Building Dilemma

[BankFam]

My husband has been working long and hard to make a very large, very sturdy coop for our chickens and it's almost finished aside from the nesting boxes and roosting bars. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the design is good...
Our plan is to have roll out nesting boxes that extend outside the coop. I want to do the deep litter method but the opening he cut for the nesting boxes is only about 2in from the floor of the coop. I thought maybe I could combat this by putting a panel along the opening of the nesting boxes to keep litter from getting in, but I still wouldn't be able to make the litter very deep. And I've seen online that the nesting boxes should be AT LEAST 18in off the ground.
Can anyone please give me ideas on how to save this coop? I'd also appreciate tips on where to put the roosting bars. I was thinking we would mount them width-wise across the coop, but I don't want them hopping up in the rafters and want to avoid having them in a draft. The panels you see on the walls in the pictures are windows that can be opened and the big hole is for the nesting boxes. (And yes we will cover all the gaps with hardware cloth.)

 

[rosemarythyme]

Nests can be floor level, that's not an issue at all.

As far as the litter falling in/out of places, my simple solution is a piece of wood held by bricks across wherever you're trying to contain the litter (I use 1x6s, you may need to use a 1x4, depending on how much it constricts the openings).

Also to be realistic, you will not be doing any form of deep litter in there. it's a moist composting system that favors being in direct contact with soil. Deep bedding would be the better option.

 

[aart]

Both nest and pop openings could be reframed, wouldn't be easy, but it's possible.
Roosts just need to be a bit higher than nests, so they don't sleep in nests.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Why can’t he cut a little higher to make the opening taller and then adjust below it? It will involve a little bit of framing adjustment, but it’s not impossible with your setup.

 

[janiedoe]

My husband has been working long and hard to make a very large, very sturdy coop for our chickens and it's almost finished aside from the nesting boxes and roosting bars. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the design is good...
Our plan is to have roll out nesting boxes that extend outside the coop. I want to do the deep litter method but the opening he cut for the nesting boxes is only about 2in from the floor of the coop. I thought maybe I could combat this by putting a panel along the opening of the nesting boxes to keep litter from getting in, but I still wouldn't be able to make the litter very deep. And I've seen online that the nesting boxes should be AT LEAST 18in off the ground.
Can anyone please give me ideas on how to save this coop? I'd also appreciate tips on where to put the roosting bars. I was thinking we would mount them width-wise across the coop, but I don't want them hopping up in the rafters and want to avoid having them in a draft. The panels you see on the walls in the pictures are windows that can be opened and the big hole is for the nesting boxes. (And yes we will cover all the gaps with hardware cloth.)

My brother built my 2nd coop for me and disregarded some of my instructions. I had the chicken door on the floor. I solved this by building a covered, outdoor extension into the run, -sort of a chicken foyer. It has enough lip to keep the bedding in.

 

[MamaFox78]

How do you manage only having litter sectioned to one space, since the chickens poop absolutely everywhere?

And what is the difference between deep litter and deep bedding?

You could do poop trays filled with PDZ under the roosting bars... you can scoop it like kitty litter. I'm going to try that myself as soon as we get a spell of good weather (see my post above). Then the deep bedding could be contained to the main floor space, and nesting boxes filled with straw or whatever you plan to use.

My understanding is deep litter is self composting as it's in contact with the ground, and usually has moisture to help it compost... deep bedding is in contact with the coop floor, and needs to be cleaned out when odor appears that isn't remedied by adding more bedding.

Personally I use sand on the concrete half of my coop floor, and the other half is dirt so I sprinkle lightly with DE and let them use that for dust baths over our 9 month long winter. I'm considering going to poop trays and a deep bedding instead of sand, but I'm worried about parasites so I'm still researching.

 

[woodworm]

I use hemp as deep bedding and just top it up occassionally. Never smells but doesn't compost either as it's dry (other than the chicken poop).

You could just take the floor out of your coop entirely, I'm sure you can use the boards to block up the bits below the coop. This would allow you to use deep litter and also raises the height of your windows, doors and egg boxes. You would lose run space though as the chooks can't go under.

Otherwise I don't think it would be too difficult to raise the egg box opening to be honest and I'd just put the roost bars level with the windows as you'll only open them for extra ventilation when it's hot and still weather anyway. Just need to make sure they are higher than the egg boxes.

edit - just realised my roost bars are level with my windows! No problems here as long as they are closed when the weather is bad.

You're husband is going to hate us

 

[rosemarythyme]

I can't remember if the coop is 60 or 80 sg ft. And the run is about 100. We could easily add nesting boxes if necessary but I think you're right about 24 being too tight. That's just a number my husband threw out and I wasn't thinking much about it when I quoted him. We do plan on getting more chickens, but their health and comfort is very important to us so we are careful to make sure they have enough space. We are also going to set up a chicken tractor and maybe some chunnels running around the yard.

I think you'll find that 11 will just about fill up the space you currently have. But if you do decide to add on in the future you can see about expanding the set up at that time.

Keep in mind integration will strain the need for space and the often quoted minimums may not be enough to allow for smooth integration.

 

[MamaFox78]

Why can’t he cut a little higher to make the opening taller and then adjust below it? It will involve a little bit of framing adjustment, but it’s not impossible with your setup.

Oh that's much easier than my idea

 

[3KillerBs]

I suppose you could present it as either drop the floor or raise the openings and let him decide what seems more workable?

Do you think we should be concerned at all about draft or just assume they will move if they're cold?

Here's some food for thought in re: chickens in the rafters up by the ventilation:

The Queens Have Conceded ...

10F in Central North Carolina in an Open Air Coop

I figure that as long as they have the option to get out of the weather and *could* choose a more protected roost that they'll be fine -- at least for adults who are old enough to know better.

Chickens know how to be chickens better than we know how to be chickens.