Need your opinion: what should every coop have? - Page 7

It's a  beautiful chicken barn, and so is the story, I know the chickens will love it.

3 Barred Rocks...3 Reds !!!

Our Coop is waist high so no bending down to clean, feed and water. The whole side opens so we can get to stuff. We also designed it so that when I deflate the tires on my lawn trailer, I can slide the trailer under the Coop. Then I re-inflate the tires and lift the whole thing up about 4 inches and roll it around. Very Cumbersome but we don't move it often. Easy movable 4 foot plastic fence cable tied to steel posts. That's about it. Stiil lots of things to figure out, but Hey we've only had the gals for 7 months and haven't lost any since. Still decent egg production despite shorter days. Always someone to talk to...and when I asked the gals who they are voting for next November I got a resounding response ..."Barack "!!!...Good Luck.

I've seen lots of things mentioned here that I have incorporated in my own coop (stand up room for humans, vinyl on floor, outside egg gathering doors to retrieve eggs without going inside, storage inside, roosts and nests, walls insulated and with painted plywood covering for durability and ease of cleaning).  A couple of things I've done with mine that I'm happy that I did was to build a greenhouse on one end so next year I'll have a dry place to grow things and the chickens can help me keep it warm for the plants.  I'll leave a couple of places uncovered for dust bathing and the rest will have planting boxes and tables for growing.  Also, I built my 8 x 12 coop with three sections with wire walls separating the sections.  One for storage of food, bedding and sundries, one as a nurse section in case I have someone who needs to be separate from the others (eventually for chicks) and the largest section for general use.  I leave all but the door to the storage section open so there is a good amount of room but I can still close off a section if I need to.  I've used this small section for recuperation of injuries.  The chicken doesn't have to feel left out from the flock but no one can get at them and I can do first aid without all the rest of the chickens getting into the act.
One thing I wish I had done was make my doors a bit wider.  I made them 28 inches wide and it's okay for walking through but when I'm cleaning I often hit the door frame on my way to the wheelbarrow, knocking stuff off the shovel.

*1. Decide how big a coop you want and multiply by at least 3. Mine became far too small after day one.
*2. Make the pop door high enough to keep it out of the snow. Mine is going to be too low (if we ever get a normal snowfall here in WI) I like the idea someone else offered to make the pop door close-able from inside or out. Mine opened outside. After considering how yucky locking and unlocking the door in the snow was gonna be, I made a sliding door I can open and close in the comfort of the coop. Also, it is more pest proof. LOVE it!
*3. DH started the coop with an 8X8 sand box the grand-babies outgrew. I added a floor of 1 inch hardware cloth to keep things under the coop out of the coop. Then added plywood floor with three coats of spar varnish for easy cleaning.
*4. I love the nesting boxes I have, but wish I could collect the eggs from the outside. Wish I had a space just inside the people door for me. Keep everything off the floor works well except -- I do have one tunnel-like space that harassed chickens can go behind to hide if desired.
*5. Hanging everything - keeps food and water clean, keeps grit and calcium out of the way.
*6. Electricity is a must IMHO. Lights to provide longer daylight and heated water containers.
*7. DH complains that the coop is "never done". I'm always coming up with something to add, change, or adjust. I love my coop and it is beautiful, but how do I convince DH that this "starter coop" was just a necessary tool in learning what to do differently with the next coop?
*8. Plan your siting. My big window faces due south - a good thing - but the pop door opens to the north - the cold, shady, windy north. That makes for a winter wind tunnel if I don't close the window when I open the door, but provides a cooling breeze during the summer.

LED rope lights. I love the ease of having them on a timer. Mine run around the top of the walls (base of roof) and it lights up the coop nicely. No heat, LEDs last a long time, and best of all, I can leave them on all day (6am-8pm) and haven't noticed a change in my power bill. Besides that, chickens need party lights too!

I used a piece of linoleum that was left over from my bathroom remodel and glued it to the plywood floor. Together with my 3' end door, makes cleaning the bedding out a cinch! My coop is 4x8 and sits 2' off the ground so I wanted to be able to reach all the way in with a rake and clean.

A secure, at least 1/2 covered run. Just in case.

Before building my coop/run I went through this forum several times and adapted several of the ideas discussed and shown.  But the BEST thing I did was install nipple waterers.  No more daily cleaning mess, and I can leave it for several days if I need to  go out of town and no worries.  Just my two cents.  Put that with your two cents and we have a nickel, less taxes.

Chickens!!!

No seriously something easy to clean and draught free!

I have no power to my coop, which is 8' x 12' about 15" off the ground and a little over 8' tall. I used vinyl remnants for most of the floor after seeing it suggested on another BYC thread. When the days began getting shorter, my hens started laying fewer eggs. Since I couldn't put in a light, I bought a dozen of those solar landscape lights and attached aluminum hardware bands to the 2x4s inside. Each morning, I stick the lights in one of my currently empty garden beds for recharging, and at night I stick them into the holders on the 2x4s.  They are laying again, but not quite as well as last summer.

One item nobody has suggested (possibly just more polite than I am) - the commode left from when my 93 yr old mother was with us now sits in a corner of the coop. It's doubled as a step ladder when I've had to nail something higher than I can reach.

Oh, I also nail up empty feed bags for insulation & toss them for easier spring cleaning.