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Check my plan for inside the coop.....

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TerryH

TerryH

Crowing
8 Years
Mar 12, 2016
1,172
614
271
NW Arkansas
My Coop
My Coop
Hello all. I've been trying to work out the beginning interior layout of our coop as we're about to get to that point. I'd like you guys to check my plan and suggest any changes or additions that you see that I need.

The coop is 9x8. The front wall is 9' tall and the rear wall is 8' tall. The pop door will be aluminum and operated by an Add-a-motor. We'll be covering the studs with OSB and the floor with linoleum. The coop will use the deep bedding method with pine shavings.

This wall is 8'6" long. My plan is to have a 36" wide poop tray using PDZ on this wall above the pop door 32" from the floor. 2 roosts above the tray. The roosts will be 2x4's staggered 12" in height and the highest 12" from the wall.

26192711586_cc4eb673a6_z.jpg


Roosts will end up being in front of the windows if that matters. The poop tray will pretty much take us the entire space between the wall and the door under the window.

26152142931_5ee40cfc19_b.jpg




I envision something like this...

26126211772_20fef6c9c8_o.jpg


A pretty standard 4 hole nesting box on the back wall under the window on the left. This wall is 81" but the poop tray will occupy 36" of it.

26125993052_438f5073a7_z.jpg


On the other wall I plan to have a few vertical PVC feeders and a 5 gallon bucket for water with horizontal nipples. There is 56" from the cabinet to the back wall.

25613680144_45f73ac5cc_z.jpg


Feeders like these.

25613898914_a2dfc0cde4_o.jpg


Does this sound like a viable arrangement? Suggestions? Changes?

Thanks for your help!!

Terry
 
Vents at the top would be good because the breeze isn't blowing right on the chickens when they roost. Very nice coop you made.
 
Can you gather eggs from outside the coop? Absolutely love the feeder idea. Our chickens have ventilation under the roof overhang and we open up the bottom of the sides in the summer time to allow the air to draw through. I want to be one of your chickens.
 
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limited25 said:
Vents at the top would be good because the breeze isn't blowing right on the chickens when they roost. Very nice coop you made.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm enjoying the build. I have the rear ones blocked off right now but there are continuous vents in the back and the front at the top of those walls.

Rear...

25518234334_e28c84f5d3_z.jpg


Front...

25520360523_0de2a04bbb_z.jpg
 
daisygirlfp said:
Can you gather eggs from outside the coop? Absolutely love the feeder idea. Our chickens have ventilation under the roof overhang and we open up the bottom of the sides in the summer time to allow the air to draw through. I want to be one of your chickens.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I've done a ridiculous amount of research trying to get it right. I also want to make tending the chickens as easy as possible for my wife and insure that the chickens are happy. We contemplated an outside egg gathering door but decided to stick with going into the coop to gather the eggs. The layout of the coop and the spot that it's in is not very conducive to a place for the egg box that allows easy gathering from the outside. The front wall is too short. The west wall will be inside the run and we would have to walk around the run to get to the back. Going inside seems like the best answer.



25539501263_d962f4c838_z.jpg
 
Another possibility would be to put the roosts and poop tray on the back wall and the nest box on the wall by the pop door. I would probably need to put the water and/or the feeders on the front wall under that window by the door if I moved the roosts. I would still have 16' of roost but they would be right in front of those 2 windows. There are commercial properties near by so there would still be some amount of light coming in those windows. Would that matter? It seems like the back wall might be a better spot for the roosts space wise if the windows aren't an issue. I could actually lower the roosts a bit in that configuration so the vents would still be well over their heads and they would still be higher than the nest box.
 
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After some more research I see that it's apparently ok to have the roosts in front of the windows so I've decided to change the original plan and put the roosts on the back wall with the 2 windows. I'll move the 4 nest boxes to the side wall where the pop door is. Planning on doing the water on the front wall under that window and leaving the PVC feeders on the shared wall between the cabinet doors and the poop tray...closer to the cabinet doors of course.
big_smile.png
 
Our roosts are in front of the window and along the back wall. Had a roost in front of both windows but our 5 chickens all squeezed together on their roost and never used the other roost by the window so we took it down. Couldn't believe they had all this room to roost and had to bicker about who was going to sit by who. lol We initially had our water inside the coop as you are describing but now have it outside in the run. Much easier to fill it and it doesn't spill on the floor of the coop anymore. Your PVC feeders are a great idea.
 
limited25 said:
Our roosts are in front of the window and along the back wall. Had a roost in front of both windows but our 5 chickens all squeezed together on their roost and never used the other roost by the window so we took it down. Couldn't believe they had all this room to roost and had to bicker about who was going to sit by who. lol We initially had our water inside the coop as you are describing but now have it outside in the run. Much easier to fill it and it doesn't spill on the floor of the coop anymore. Your PVC feeders are a great idea.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your response! Our roosts are only going to be in front of the windows..at least to start, so hopefully they will take to it being there. I plan to do water inside the coop and in the run during the months that it won't freeze out there. I'm plumbing an auto-fill for the water buckets for the warmer months also. That style PVC feeders seemed to be the best option of all the ones that I found. Time will tell on all accounts I suppose.
smile.png
 
Guess I only have one more suggestion before I let you go off to enjoy your excellent plans ..... put hardware cloth over your windows, at least in the inside of the coop. Ours has it on inside and outside, which works out best for us. Stuff breaks, chickens stand in the windows, etc.
 
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