Interior coop design

[honeybear527]

We are preparing for our first coop. We have most of the exterior completed, we are about to begin the interior hopefully this weekend. However I’m not sure how to design the interior for the most room for the chicks and easy to clean. We will not be using the deep litter method and prefer to use a poop board. However to use a poop board that would be easy to clean (ie rake out) the roosts will have to go from the large door side (maybe adding a vertical 2x4 to mount the roost on) going to the window. We would need two roosts for the chicks (12). I have attached pictures of where we currently are in the building process. Any design suggestions would be helpful, we are newbies and would like for the chicks to have what they need and be easy for us to clean/maintain.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. Where, in general, are you? If we know your general location we can give better-targeted advice. Climate matters, especially when it comes to housing?

How big is this coop? Can you walk into it?

You'll want to arrange things so that you can access every corner with a reasonable level of convenience.

 

[honeybear527]

Hi we are in central Ohio. We cannot walk into it (it’s raised off the ground). The interior is 6x6 with 3 nesting boxes. The height is about 6ft in the door side and 4 feet on the window side

 

[3KillerBs]

Hi we are in central Ohio. We cannot walk into it (it’s raised off the ground). The interior is 6x6 with 3 nesting boxes. The height is about 6ft in the door side and 4 feet on the window side

That's going to be difficult.

6x6 is pretty tight for 12 hens -- only 36 square feet instead of the usually recommended 48 -- and you won't be able to reach the entire coop from the access door.

Unfortunately, it's inevitable that a chicken will lay an egg in, get sick and hide in, or even die in a corner that you can't reach.

Is it too late to eliminate the floor so that you can step inside? You really won't want the birds to have access to the area under the coop when it is likely to be crawling through chicken poop under there in order to reach an egg, a sick hen, etc.

Either way, you might do best with the roosts arranged in a U-shape so that you have a fighting chance of reaching all the roosted birds from the access door.

If the run is going to be roofed, you will save some space in the coop by keeping your feed and water in the run.

 

[honeybear527]

I think my husbands head would explode if I asked him to remove the floor. The run will be fully roofed and we are planning on having the food and water in the run for a vast majority of the time. If on the occasion that it is frigid (a few days a year) we would bring it inside.

We planned on having the chicks to have added shade and additional run room under the coop.

Thanks for the advice. We hadn’t thought of a U shaped roost option

 

[3KillerBs]

I think my husbands head would explode if I asked him to remove the floor. The run will be fully roofed and we are planning on having the food and water in the run for a vast majority of the time. If on the occasion that it is frigid (a few days a year) we would bring it inside.

We planned on having the chicks to have added shade and additional run room under the coop.

Thanks for the advice. We hadn’t thought of a U shaped roost option

My first coop had a low, inaccessible area in the run and I ended up sending a child in with a hoe to retrieve eggs laid under there.

But I ran a bath for said child first.

 

[honeybear527]

My first coop had a low, inaccessible area in the run and I ended up sending a child in with a hoe to retrieve eggs laid under there.

But I ran a bath for said child

Well we are now going to be able to open the bottom portion on 3 sides. Hopefully that will eliminate crawling in poo!

 

[Borders3]

We cannot walk into it (it’s raised off the ground).

You could always have/put a step so you could get into it, would also make poop boards easier to scoop. I agree with 3killerBs suggestion of U shaped roosts. Also will you be wanting wind screens round the side of your run to give them a bit of shelter from prevalent wind.