Chicken Coop / Maintenance

Pro’s

• We built this chicken coop at the Nomad City settlement after having many problems with blood lice. Blood lice can’t survive on the flat service of IBC, making this a usefull material to use a coop. It is also easy to clean, since it already has a tap for draining dirty water.
• Easy to move around and move towards fresh grass

Tips

• After using this design for 2 years we did found blood lice that were nesting around the little bit of wood that is present inside the coop. Below you find some tips to prevent blood lice in your coop.

Con’s

• Can get warm in summer, it is best to cover the IBC with a wooden surface. This will also protect the IBC material against UV light
• Important to add some ventilation holes, especially in summer

How to avoid:

How to mitigate:

Pro’s

• A movable coop can be good to provide fresh grass for chickens

Con’s

• It needs to be moved often, depending on the size and number of chickens.

Pro’s

• Rodents are not heavy enough to lift the lid

Con’s

• Small containers need to be filled often
• Only one chicken can eat

Pro’s

• Simple system to make
• Chickens can eat at the same time

Con’s

• Small containers need to be filled often
• If it is low to the ground, rodents can still get in. This can be easily fixed by lifting the bucket in the air, or placing it on a pillar.

Pro’s

• Simple system to make
• The chickens have some fun poking at the stick and picking up the food

Con’s

• There might be some waste if the spilled food gets wet. This might also attract rodents

Pro’s

Con’s

Pro’s

• The weight of the chickens on their sleeping sticks makes the door close at night. When they get off the door automatically opens

Con’s

• This can work, but then the chickens need to have a fixed sleeping space
• It can be tricky to get the counter weight just right

Pro’s

• At Nomad City we use a pulley system to attach a rock to the chicken coop door. This way the chickens can open their door in the morning, we only have to close it at night.

Con’s

• Sometimes the wind blows the door open