HELP!! Need coop design advice! Criticize my sketches!!

tnaval

Chirping
7 Years
Oct 12, 2015
34
2
82
Roy, WA
My Coop
My Coop
I need some constructive criticism from all of you expert chicken farmers! Here are the pictures of some sketches of my proposed Coop design. Ask any questions and I will clarify my thoughts or sketch.
Mainly my thoughts were to create something that is easy to clean, maximizes space, and keeps the chickens happy.
700

700
 
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Does the coop have a human access door?
Does the roof slope toward the run or away?
to maximize space, external nest boxes give more space in the coop.
IMHO 40" is pretty high for the bottom of the coop. It will take much longer for them to learn how to go in and out.
How many chickens are you planning to have?
 
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The coop itself does not have a human access but the wall opposite of the nest boxes will basically be 2 giant doors the open the whole coop. The roof of the coop will extend over the run, and slopes away from the side we collect eggs on. 40" was just an estimate, I plan to make it tall enough so I can roll my wheelbarrow under the side for cleaning.

We have 9, 3 week old chicks that are all mix breeds from my moms chickens. Astrolorp, barred rock rooster and Brahma, naked neck, Americana, RIR, BR and black hens.
 
Hi, how close are the roosts to each other? My roosts are 16 inches apart and that looks like the bare minimum. Also, my 4 x 4 coop has some windows, and one window allows me to see The hens sitting on the roosts. That is very practical, for checking on them at after sunset. Also, I have found that it's really great to be able to leave the big access doors open wide during the day during the day. It lets the coop air out and dry out. Maybe that is only useful here in Southern California. It seems like all the bugs fly out when the big doors are left open all day. I am glad my big doors open to the enclosed chicken yard, so that they can be open during the day.
 
Hi again, one more thing: I made my roosts 2.5 inches wide (ripped a 2x6), and rounded the edges with a router. Then I covered it with an inner tube from a mountain bike. Now that is a big hit! Nice and soft and non-slippery on the feet. I also made two around porthole style windows in my coop, one from a big glass plate and one from a big glass lid, thrift store finds. Looks pretty cool! I got that idea from some other post on the Internet. See my album for ideas, if you like.
 
Thank you deedeesinn! Very good points about opening the big doors toward the run. This coop and covered run will be located in a larger "free range run", 50 ft squared. The large clean out doors will open to the free range area to allow for that airing out without losing the chickens.thanks for the tips on the roost spacing and materials. These were only 8 inches apart, maybe I can only have 1 in that space instead of 2. Very helpful!
 
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You are welcome! I had read on the Internet that 2.5 inches width for the roosts is perfect. I got the inner tubes from the local bike shops for free. I just asked them if they had any inner tubes, broken ones for the trash. They thought it was a bit funny, but were happy to give a few to me, ha ha !
Also, I ended up putting my (movable) nesting boxes in the enclosed run for many months. Leaves more room in the coop. Maybe that is only practical here in Southern California. The Coop got pretty hot during the day in the summer months, even with the big coop doors wide open. The hens were panting in the nesting boxes, too hot! The nesting boxes were cooler in the shady part of the enclosed run.
 
One more thought: instead of a ladder, you could maybe put a roost in the run, and then a ramp or something for the hens to get from that roost into the coop. They like flying up to a roost better than walking up a ladder, I think. That is how I have the chicken access from the run to the coop.
 
The coop itself does not have a human access but the wall opposite of the nest boxes will basically be 2 giant doors the open the whole coop. The roof of the coop will extend over the run, and slopes away from the side we collect eggs on. 40" was just an estimate, I plan to make it tall enough so I can roll my wheelbarrow under the side for cleaning.

We have 9, 3 week old chicks that are all mix breeds from my moms chickens. Astrolorp, barred rock rooster and Brahma, naked neck, Americana, RIR, BR and black hens.
Good idea about being able to get a wheelbarrow under the doors which I had planned but it just made it too high for easy chicken access. I also have found that using deep litter, you don't completely empty the building that often so small bins aren't that bad to carry to the cart.
I was concerned that if the roof slopes toward the run, in the Northwest you would need to route water away from the run.
 
Agree about the concern of the water run off. I plan to have a gutter and collect rainwater for my nipple waterers. And it slopes towards a larger 2500 sq ft free range run, so am not too concerned with a little extra water there (maybe a French ditch for the overflow). The same roof covers the protected run and the coop.
 

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