Hello! I am back and upgraded our coop!

[Hollysaurus]

Hello!
I previously posted on the New Member Introductions, I was told the coop I had for our 4 chicken was too small, especially when winter creeps in and they'll most likely spend time inside! I had a tractor supply chicken coop, one of those that says it's for 6 chickens when it's clearly for about...2.

Pervious post! https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hello-excited-to-learn.1540029/

We have a flock of 4 chickens! Maple who is our Ameraucana, Aspen our Silver Wyandotte, Magnolia our Light Brahma and Hazel our Rhode Island Red!

I think the coop we built is a little big for a flock of 4, but just in case in future we decide to get another 2 or 3 we thought we'd go big!

We have two big windows, you can see one in the photo, the other is on the left side, Run isn't that big because they have the run of the garden during the day, we only added a run just incase they need to be locked up, for example we'll be having house renovations happening soon, garden fence being changed and the residing of our house etc so we will need to lock them up when that is happening.

Inside the coop we have 6 nesting boxes, 2 areas to roost from and we have a heat lamp we just put in because Idaho is planning to have a very cold winter, I will also put extra bedding in when that weather creeps in! If you have any tips to help with the cold please let me know! ♥ I don't want my girls getting cold!

Hope I did a good upgrade! Please let me know any feedback! We had a lot of help in knowing what to do from my husbands mother, she's had a coop and 10-15 chickens for about 17 years!

Edit: Thought I would add that it does have a door. I forgot the outside photos were taken when we hadn't finished it!

 

[sourland]

Well done !

 

[rosemarythyme]

Are those dowels the roosts? Have the birds been using them reliably? Likely too narrow and too low (though if the birds are staying out of the nests, that's the important thing).

Where's the ventilation? Even in cold climates it's recommended to have 1 sq ft per bird up high open 24/7 to allow moisture and ammonia to escape.

Heat lamps are a fire risk. How cold does it get on average?

Might be a good idea to think of climate protecting the run, assuming you get a decent amount of snow, as that way you'll have a snow free area the birds can use even on the worst days when they might not be able to get out otherwise.

 

[Hollysaurus]

Are those dowels the roosts? Have the birds been using them reliably? Likely too narrow and too low (though if the birds are staying out of the nests, that's the important thing).

Where's the ventilation? Even in cold climates it's recommended to have 1 sq ft per bird up high open 24/7 to allow moisture and ammonia to escape.

Heat lamps are a fire risk. How cold does it get on average?

Might be a good idea to think of climate protecting the run, assuming you get a decent amount of snow, as that way you'll have a snow free area the birds can use even on the worst days when they might not be able to get out otherwise.

Dowels are fine to use, my mother in law has had chickens for 17 years with no issues lol, and they’re the perfect height off the ground for them to jump onto.

Not to be rude, but most forums like these you can have the most perfect coop but someone will still try to say something is wrong.

I don’t mind feedback but I mean, dowels are never an issue, wild chickens nest on tree branches. Keeping them out of nests? Why would I keep them out the nests? My chickens have always slept in their nests, they haven’t been able to roost until now since the tiny coop I had before.

Ventilation? I have 2 large windows. Also we need a heat lamp here, it gets down to about 5F at night, can’t think everything is a fire risk. If it’s done right you won’t have any issues. My husband has had an emu for 10 years and has had two heat lamps in his shed with no issues.

We get snow but we also take care of our chickens, I wouldn’t mind getting up to shovel snow if it got into their run.

I think this new coop we’ve made is a castle compare to the store bought coop and I think our chickens are going to love it.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Not to be rude, but most forums like these you can have the most perfect coop but someone will still try to say something is wrong.

When you post a set up on here, expect critiques. It's not to nitpick, but to try and minimize any issues you might end up facing. Most of us are constantly tweaking our set ups to make them slightly better, if possible.

Keeping them out of nests? Why would I keep them out the nests? My chickens have always slept in their nests, they haven’t been able to roost until now since the tiny coop I had before.

Most of us don't want chickens sleeping in the nests due to the fact that it leads to soiled eggs and requires constant cleaning. If you don't mind that, do what works for you.

Ventilation? I have 2 large windows.

The windows aren't open in the photos. I have 5 windows that stay open 99% of the time and I feel those alone would not be sufficient ventilation in my moderate climate, but every flock and set up differs.

Also we need a heat lamp here, it gets down to about 5F at night, can’t think everything is a fire risk. If it’s done right you won’t have any issues. My husband has had an emu for 10 years and has had two heat lamps in his shed with no issues.

Heat lamps aren't an issue until they are. Unfortunately fires are reported every year on this forum - sometimes near misses, other times full losses. Again, do what you're comfortable with. However at 5F healthy chickens should not need any heat source as long as they can roost in a draft free, dry environment. They come with down coats that do an amazing job at keeping them warm.

 

[Weeg]

Dowels are fine to use, my mother in law has had chickens for 17 years with no issues lol, and they’re the perfect height off the ground for them to jump onto.

Not to be rude, but most forums like these you can have the most perfect coop but someone will still try to say something is wrong.

I don’t mind feedback but I mean, dowels are never an issue, wild chickens nest on tree branches. Keeping them out of nests? Why would I keep them out the nests? My chickens have always slept in their nests, they haven’t been able to roost until now since the tiny coop I had before.

Ventilation? I have 2 large windows. Also we need a heat lamp here, it gets down to about 5F at night, can’t think everything is a fire risk. If it’s done right you won’t have any issues. My husband has had an emu for 10 years and has had two heat lamps in his shed with no issues.

We get snow but we also take care of our chickens, I wouldn’t mind getting up to shovel snow if it got into their run.

I think this new coop we’ve made is a castle compare to the store bought coop and I think our chickens are going to love it.

Gorgeous coop!

Just popping in to say that you came here for help, these are some of the best and most knowledgeable members, they absolutely know what they are talking about and I agree with them about the corrections that need to be made 100%.
You asked for advice, we’re giving it to you, why the resistance?
You can and will have your own opinion, but these members have years upon years of personal experience. No need to argue with those trying to help you take better care of your chickens.
You can take some thought to their advice, or learn from your own experience which is most often the hard way.
Just saying.

Hoping this doesn’t come off as rude, just my two cents. Welcome to BYC.

 

[Weeg]

I think this new coop we’ve made is a castle compare to the store bought coop and I think our chickens are going to love it.

It is a castle, it’s beautiful and you obviously put hard work into it. Nice job!
It’s not perfect though. If you don’t want to take these members advice, that’s fine, but learning from personal experience can include losses. I learned that the hard way.

 

[Weeg]

Keeping them out of nests? Why would I keep them out the nests? My chickens have always slept in their nests, they haven’t been able to roost until now since the tiny coop I had before.

Chickens poop while they sleep. If they’re sleeping in a nesting box they will end up sitting in their poop all night. This leads to messy feathers, which can then lead to a possibly fatal condition, fly strike.

Also we need a heat lamp here, it gets down to about 5F at night, can’t think everything is a fire risk. If it’s done right you won’t have any issues. My husband has had an emu for 10 years and has had two heat lamps in his shed with no issues

Fun fact, chickens can withstand up to -25 degrees F in a well ventilated weather proof coop.
Heat lamps are not only a fire hazard, they prevent the chickens from preparing for the temps they will experience.
What happens when that storm comes, coldest night yet, snow snd wind is blowing and your power goes out? Sudden instant temperature drop in super cold temps. That can be fatal for chickens who had no time to adjust because they were getting supplemental heat.
That’s why I never use heat lamps.
Plus, chickens are perfectly fine with very low temps. Are you cold in your down winter jacket? Likely not. It’s a winter jacket made with birds warm down. If you’re not cold in that, your birds aren’t either.

Also, adding this. I see your run is made of chicken wire. Not sure what your predator load is, but a friend of mine recently had a neighbors dog tear right through her chicken wire run killing all of her pullets in that pen. I’m broad daylight. Like a knife through butter.
Chicken wire is far from predator proof. Any predator could easily get in at your birds.

Again, not trying to be knit picky or rude, just advice from a fellow chicken lover. I’ve learned the hard way do many times, if like to spare you from that as much as possible.

 

[katycouts]

Looks great!

 

[Iluveggers]

I think the coop we built is a little big for a flock of 4, but just in case in future we decide to get another 2 or 3 we thought we'd go big!

FYI “just in case” will definitely turn into “when”. It’s called chicken math. Most of us suffer from it. I have 10, plans to add 5 next year, but I don’t think I’d feel like I had my fill unless I had 2-3shed coops full of 15-20 each.

I think what you build looks like enough size! I for one thought chickens needed a warm house with no room for air to get in, but after reading BYC we installed 2 large windows & ventilation at the soffits. Temps in NY can get into the negatives. I’m going to line the bottom of my run with clear tarp to block wind and keep snow out in the winter, but no longer worried about low temps.