It is really exciting. To be perfectly honest, I am having a blast building this coop. Yesterday I started building a little flower box to hang under the front window, and today after work I plan to install plexiglass in the window frames I made and possibly get them hung.
Some of my friends think I'm going a little overboard on my build, but it's fun.
Here is where I am at so far.
Can't remember if you said or not -- will the hens have some open free-range time? Chickens only use the coop to sleep or lay eggs but spend the rest of the day foraging and scratching. Someone gave me the dimensions of 1 square foot per each chicken of open ventilation near the roofline, 4 square feet per each chicken on coop floor space, and minimum 10 square feet per each chicken of foraging area. The manufacturer of our 4x4 Barn coop said 15 to 16 chickens would fit. Nope, in a 4x4 floor space that means 4 chickens and not 16 chickens -- just because we can squeeze 16 chickens in the Barn coop doesn't mean the ammonia they poop overnight will be healthy for them. Chickens poop a LOT.
