I would like input on my coop & run design

[fraek]

I live in North Florida, so the winters are short and the summers are hot and humid. My plan is to have 3 chickens for egg laying purposes (Maybe 3 Australorp?). The run is 4ft wide, 8ft long, and 2ft tall. The coop is 4ft wide, 3 ft long, and 3 ft tall. The run's roof will be on hinges. There will be wheels on the end with the coop so I can wheel it around. And there will be on a door on the back of the coop for egg collecting.

Questions:
1) What do I do for them for the "winter"? Whenever I look up what to do for chickens for winter, the internet starts talking about snow. There is no snow here. Will they be okay without anything special? It seems that they will be fine in North Florida winters.

2) Is this enough ventilation for the coop? A 10 inch by 10 inch window on two sides and a 5 inch by 38 inch window on one of the others? The windows will be covered with hardware cloth.

3) Is this big enough for 3 chickens to stay in?

I hope to start making this in the next couple of weeks. I have so much more reading and research to do!

I have attached a couple pictures of the sketch I made in SketchUp. (A ramp to the coop still needs to be added)

 

[Judy]

There is nothing in our area that a chicken would perceive as winter. 100 degrees is about their upper limit; you will see them mouth breathing and holding their wings away from their sides, indicating they are too warm. Lows in the 20's are of no conseqquence to them, as long as they aren't so closed up that humidity builds up. A small, enclosed coop is not really what they need in this area. They need shade and as much breeze as can be managed. Below is a link to a whole thread showing the sorts of setup that works well for them in this climate:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/163417/please-show-me-your-hot-weather-coops/0_20

 

[iwiw60]

You don't say what size the coop is ??????

 

[6of6chicks]

That's adorable, but I'd be really afraid you're going to cook your chickens in that coop. I wouldn't have plywood walls on the sides. Front and back, yes. Sides, no. Instead cover both of the side 'walls' with hardware cloth to create an open air coop. Do two layers of hardware cloth (or some combo of hardware cloth & wire fencing) if you're worried about security. You can always cut plywood panels to screw on over the hardware cloth in winter if you're worried about cold.

Hopefully your yard has lots of shady spots. I have a climate like you do and it gets blazing hot in the summer. My run & coop is shaded under an oak tree, but even so it was 90+ degrees in there yesterday. When I built it I took a cue from my dogs - they never lay in the sun from pretty much July to September. I figured if they couldn't take the heat then neither could my chickens. There are a lot of things I wish I had done differently with my coop, but loads of ventilation & shade isn't one of them.

Other than that it's super cute.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Like Judy said, forget about winter where you are. That’s not an issue for you. Heat is your enemy. You need lots of ventilation and shade. Where you are it’s impossible to have too much ventilation. The only issue with that is that you want a dry coop and run. A wet coop and run is a disease waiting to happen, not just because it is wet but they poop a lot. It’s that poop being wet that grows disease. Wet poop can get stinky too, really stinky.

For ventilation I’d suggest in addition to your windows you extend your roof overhang a bit and leave the tops of your walls open a few inches. It depends on how you frame it but probably the width if the 2x4’s will work if you are framing the roof with 2x4’s. Cover that with hardware cloth for predator protection.

I’d also want something up higher, right at the top. If you could get hold of a piece of ridge vent that will let a lot of heat out the top instead of trapping it in the top of your coop. Or maybe put some type of opening at the top triangle of the front and/or back. Some type of gable vent maybe.

It’s plenty big enough for three hens. If you get a rooster or try to integrate later on you might have issues but for three hens the same age it should be plenty big enough from a space concept, especially if you build it in a way that the run part is predator proof. I’d suggest you don’t even put a floor in the coop section unless you want a droppings board to scrape under the roosts. That way they have access all the time. And don’t worry about a ramp; that just takes up room. Just put a perch at the two foot height that they can hop up on and they can easily get higher. More about that later.

I think you need to decide if you are going to move it or not. My concern is poop build-up. If you leave it in one place you need to position it where the water does not drain into it and fix it so the ground does not get wet and stay wet. I’m not talking about wet from a rain, you’ll get that. I mean where it gets wet and stays wet a long time. You need for water to drain away from it. I’d suggest filling the area under it with sand and building that sand up several inches higher than the surrounding ground. You’ll need to build some containment to keep the sand from scattering when they scratch. That’s where you might want a droppings board under the roosts so you can greatly reduce poop build-up in that sand. You may or may not have to remove some poop from that sand.

If you decide to move it, you need to build it as light as possible. Those things get heavy pretty quickly, but for three hens you should be able to build a tractor that you can move. Those moveable coops are called a tractor. There are a couple of issues with a tractor. One is that you have to move them fairly often. The chickens will scratch and eat the vegetation under them and they poop a lot. Especially if the ground is wet that can turn stinky really quickly. How often you have to move it will depend on your weather, what type of soil you have, and other things. Some people move their tractors twice a day every day. Some people can go a lot longer. Since they will eat the green stuff and scratch, it can get pretty bare under a tractor fairly quickly. You might wind up with a checkerboard pattern in your lawn, but that usually recovers pretty quickly. For some people this might be important, for others not really. But the big issue is your commitment to moving it when you have to.

Another issue with a tractor is that unless you ground is really level, it’s kind of difficult to make them really predator proof. You might leave a space under a side at a low spot in the ground where something could squeeze through or quickly dig through. There are things you can do to counter this but they either add weight or time to each move. Many people really love their tractors so the hens can get lots of fresh green stuff, but it takes a commitment to that type of coop system.

Ii suggest you look hard at the internal layout of the coop section. In a 3’x4’, can you position roosts where they don’t poop in their feed or water? Can you put a nest (one should be enough for three hens) where poop from the roosts doesn’t build up on top? That may be OK as long as you use the top of the nest as a droppings board, but that would be in a fixed coop, probably not a tractor. The roost needs to be clearly higher than anything else you don’t want them sleeping in or on, like the nests. Taking care of some of these issues can add weight, which is not good for a tractor you need to move.

There are ways to handle this type of things. Hang a nest external to the coop section with the opening for them fairly low, say at 2’ off the ground with what you have. Then you can put that perch across to give them a step into the nest and the poop from the roosts above won’t fall in or on the nest. Feed needs to stay dry. Maybe put a roof over the run section and put the feeder under that. You provide more shade that way too, but slope the roof so water runs off. If water stands on a flat roof it will leak or rot it. Or put the feeder under the nest to stay dry, but you might run out of vertical room. You can use up 3’ vertical height pretty quickly. Maybe use PVC pipe for part of your coop or run to keep weight down.

In any case, you need access to all parts of your coop and run. Maybe for cleaning, maybe to retrieve a hen that does not want to be retrieved, maybe to collect eggs if one decides to not lay in the nest, maybe for repairs or maintenance.

I hope this helps you a bit. I’m not trying to tell you what to do, just trying to raise some issues for you to consider. I tried a tractor once and had to move it every two to three days, depending on rain. That didn’t last long. But my conditions are different than yours. You may be able to go longer between moves. Good luck!

 

[fraek]

Thank you! These replies have helped so much!!


Judy: "There is nothing in our area that a chicken would perceive as winter." I thought that was true from what I was reading but no one directly said it. Thank you!
"A small, enclosed coop is not really what they need in this area." I had looked through that thread and was worried that I didn't see many tractor coups and was starting to wonder whether a tractor coup would work in my area. There is a very nice and fairly large shaded part of the yard that feels cool even on hot days. It is roughly 25ft by 8ft with a building on one side. I should really take a thermometer to it just to be sure. I will need to think and meditate about this. I wanted to go with a tractor coup because I wanted to move it to different areas of the yard depending on the weather/season and I wanted something that would be easy-ish to take with me when I eventually move.

• iwiw60: Sorry! I could have made my post a little more organized so the coop size would be easy to notice. The coop is 4ft wide, 3ft long, and 3ft tall.

6of6chicks: Thank you! I was going for adorable (it's even more so with the extra details I have in my head that I couldn't figure out how to add into the computer!). I am also afraid about cooking my chickens, that is definitely not something I want!
You say to make two sides of the coup just hardware cloth but do the chickens need wood/something that isn't see through there to feel secure/safe? From your suggestion, I assume not.
I will be sure to redesign this with more ventilation in mind! And there is a very nice shade area in the backyard. It is roughly 25ft by 8ft with a building on one of the 25ft sides and tall trees on the other 25 ft side. The roof of the building has a fairly large overhang which creates most of the shade. Unfortunately this shady part is behind the building. I was thinking that would be a good place to put them in the summer and then in cooler weather they could be in front of the building.

Ridgerunner: Thank you! That is a wealth of information! Those are some excellent suggestions for more ventilation.
I like the idea of not having a floor for the coop and tossing out the ramp. I didn't know I could do that.
I haven't noticed many places in my yard where water collects and stays there but maybe I just haven't noticed. I will keep an eye out for this.
I would like a tractor coup that I can move around (and so I am able to take it with me when I eventually move). That way in the warmer months I can put it behind a building in my backyard where the shade is (and once I am done with my yard work, there will be a cool chill spot back there) and then in the cooler months I can put the coop in front of the building. I currently have 2x4's for the frame, but may change it to 2x2's. I do worry about the weight of the tractor. I am hoping that a couple of good wheels will make it easy to move.
Part of my current yard work is leveling out my yard or making it more level that what it was (there are/were several holes in it). To make the coup/run predator proof, I was thinking of adding a foot or two of fencing flat on the ground right up against the coup, that way predators won't be able to dig into the coup and it is something light weight and easy to move (I would probably end up attaching the fencing to the coup). I may need to put a few bricks on it to flatten it down/keep it down but that shouldn't be too difficult to move. Although, it isn't really something I want to move multiple times a day.
You post has helped a lot! You have given me so many things to think about and have given solutions to many problems that could occur.

I will get to work on the new design and add in the design of the inside of the coop!

You guys have been so helpful!!

 

[6of6chicks]

Sorry - it's so hard to describe/explain building plans, lol!

Here's what I meant about a 'wall' of hardware cloth. The cloth IS sandwiched between wood. Basically you attach the hardware cloth to the coop frame, then screw down molding strips on top of that to make it more secure. This is how I did it:



I took this pic. during the build process. The left & top shows where I've put the molding, and the right is still unfinished. My coop is a bit larger than yours, so I did large windows rather than whole walls. Since your dimensions are smaller, you could do a wall or two this way to give you loads of ventilation. *Note* - I DID go back and add another layer of hardware cloth OVER the molding (to double layer it) but that's because I'm super paranoid. Most coops I've seen only have one layer of hardware cloth.

Search for 'open air coops' on the coop pages and you'll find a lot of great examples for hot weather coops. Hope that helps!

 

[fraek]

It is hard to describe building plans! I won't tell you how many times I've had to reread some of these posts to understand what they were talking about, lol!

Thank you for the picture, that helps! And for the phrase "open air coops"! Just figuring out what I need to google/search for to get my answers has been difficult!

 

[6of6chicks]

BINGO! I finally figured out what your coop reminds me of:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/cozy-cottage-coop

A small, SUPER cute coop that is designed for Houston hot weather. I know the run & layout is a little different from yours, but hopefully it will have ideas you can use? This is what I was picturing and trying to describe when I said "walls" of ventilation. I knew I had seen it somewhere but couldn't remember the name, lol!

 

[fraek]

That cozy cottage coop is perfect! I'll have to think about ways to copy the cuteness of that design!

Here is my new design with lots of ventilation.

Note 1) The roof of the run will be in at least two pieces and it will be hinged. That way I can walk in the run.

Note 2) If this is the design I use for the nest box, it will have a removable board on top of it so I can clean any poop off of it that might be there (I'll probably also do a slanted roof on the next box).

Note 3) The lower roost is 2ft off the ground and is 5 inches away from the wall. The high roost is roughly 3.5ft off the ground.

Note 4) I haven't designed the door to the coop yet. It will be a large door and there will probably be a window/vent on it.

Note 5) This would go in a super shady area in summer.

The run is 4ft wide, 8ft long, and 2ft tall.
The coop is 4ft wide, 3ft long, and 3ft tall.
The nest box is a 12ft cube with a 3 inch lip to hold in bedding.








I may change that roof of the coop to be one like the cozy cottage coop instead of this pointy roof.