Coop Builders - What would you have changed or done differently?

[JackE]

I have a question..hopefully I can relay it clearly..lol. I am configuring my coop because we are getting ready to build soon. I'd like a window on every side- if I can afford it. Is there a side that benefits more from a window? I see some people talk about needing windows on certain sides (think I saw that the South side NEEDED a window). I want good ventilation minus drafts (somehow. Not sure how to vent safely for winter yet

) because we live in Mass and our weather is extreme in all seasons. Summers are atleast 90* and winters are freezing cold. All windows would be able to open and have harware cloth for safety. I am contemplating using plexy-glass and turning that into windows. Do lots of windows help the chickens in any way (light for laying or warmth) or am I just showing the woodland critters what's for dinner if they can get in? Also, do any of you have an exhaust fan (installed) or use a box fan in a window? I'm concerned with how hot they'll get this summer and would like to implement one of those. Just want to pick the best route. Don't want to go broke over an exhaust fan, but would it be safer for the chickens?
Sorry if I sound sctter brained, I'm just really freaking out over keeping them safe. Our yard isthe woods and I just can't deal with a slaughter.

mtnlaurl, I remember your coop!

How did the "chicken highway" work out?

Check out the link below. It has some good info on ventilation, windows.
Jack
http://archive.org/stream/openairpoultryho00wood#page/n0/mode/2up

 

[pipemum]

I would have added some radiant barrier as I was building the coop! Now I have to take off the coop roof, install the heat barrier, and add it to a couple of walls inside the coop. I've lived in the desert most of my life, I got the shade for the coop right, but didn't think about a radiant heat barrier till the heat came! It's going to be a pain.

 

[teacake]

Hi

I like your coop. I have a similar, smaller version in a cool wooden playhouse built in the 50's that came with the property. We built a large run outside of it. My problem is rats. Stupidly, I kept the wood floor of the play house instead of removing it and filling it with dirt, so there is a very robust rat community under it. What do you think: should I tear down this coop and build a whole new one in a different spot to get rid of the rats, or just tear up the floor and fill it in with dirt?

All and any opinions are welcome.

Thanks,
Chicken Tina

 

[Chris King]

Things I love about my coop:

* it's open on all sides (photos 1, 3, and 4) - it's completely enclosed in chicken wire, of course, but it has great airflow, which is hugely important in this warm climate (central NC)
* it has 5 nesting boxes (photo 2), which is 3 more than my hens use, so no traffic jams
* it has an exterior hatch over the nesting boxes (photo 2, hatch door open) - although I use it for greater ventilation during warm days more than for egg collection (I typically go into the coop to collect the eggs)
* the wood framing allows me to attach temporary walls (photos 5 and 6) to keep out the cold in the winter months (I just removed most of the polycarbonate sheets I put up at the start of winter, and I've stored them in the barn until next winter)

Things I wish were different:

* there's no roof insulation - I'm going to line the interior surface of the metal roof with polystyrene wall insulation panels; even though the coop gets good morning shade, it's in full sun for at least 3 hours every afternoon, which is awful in the summer, as the roost area doesn't cool down until well after dark
* it's made of pressure-treated lumber, which over time will leak arsenic and other nasty stuff into my soil; I wish it had been made with a naturally weather-resistant lumber, although then it would have cost more and be almost impossible to lift… the devil and the deep blue sea...
* the door frame is only ~ 4 feet in height, so I have to duck to get into the coop; I can stand upright in the centre (which is about 6 ft at the roof peak), but I have to stoop or watch my head when inside the coop

I'm sure I'll think of more as soon as I hit "submit"...

 

[herrdogs]

Are the rats trying to eat the chickens--or just their food? I have a terrible fox problem, so I've had partial wooden flooring in my coop...I am still trying everything I can think of, or read here, to keep them safe.

 

[slynng]

Oh, crap: I didn't really think about how I was going to get them from the garage to the coop...they are only 5-6 days old so far and it seems like it would be easy to move them...but in another month it's going to be a circus! (Well, my neighbors should enjoy watching me try...)

Mine are in a cardboard box that I think I could easily (relatively easily) move in a garden cart...except I couldn't talk my s.o. out of stapling the bottom of the box to a few 2x4s for stability and to keep them off the cold concrete. So...not that movable. I guess I'll just have to spend the next month training them to walk quietly behind me as we move from garage to coop. Ha. Ha-ha-ha...!

Any suggestions, at this point?

 

[redneck momma]

This is my favorite. Plenty of room for them cuz in Northern Mn the winters can be long and cold.Thank You for posting this. I got my hubby to look too ~very important. He thought I was going too far in making them comfortable and safe, and needing room for supplies. After seeing your Canadian coop,(barn) he cant argue with me now!

 

[tmasker]

We added more windows on the backside of the coop for ventilation since these photos were taken! Keeping the hen house at waist high allows us easy access to clean them out or to grab a chicken for health inspection in the evening. Front of the coops are shown opened for better ventilation in our hot Florida summers.

Bottom photos shows nesting boxes are accessible from outside so you don't have to walk through the chicken run to collect the eggs.
All the coops have running water & electric so they have fans and heaters as well!
A second smaller coop added to the right of the main coop for broody hens to raise their chicks!
Bart & Trish

 

[Mama Kay W]

Nice coop!!

I would of changed the nesting boxes, put them on the outside, they would of had a bit more room inside the coop. At least the nesting boxes are 18" off the floor so they can still walk around under them, hubby put a slanted piece of plywood up over them on hinges so I can keep their food inside away from them in old plastic ice cream containers, works great.
I would of really liked to had the coop made bigger..........never accounted for "chicken math" hitting, I do have enough room for another 4 but I would have to find more roosting area and don't really know where I'd be able to put it. A bigger run area would be nice too, it's covered to keep the rain and snow out but just to give them more room to roam would be nice, but right now can't afford to build another "roof" on the side of the current run.

 

[littlelizzy123]

Lessons learned:

Be sure your door locking mechanisms cannot lock you in the coop without a way out. Some of these self-closing latches are convenient but could make for a very long night in the coop before someone finds you in the morning.

I initially went with internal nesting boxes but found that it took up too much valuable space in my 8x8 coop. I'm in the prcess of punching out part of a wall to make them external. They won't be hinged because they're not for my convenience and I don't want to deal with a leaky hinged seam.

I would have installed watering cups from day one had I know how clean they keep the water and don't leak like many of the nipples do inside the coop. I will keep the nipple waterers for outside run use only.

Make your run larger than expected.

Have electricity relatively close to your coop if possible. It is a pain dragging 150' of extension cord to work on something-the generator is even heavier.

Along the same lines-I ran a water line to my coop to make filling up their water less of a mess. I used a frost free hydrant and PEX line to prevent freezing problems in the winter and have a 10' coiled hose that stays neat and out fo the way instead of a huge garden hose that looks messy and gets in the way.

More ventillation up high to passively exhaust heat and fumes during the hot summer days. I cut out a section 12" tall the entire upper length of two walls to allow for cross ventillation and screwed in hardware cloth to keep the furry things out of the coop. It looks nice, is under the overhang of the roof so it stays dry and works well. I also added nylon windown screening on the inside of all of my harware cloth vents to cut down on the spiders and other bugs that were crawling in through them.

Make at least one window big enough for a box fan to exchange air in the summertime heat. I keep mine blowing out to pull air in through the vents and not blow directly on the birds but still give them fresh air. This one thing has virtually eliminated any coop smell in the summer.

The list could go on and on as I don't think any of my coops will ever truly be finished. I am always finding something to do different to make life easier for the birds or myself. The one rule I wished that I would have followed is to go larger with the initial size of the coop because there are only so many things you can do in a limited space.

Did you seriously get locked in your coop?! That hasn't ever even crossed my mind!!!!!

Also, what are watering cups?