My first attempt at a coop!! Any suggestions?

[saraiquimby1]

My husband and I just bought our first house (we are newlyweds) and it just so happened to have a run down old shed in the middle of one of the pastures. So I immediately decided it would become a chicken coop. And a dream was born
My dad helped me transform it into what I'm sure will be a great coop. Here's our pictures so far.
To clarify:
1. there is a "dog door" behind the nesting boxes that will lead out to the run. It's covered right now with the nesting boxes so no other critter decides to take cover in the coop right now.
2. The roost is leaned up against the wall-we will secure it at a more appropriate angle once we have the bedding in there. I know it looks steep but it's not staying that way
3. We are getting a truck load of sand in a week or so for the bedding
4. I am cutting a window in both the side walls too to give more light and ventilation.

All that being said...

Here's my coop!! Chicks are in the brooder. I got 4 Buff Orpingtons, 1 Black sex link, 3 Amberlink, 2 Silver laced Wyandotte, 1 gold laced wyandotte, 1 barred rock, and 1 mystery brown chick. Hoping at least half of the 13 end up being female lol

The coop inside is 8x14 I think. Tons of space for them.

Working on a 10x10 pen outside for them how am I doing? Any suggestions?

 

[TheEggCollecter]

Looks good but are you planning on keeping all of the chicken together in that one coop if there are more than four roosters or so?

 

[Northern nurse]

Looks like you are off to a good start! A couple things to think about, you need to consider light and ventilation. When you door is closed, it doesn't look like there is much opportunity for ventilation or light, in the dark winter months when the chickens tend to spend more time inside, some natural light makes chicken tending easier and more pleasant. The other thing I am noticing is your roost, your roost bars are going to be challenging for the chickens to stand on, they need a wider board to stand on such as a 2x4 with the 4" side up or a 3-4" wide tree limb. Have you considered a single roost with a poop board underneath? It makes clean up very quick and easy. Good luck with your up coming adventure!

 

[saraiquimby1]

Looks good but are you planning on keeping all of the chicken together in that one coop if there are more than four roosters or so?

I don't plan on having more than 1 rooster.

 

[saraiquimby1]

Looks like you are off to a good start! A couple things to think about, you need to consider light and ventilation. When you door is closed, it doesn't look like there is much opportunity for ventilation or light, in the dark winter months when the chickens tend to spend more time inside, some natural light makes chicken tending easier and more pleasant. The other thing I am noticing is your roost, your roost bars are going to be challenging for the chickens to stand on, they need a wider board to stand on such as a 2x4 with the 4" side up or a 3-4" wide tree limb. Have you considered a single roost with a poop board underneath? It makes clean up very quick and easy. Good luck with your up coming adventure!

I noted I am cutting two windows on each side of the coop. Just havent gotten that far yet. So there will be lots more light. I know it looks dark and dreary in there now but it won't be once we get the windows in. My handyman is coming this saturday to do it

And all around the top there is about an inch wide gap between the wall and the roof. You just can't see if in the angle of the pictures. So there's a gap there that allows plenty of ventilation. I think that's enough anyway. They will be able to go outside all the time, I am not planning on shutting them in the coop at night (just my preference and such for where we live and my schedule).

And shoot. I read in another article to use 2x2's for a roost...so that's what I built. I can maybe make something else? Any pictures to give me a clue of what would be better? I want to do it right.

 

[PapaChaz]

I noted I am cutting two windows on each side of the coop. Just havent gotten that far yet. So there will be lots more light. I know it looks dark and dreary in there now but it won't be once we get the windows in. My handyman is coming this saturday to do it

And all around the top there is about an inch wide gap between the wall and the roof. You just can't see if in the angle of the pictures. So there's a gap there that allows plenty of ventilation. I think that's enough anyway. They will be able to go outside all the time, I am not planning on shutting them in the coop at night (just my preference and such for where we live and my schedule).

And shoot. I read in another article to use 2x2's for a roost...so that's what I built. I can maybe make something else? Any pictures to give me a clue of what would be better? I want to do it right.

don't you just love having that shed already there for using! completely awesome indeed!

are you not worried about predators getting in at night? that would be my only concern if you're not going to close the 'pop' door at night......

 

[SFrati]

Do you have electricity? You will want a water heater to keep water from freezing and lights for doing chicken duties in the evening. Is there a hose spigot nearby? How will you get water to the coop when hoses are frozen? Is it close enough to walk hot water from the house?

 

[SFrati]

Also, consider adding a cabinet to house all of your feed, extra poultry nipples, random chicken supplies, meds, treats where squirrels could never get at them. Also, chickens love to peck at /eat rotting wood. Be cautious of holes made by chickens that allow in other animals.

 

[saraiquimby1]

Yes it is PERFECT!!
And no. It may be a bad idea but I told my husband if something bad happens, i'll change the way we do things but we live right off the highway, like it runs in front of my house, and so we never see so much as a squirrel in our yard. And along the back of our property is houses, so we don't get any cross traffic from predators. They have no reason to come across the highway because they run right into houses. Our neighbors have a huge bunch of chickens that are inside or outside whenever they want too and they said they've never had anything try to get in their coop in the 15 years they've lived there.
So all signs point to the idea that they will be alright. Here's hoping.

(does all that make sense? Seems jumbled. I'm tired lol)

 

[saraiquimby1]

Do you have electricity? You will want a water heater to keep water from freezing and lights for doing chicken duties in the evening. Is there a hose spigot nearby? How will you get water to the coop when hoses are frozen? Is it close enough to walk hot water from the house?

No electricity. Hoping we can run some out eventually...once we have the money. So right now there are battery powered LED lights out there for when I am out there in the dark.
It's close enough. I trek out to my horses with water from the house because our pipes froze in the barn this wiinter So yes, close enough to get water out there to them in the winter.

And I have a cabinet that's full of all my chicken stuff, but it's currently in our little shed where the brooder is (and where the chicks are now) I'll move it out there once the chickens move out there.