Finalizing the interior of my 4X8 coop

[Chicken Cake]

I had originally planned to only have 4 chickens but we are up to 5 now. I also ended up with a couple huge and not very athletic Brahmas. This is the most adults I will ever have and they are not currently BFFs, but not enemies either. My idea to have one 4 foot roost on a short wall needs to be changed.

This is rough drawing of what I have to work with. Not to scale but I added some dimensions.



The right side has a storage area 3 feet off the floor and will open from the outside. Inside that, the pipe of the PVC feeder will stick up through a hole so you can refill from there. Red is a door and window, and blue will eventually be a chicken door that leads to the run. They will have 24 access to the run unless there is a reason to lock them in the coop.

With only 4 “average” sized chickens I had planned to put 2 nest boxes on the 30 inch wall under the storage shelf. Then I changed to a poop try and 2 large boxes under the window, but I can’t seem to get the poop tray and at least 5 feet of roost to fit without someone’s butt potentially sticking over the edge. An L-shaped configuration doesn’t seem to add more than a few inches and significantly alters my goal to just pop out a 2X4 for thorough cleanings.

Now I’m thinking of scrapping the poop board and doing one roost at 2 feet and another at 3 using that entire 30 inches of depth on the left. My concern is that I’m back to smaller nest boxes and I wanted them to be roomy. I also don’t like having a tight area for food but there will be another one in the run and that’s where water goes.

It is too late for major changes now so I have to make something work. Suggestions?

 

[1muttsfan]

Since you are already over the ideal number of chickens for the space you have, taking away more space for nest boxes could exacerbate the space issue. Remember that in bad weather they may be stuck inside for days at time. Build external nest boxes that you can attach to the outside of the coop - this makes egg collection easier also. In my 4x8 coop the roost runs about 6" along the length, put in with shelf brackets along one wall. If you put two roosts at different heights they will all want to use the upper one anyway.

2 boxes would be plenty - usually they all want to lay in the same box too.

 

[Chicken Cake]

Since you are already over the ideal number of chickens for the space you have, taking away more space for nest boxes could exacerbate the space issue. Remember that in bad weather they may be stuck inside for days at time. Build external nest boxes that you can attach to the outside of the coop - this makes egg collection easier also. In my 4x8 coop the roost runs about 6" along the length, put in with shelf brackets along one wall. If you put two roosts at different heights they will all want to use the upper one anyway.

2 boxes would be plenty - usually they all want to lay in the same box too.

The run is covered and shielded from prevailing winds. The chickens are already in there with a temporary nest box and roost, and should be able to use it year round. We might add a sheet of plywood to one section for winter, though. This is a front view with coop on the right.




If I put a roost along the back wall, would they be able to jump up and down with only 3 feet in front of them? What about two roosts the way I planned but both at 2 feet instead of one higher?

My husband is against exterior boxes and I’m no longer in a position to add things for this project. We can still get inside dimensions of 14 inches for the 30” wall but I wanted larger. What if I put in a temporary divider and removed it if they all end up using the same box? Only one is laying now so I don’t know how things will work later.