel rolls for trees, and everything else goes into making compressed briquettes for burning in the wood burner.  I am also saving some of the paper shredding that is safe for compost for use as bedding in the coop. It is not that the pine shavings are very expensive but just another way to reuse things that we would normally ship off to recycle, and don't get me started on recycling paper! I will just say this, it is not really good for the environment.

 

The Simple Suburban Living General Store

http://astore.amazon.com/simpsubulivi-20

 

 

 

Read More

Suburban Chicken Coop: Preventing Freezing & Preparing For the Winter

In this video, I show some of the ways that we are keeping the chicken coop warm in the winter including keeping the watering system from freezing. We have had a few days in the 20's here in Michigan so I have had some time to test out the heating system that I have set up and it is working great so far! The watering system that I put together this summer has been working well and it has been so nice not to have to clean out the water!

 

To prevent freezing in the watering system I am using a product called heat tape or heat cable. You can find that product HERE.  All that is required is some electrical tape, duct or foil back tape, pipe insulation, and some zip ties. The installation is pretty straight forward for any piping system. You run the thermostatically controlled heat cable under the pipe you would like to keep from freezing and hold it in place with zip ties or electrical tape. Then wrap the pipe in insulation and cover with foil back or duct tape. The heat cable only turns on when the temp is below 40 degrees and then turns back off once the water is heated up enough. So far this seems to be working great!
 

We have also installed a heat lamp on the inside of the chicken coop to provide a little bit of heat for the chickens as well. They enjoy the light it provides and also some warmth! To control the temperature in the coop we are using a small thermostatically controls outlet. This product is available HERE. This little outlet turns the heat lamp on when the temps gets down to 35 degrees and then warms the coop up to 45 degrees and then shuts off.  We got this idea from someone who commented on one of our videos.  We really appreciate feedback like that!  This saves energy and allows it to automatically keep the temps above freezing inside the coop. I know that the chickens can probably do without the heat but they do seem to enjoy it!

 

 

Next year, I will run more permanent electrical wiring, light sockets, and installing an outlet for the heat cable, but for now I have a extension cord run to the coop from an outdoor outlet on our home. This will work for now but I plan on implementing a more permanent solution.


I hope this helps you with your own coop in some way!


SSL Family Dad

 

 

 

 

 

 

        
 

This post was shared at:  Homestead Barn Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, The HomeAcre Christmas Hop

Read More

Chicken Tractor - Construction of the Original Lawn Mower - 2

Check out this video for part two of the chicken tractor construction. We are added a nesting box, back panel for the detachable part of the coop, and a watering system for the chickens while there are cruising around the yard. In the first part of the chicken tractor construction I added the wheel system that lifts the coop up a few inches to be moved and then allows for it to rest flat on the ground once out in place in the yard.


The wheel system was the trickiest to engineer but the nesting box, back panel, and watering system took the longest to build. I had over 60 minutes of video that I tried to condense into this 12 minute clip!  Now the chickens have water and a place to lay some eggs while out and about the yard.


The idea of this and any chicken tractor is really two things. First, we want to let the chickens have some new ground to scratch through for worms, grass, bugs, and just some new scenery. Secondly, I wanted to be able to easily move the run away from the coop for an easy once per year cleaning of the chicken area. This way I can roll it out and while the chickens are in heaven scratching away on some new ground I can quickly cleanup and add some fresh dirt/sand to the run and then push it back. So far I think that this chicken tractor has met both of those goals and it makes the chickens lives a little better and mine as well!






This post has been shared at:  HomeAcre Hop, Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop

Read More

Building the Chicken Tractor - Taking the Chickens Out to Eat

In this video, I am working on the conversion of the chicken run into a chicken tractor. There are several reasons why I would like to do this. The chickens enjoy eating grass, bugs, and scratching through a fresh piece of yard now and then. Also, it will allow me to move the run to easily clean the area where they spend most of their time. I have been wanting to get this done for quite some time but have been busy with other things this summer.



I have been looking for some old piece of junk on the side of the road somewhere that had wheels on it I could scavenge but have thus far been unsuccessful. I was able to pick up a small set of wheels at Home Depot that will fit the burden but not really the bill. I paid much more than I wanted to but they are some pretty sturdy looking wheels that should last a long time.

The main thing that I needed to tackle with this project was to build a hitch for my garden tractor and to build a system for the wheels so I could move them into position when I am ready to move the run around the yard. I still have more work to do here (build a nesting box, food scraps trough, roosts, and portable watering system. These will be done as soon as time permits and I will get another video that should cap this project off.






This post was shared at:  Homestead Barn Hop, HomeAcre Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop

Read More

New Baby Chicks Week 6: Not Babies Anymore & New Watering System for Coop

Do all of us chicken mamas think our chickens are the best, smartest, and prettiest chickens ever born?  Love must be blind because we really like our chickens a lot.

And our girls even have different colored eyes!  Ours must be eggstra-special (okay, I'll stop).

But seriously, they have been out in their coop now for two weeks and everything has been going extremely well.  No casualties, and they seem very happy. 

Todd also finished the watering system in the chicken coop.

They can access their water outside under the coop.......

....or inside. 

It holds a little over 2 and a half gallons of water, here is where we fill it.  We hope to hook it up to our future rain barrel system one day.


























It took them just a few days to learn how to drink from it. Several times a day, Todd would hold each one and put their beaks up to the chicken nipple, but only when we removed their plastic watering bowl did they finally figure it out. 

Two days ago, they started going into their coop at nighttime on their own.  Up until then, we had to pick up each one and put them in the coop.  That was making me extremely frustrated because they would not go willingly and it would take the girls twenty minutes each night to get them in.  It was mad chicken/children chaos every night at bedtime.   The neighbor kids would even get in on it, too.  Needless to say, we're VERY glad that instinct finally kicked in. 

If only we could convince the kids to go to bed on their own........






This post has been shared at:  The Homestead Barn Hop, The HomeAcre Hop, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Simple Saturdays Blog Hop



Read More

Repurposing Solar Landscape Lights for the Chicken Coop

In this video, I am repurposing some solar deck lights that we decided not to use. In this case, I used them to provide a little bit of light in and around the chicken coop.  Around our suburban homestead, we try to use everything we have before making a trip to the hardware store.  We are also moving in the direction of using alternative energy resources to power our home.  My wife found these lights somewhere in our garage and I was determined to install them somewhere.  And we're very happy with the results so far.


Before.....

 

After....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This same process can be used to light a shed, playhouse, tree house, or other out-buildings you may have.


Let me know if you have any questions or run into any trouble.


Todd
 

            

 

 

This post was shared at:  The Homestead Barn Hop, Simple Saturdays Blog Hop, The Homeacre Hop

 

 

 

Read More

New Baby Chicks Week 4: Moving Out to the New Coop!

How is this possible?  Five weeks ago, we stopped at our local TSC store and picked up six peeping, fluffy, yellow baby chicks and now they've already moved out on their own?  Doesn't seem right. 


Todd finished the chicken coop in the dark over the weekend.  Our neighbors are pretty used to the sound of his saw and hammer after dark. 


The chicks have been living in an alien spaceship-looking cardboard brooder box in our basement for the past four weeks.  I highly recommend making something like this out of your old moving boxes and duct tape.  We lined it with pine shavings and only had to clean it once (only having 6 chicks probably made that possible).

Our 8 year-old daughter, Kayla, wrangled, or as she called it,"strangled", each chicken one-by-one and moved them into the coop.

We moved the heat lamp out to the coop because nights are still a bit chilly here in Michigan.  (Plus, they're still BABIES, right?)  



"It's a looong way down if we fall off the chicken ladder, let's all just wait right here and wait for someone to go first." 

Todd has been putting a few more finishing touches on the coop.  Webcam, solar lights, you know, the "usual".   It's been a couple days since they moved out and they are doing great. 

 

I'm still getting used to our empty nest. 

 





 



 

This post was shared at:  The Homestead Barn Hop, Simple Saturdays Blog Hop

Read More

Detachable Chicken Run/Chicken Tractor

In this video I go through the steps to construct the chicken run which will become the chicken tractor as well. This is designed to attach to the chicken coop and be detachable to be moved around the yard. The idea here is that the chickens can safely scratch a new area of the yard each day or at least a couple days per week. This helps to keep the chicken run area cleaner, helps to spread their manure around the yard, and fertilizes the grass. As soon as the entire project is complete a final walkthrough and demonstration will be posted.

Thanks for watching!

Todd

Read More

Caring for Baby Chicks Week 3: Raising Friendly Chickens & Coop/Run Update

Here is the third update on raising our baby chicks!  Our chicks are currently living in a homemade brooder box in our basement.  They seem very happy! They have been extremely easy to care for.  The girls have been holding them everyday and they are turning into friendly little chickens.  They are also very curious of us and like the attention.

Todd is also currently working on the detachable chicken run.  We plan on moving them out to the coop next week, so he will be working hard to get the run done this week. 

FYI - These chicks were purchased from TSC on 3/30/14 and are between 4-5 weeks old.

Enjoy and let us know if you have any questions or tips for us!

:) Lisa

 

 

Read More

How to Build the Easy to Clean Backyard Chicken Coop - Part One

The chicken coop is finished!  Well, almost.  Just a few finishing touches left to do.  Tomorrow, I will start building the detachable run/tractor.  In this video I do an overview of how to build a simple 4' X 4' chicken coop. This coop has enough room for about 4-6 chickens and is build with 3 nesting boxes. The coop is designed with cleaning in mind and will allow the coop to be cleaned by pulling out the bottom collection tray, dumping the waste bedding, and then refilling with new. In part two I will show how I built a detachable chicken tractor chicken run to the coop and in future updates I will add the automatic rain collection watering system, automatic feeder, heating elements, and lighting.  Updated post with plans here

 

 

Read More

From SSL Mom - New Baby Chicks Week 2 Update

Here is the second update on raising our baby chicks!  Our chicks are currently living in a homemade brooder box in our basement.  We have not lost any and they seem very happy.  They have been extremely easy to care for.  We have also completed their chicken coop and included photos of that as well.  The chicken coop has a built-in tray for easy cleaning.  The next step is to build the detachable chicken run.  Enjoy and let us know if you have any questions or tips for us!

: ) Lisa

So far, our coop has only had kids in it! 

The kids love the egg-shaped door :)

 

Read More

From SSL Mom - Caring for Baby Chicks Week 1: Bringing Home the Chicks & Coop Update

Very exciting news!  On March 30th, we brought our very first baby chicks home from our local TSC store.  It took us some time to pick them out.  TSC keeps their chicks in troughs and most of the troughs were not sexed.  Since we live in a subdivision, we wanted only hens and no roosters.  Some very helpful employees explained to us that two bins were sexed, and we purchased six of the ISA Brown pullets (females).  After reading online that it is very difficult to sex chicks, we are still not convinced our chicks are 100% females, but we'll see!  Six is the minimum that we were allowed to buy.  We had only planned on 3 chickens, but are happy with our decision. 

We want to raise chickens for their eggs.  We are still not convinced meat chickens are for us just yet.  We were happy to learn that the ISA Brown chickens are very productive egg layers at approximately 300 eggs per year.  They are a cross between the Rhode Island Red and Rhode Island White chickens.  They are also very docile, quiet (for a chicken) and friendly.   

This video will give you highlights from the first week of bringing home our babies.  The baby chicks will stay indoors for approximately 4 more weeks, while they grow and the chicken coop is built.  Todd started building the coop last week as well.

Thank you for watching, we will keep adding updates of our chicks and the coop.  Please let me know if you have any questions or tips for us! 

:)  Lisa

 

 

 

Read More