Organizing the Chicken Coop

I had a brilliant idea last week.  It involved devising a way to make our chicken coop a little more organized.  First of all, our chicken coop is very small, just 6 feet by 11 feet.  Inside the coop we have 3 nest boxes and the waterer on one of the long sides, 2 roost bars along short end opposite the door and the feeder opposite the nest boxes.  So, it is pretty crowded in there. 

I like to provide the girls with grit and a calcium source.  The grit helps them digest their food and the calcium helps keep their eggshells strong.  The calcium source is either oyster shell or crushed up eggshells.  Until last week, I put the grit and calcium source in clay flower pot saucers which I set on the coop floor.  The drawback to this is the chickens either scratch out the contents, or they step on the saucers, turn them over and spill most of the contents. 

Last week I was trying to figure out a way to keep the saucers from turning over.  I tried setting a brick on them.  This kept the saucers from being upended, but the chickens still scratched the contents out onto the floor.  So, I was thinking if perhaps I built a low shelf up off the floor, then it might keep them from scratching the grit and calcium out.  One idea led to another and here is what I came up with.

This shelf is just big enough to hold 2 saucers.  They are held in place by a couple of "hooks" made from 2X4 pieces.  Here's a closer look at how the hooks work.




The saucer lip fits under the hook to keep it from being tipped over and the shelf is low enough the chickens have no trouble reaching the saucers.  Also, being up off the floor keeps the contents from being scratched out, as well as keeps the saucers from picking up debris from the floor.

This was a simple project using materials we already had on-hand and it does not take up much space in our already crowded coop.  However, I have to admit that I only came up with the idea, but enlisted Tom's help with cutting the board and hooks.  I'm a little squeamish about using power saws.  They give me the creeps.  But, don't you agree it was a brilliant idea!