roost to roof

Im in planning and designing mode of my 2 story coop/run it will have a 4x4ft coop for 3 large breed hens and the roof will slant 3ft at tallestto 2.5ft at shortest and will have an attached run of 4x8ft and the coop will sit 2ft of the ground.

Back to the coop on the tallest side of 3ft Im hoping to do the following and was wondering if its enough room for 3 heritage breed hens my first coop build so advice would be great-
So starting from the coop floor I want to add an 11"×13" pop door 6" from the floor then directly above that I want to add a poop board along that wall 4ftx1.5ft wide 4" above the poop board I want to add a 4ft long roost sitting approx 24cm away from wall.. Leaving approx 25-30cm from roost to highest point of roof.. Is that going to work I wanted to put a ventilation strip at the top of the tallest and smallest walls but unsure if that would work or not

I believe the idea behind ventilation is not to have the air current brush over the birds.

You want the roosts at least a foot above the nesting boxes, and you need the ventilation to be at least a foot higher than the roost. You are going to need taller walls.

junebuggena said:

You want the roosts at least a foot above the nesting boxes, and you need the ventilation to be at least a foot higher than the roost. You are going to need taller walls.

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Ok well 50cm (20") from floor to poop board is 1.7ft so my nest box should be able to tuck in under the shelf ok and my pop door can go under the shelf also? Then add 10cm (4") from poop board to roost then add 12" from roost to the start of the ventilation panel.. How tall does the ventilation panel need to be roughly so i can add more wall height? Im also only 5ft4 so it cant be so tall that i cant reach anything if its already raised 2ft off ground unless I can lower that section under the coop?

The vents should be at least 3 inches, all the way around the roofline (all 4 walls), ideally. But bigger vents are almost always better.

But what about lean too type coops? Still put ventilation on all 4 walls? I read on another post that ventilation for lean too coops was on the tallest and shortest walls?

I dont want this coop to be over my head otherwise I wont be able to clean it properly etc can you think of a better way to set up the inside to maximise the space available without going too much taller? As I said im only 5ft4


Ok what about 20" floor to poop board + 4" poop board to roost + 12" roost to start of ventilation panel + 4" from start of ventilation to roof = 40" total = 3.3ft

I plan on adding mesh windows too that can be closed in winter

More ventilation and higher walls are always better! Birds need space, higher roosts, and air flow. Look at the Woods coops, and consider that a three sided shed, with lots of hardware cloth openings, works great. In snow, plastic sheeting over the lower open sides is plenty of protection. Mary

Kimberly4403 said:

But what about lean too type coops? Still put ventilation on all 4 walls? I read on another post that ventilation for lean too coops was on the tallest and shortest walls?

I dont want this coop to be over my head otherwise I wont be able to clean it properly etc can you think of a better way to set up the inside to maximise the space available without going too much taller? As I said im only 5ft4


Ok what about 20" floor to poop board + 4" poop board to roost + 12" roost to start of ventilation panel + 4" from start of ventilation to roof = 40" total = 3.3ft

I plan on adding mesh windows too that can be closed in winter

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The coop I have is over 7' high. I'm 5'2". Generally all the caning is on the floor so I preffer being able to stand up and rake or shovel what's needed.

When I had chickens with my mom we had 2 LG coops that were like sheds and 3 or 4 smaller coops that were simmilar to yours. I much preffered being able to stand in the big coop and sweep out stuff with a broom or shovel than trying to bend and reach in the tiny coops. They were tight and I always was knocking into poop covered roosts, banging the dust pan trying to get tight spaces, it was a pain. Bigger is always easier to clean in my opinion. Even if the roosts are 6' high the poop is going down with gravity lol

Yeah i like woods coops and trying to incorporate some of his ideas into this small coop we only have a small backyard so i need to build a 2 story coop and run thats moveable.. I was hoping for something smaller like this but with a higher lean too roof were abouts would the roosts be in this type of set up? Surely some city folk on here have these style coops and there chickens are fine

Kimberly4403 said:

Yeah i like woods coops and trying to incorporate some of his ideas into this small coop we only have a small backyard so i need to build a 2 story coop and run thats moveable.. I was hoping for something smaller like this but with a higher lean too roof were abouts would the roosts be in this type of set up? Surely some city folk on here have these style coops and there chickens are fine

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Those small coops problematic. The roosts are usually just an inch or two off the ground and sleeping in the nest boxes can be a real issue. They are also seriously lacking in ventilation. They aren't very well built, and tend to start to fall apart after a season or two. And they aren't very predator resistant.