Hilton Henhouse

It was supposed to just be a "simple" experiment......

Well, I can't do anything simple, so it became an obsession trying to maximize features and functions in an 8x8 coop.  I knew that I wanted to be able to house 30-40 chickens total, so I made sure to design enough nesting boxes, and roosting poles, etc..

I took the best of what I could research not knowing anything about chickens, and put them all together in this design.  Shade ares, ventilation, nest boxes, roosting areas, easy clean floors, electricity, sliding chicken run door, etc..

The basic design is an 8'x8' coop, with a 7' lean-to overhang for shade, as well as an elevated coop for shade underneath. The design for the maximum number of nesting boxes was the hardest part for me.  To make it work, I framed that wall at 12" on center studs instead of 16", this allowed me to not have to work around the 14 1/2" opening, but gave me the 10 1/2" opening I needed for each nest box. 

All in all, it turned out just as I hoped, I even made a small section later on that week for our new Barred Rock hens (3weeks old).  I have numerous blueprints, and layouts, cut lists, etc for this coop if anyone is interested in seeing how some of the details were worked out. 

We will hopefully have a good henhouse by this summer, as we are starting with young chickens.  Right now this coop houses, 14 Rhode Island Red chics (8weeks old), 4 Polish Chickens (1yr old), and now 12 3week old Barred Rock hens.

Still needs the barn red stain and trim painted, but that's on my list to finish up soon.

Leftover tile floor I had, which makes clean-up oh so easy! :D

Almost ready for the chickens..

First day in their new place

Nesting boxes in progress

New additions, and re-vamped area for separating the chics.

Update: 5-20-12 Painting is going well.  Just a piece of advice though.....If at all possible, you should paint the siding BEFORE you put any trim on.  It will save you the aggravation of trying to "cut in" the trim painting.  I didn't have much of a choice because I HAD to get the coop done before the chickens got too big for their temporary coop/pen.