So you’ve got chickens, or you’re getting chickens. It’s not that they are a lot of work, but it would be nice to offload some of the daily mundane tasks. Besides, you’ve already automated your house, don’t you want a smart chicken coop, too? A small amount of chicken coop automation can create a lot of ease and peace of mind. This article will tell you how to set up a chicken coop that will keep your hens fed, watered, and protected with peace of mind and ease. Although many of these tips can be applied to any operation, we are mostly focused on the suburban backyard variety of chicken house.
What is a Chicken Coop, Henhouse, or Chicken Run?
Lets get some definitions out of the way, because there are some confusing definitions for coop/run/henhouse. For the purposes of this article, the henhouse is the solid-sided structure where chickens will spend the night. This probably includes nesting boxes, roosts. The run is protected outdoor space where they can roam during the day. The entire structure combining run and henhouse, is the coop.
Creating a Space for your Backyard Chickens
The first key to a smart chicken coop is more about design than gadgetry. When creating your chicken’s living area, you’d do well to ask “How much space do I need for a chicken coop or henhouse?” If your chickens will be confined indoors, they need at least 10 square feet per bird. If they have outdoor space to roam in, then they need at least 4 square feet of indoor space per bird, and you want to give them plenty of room outdoors. So, if you have 6 chickens, you need at least 24 square feet of henhouse and at least 60 square feet of lawn for them to scratch on. That’s all just for the comfort of your chickens. But you’re going to have to get in there every once in a while for maintenance, and you shouldn’t make it hard for yourself. Make sure you build your enclosure for ease of access. For a small henhouse under 30 square feet or so, the easiest way may be to put doors all around, so you can reach any part of it. If it’s any bigger than that, then you’ll want to build it at least 5 feet tall so that you can walk in. The same is true for any enclosed run. Make sure it’s tall enough that you can walk around as necessary.
How to Make a Safe and Secure Home for your Chickens
The second step to a smart chicken coop, like the first, is low-tech. A smart coop is one that keeps your birds safe. That means that predators can’t get anywhere near them. Chicken wire is designed to keep chickens in, but it won’t do much to keep predators and pests out. A rat can easily fit between the spaces in chicken wire, and a racoon, coyote, or dog can easily rip through it. Any gap in the exterior of your coop big enough to get your finger through should be covered in 1/2-inch hardware cloth. Additionally, if your chickens have an outdoor area you don’t want to put any food inside the henhouse where it might attract particularly tenacious pests.
Automated Coop/Henhouse Door
Chickens and their eggs are most vulnerable at night when they are sleeping and predators or pests like possums, racoons, foxes, and rats are most active. So it is important that they be closed up securely. Although you could get up with the sunrise and slide a door open, then do the same thing in the evening, it’s not a very elegant solution. Besides, every once in a while you might want to stay out late and sleep in the next morning. Your hens, who don’t share your same exciting social life might not appreciate that, but a watchful predator might!
Here we can step in with some cool technology. There are countless options available for powered and automatic coop doors, but there are pitfalls you should avoid. Some can actually crush, maim, or kill a chicken that gets in the way when it is opening or closing. Others require a power source or space that may not be available to you. I found the Omlet Autodoor to be perfect solution to my needs. It runs on 4 AA batteries that last me about 8 months on average. It can be set to open and close based on daylight or specific times. I found that the daylight sensor is surprisingly well calibrated. Regardless of weather conditions and the changing of seasons, it seems to perfectly match the timing of my hens.
The Best Automated Chicken Feeder
Now, we move on to some low-tech automation. There are a number of ways to provide food to your chickens, but there are downsides to many of them. Some feeders hold only a little, requiring regular refills. Others leave the food exposed to the elements, allowing for spoilage due to rain or moisture. Many are susceptible to excessive spillage and waste, or thievery by rodents and other pests. The best solution I have found to all these problems is the treadle feeder. A treadle feeder holds somewhere between 10-50 pounds of chicken feed in an enclosed (usually metal) container that only opens up when something heavy enough steps on a plate in front of it. This design keeps out water, dirt, and pests. It also makes it difficult for your birds to scatter the food on the ground and waste it. I recommend the treadle feeder made by Grandpa’s for its durability and reliability. Check here for the current price and availability of the Grandpa’s Treadle Feeder. One feeder can hold enough food for several weeks. Just keep in mind that when it’s time to refill, you’ll be adding at least 10 pounds of food, so make sure it’s in an area that’s easy for you to access.
The Best Automated Chicken Waterer
It is very important that chickens always have access to fresh water. The most basic waterers are an open bowl or a bowl with an attached reservoir. The problems with this type are many. They don’t usually hold a lot, requiring refilling at least daily perhaps more often than that. They also tend to turn quickly into wash basins where the birds stick their dirty feet and you end up with a muddy mess. If it’s hanging so that they can’t kick dirt in it, they’ll bat it around until all the water spills out. This is where watering nipples and cups come in.
A chicken nipple is a device that screws in to some water source and has a joystick-like toggle that sticks out. When a chicken pecks at it, it drips a little water. These are nice because, since the water source is not accessible, there’s no way for the chickens to spoil it. They are also generally resistant to freezing. Sometimes this is combined with a small cup underneath. When a chicken drinks from the cup, it pushes the nipple with its beak and this causes the cup to refill. The cup is nice because it’s a more natural drinking motion and also allows chickens to dip their entire beak in the water, which is a common way to cool off. I found these cups to be problematic though, because my birds didn’t make the connection of pecking the toggle to fill the cup and if the cup was empty, they would just go around thirsty. Instead I like to use auto-filling watering cups. You can find these made by every randomly name generator manufacturer, but I’ve had good luck with those from RentACoop. These are similar to the nipple style, but are spring-loaded, so when they become empty they automatically refill. This means my chickens always have a little bit of water to dip their heads into. If you’re in an area prone to freezing, this wouldn’t be the best option, but here in Florida where freezing isn’t a problem and it’s almost always sweltering, having some cool water is a necessity. You can get the cups attached to a bucket as a “complete system” or make your own using your own bucket or hose and PVC pipe. If you do connect directly to a water hose, you’ll need something to reduce the pressure significantly, like this adjustable in-line water pressure regulator.