Dakar2009
Songster
- Jun 23, 2022
- 108
- 299
- 126
Ok...watching my girls grow quickly, I realized I needed to build them a real coop. I had gotten the "Orpington Lodge" from The Chicken Coop Company before I received the chicks. I only ordered 4 chicks so I figured it would be okay. Two things happened:
1) The pre-made coop was not NEARLY big enough for 4 birds, let alone the 6 they claimed would fit (as many of the knowledgeable people on here suggested)
and...
2) I received 5 chicks and they all survived, so the coop was even less capable of housing the girls than I feared.
So, my own nesting instinct kicked in and I draw up some plans for my own coop. It went through many different iterations, some during the actual construction, but this is the one I decided on.
The main coop is a 4'x8' lean-to design. It has ventilation at the top of both long walls between every stud, two 14x21" shed windows (one on each long wall) and two 8"x8" plastic vents I had left over from my shed build. There is one door on the short "front wall" for me to access the coop. There will be 3 nesting boxes eventually built into the taller long wall. The roosting bar is temporary for now, 5' long and mounted 18" off the ground with a slide out poop tray underneath. Funny thing is they sleep all bunched up in the farthest 2 ft of the bar, lol. I'll mount it higher when I put in the nesting boxes, maybe give them 2 levels to choose from.
(You can see The Orpington Lodge in the background)
There is some room inside just to the left of the front door where I plan to keep their feed and shaving containers.
The lower height of the coop floor joists are 18" off the ground, so they have 32 sq ft of run space underneath it and a good shady area they seem to really like.
The run is 5'x8' with one full-sized entry door. They get 40 sq ft there + the 32 sq ft underneath the coop = 62 sq ft total..which still looks small to me. They also have an automatic Chicken Guard door (a GOD SEND!!!) and a semi-opaque polycarbonate roof to let some light through (about 35% of sunlight comes through).
I had to complete most of it before I went on vacation last week, so on the "to do" list now are:
- shingle the main roof
- cut out opening for and build the 3 nesting boxes (outside of the coop)
- possibly install another 14x21 window on the taller long wall
- build more "fun" roosting bars for them to play on outside
- make them a dust bath (probably put it under the ramp)
- put smaller blocks for them to get to the ramp to free up a little floor space, though they seem to get a kick out of the bigger ones.
- they'll get a new Rent-A-Coop feeder soon, but I want them to get a little bigger before I introduce it.
They will have some time outside the coop when I finish the main yard fence (this weekend) and get the new pool fence up (couple of weeks out), but they seem really happy in there. They go bed peacefully, no fighting over roosting spots like in the smaller one.
1) The pre-made coop was not NEARLY big enough for 4 birds, let alone the 6 they claimed would fit (as many of the knowledgeable people on here suggested)
and...
2) I received 5 chicks and they all survived, so the coop was even less capable of housing the girls than I feared.
So, my own nesting instinct kicked in and I draw up some plans for my own coop. It went through many different iterations, some during the actual construction, but this is the one I decided on.
The main coop is a 4'x8' lean-to design. It has ventilation at the top of both long walls between every stud, two 14x21" shed windows (one on each long wall) and two 8"x8" plastic vents I had left over from my shed build. There is one door on the short "front wall" for me to access the coop. There will be 3 nesting boxes eventually built into the taller long wall. The roosting bar is temporary for now, 5' long and mounted 18" off the ground with a slide out poop tray underneath. Funny thing is they sleep all bunched up in the farthest 2 ft of the bar, lol. I'll mount it higher when I put in the nesting boxes, maybe give them 2 levels to choose from.
(You can see The Orpington Lodge in the background)
There is some room inside just to the left of the front door where I plan to keep their feed and shaving containers.
The lower height of the coop floor joists are 18" off the ground, so they have 32 sq ft of run space underneath it and a good shady area they seem to really like.
The run is 5'x8' with one full-sized entry door. They get 40 sq ft there + the 32 sq ft underneath the coop = 62 sq ft total..which still looks small to me. They also have an automatic Chicken Guard door (a GOD SEND!!!) and a semi-opaque polycarbonate roof to let some light through (about 35% of sunlight comes through).
I had to complete most of it before I went on vacation last week, so on the "to do" list now are:
- shingle the main roof
- cut out opening for and build the 3 nesting boxes (outside of the coop)
- possibly install another 14x21 window on the taller long wall
- build more "fun" roosting bars for them to play on outside
- make them a dust bath (probably put it under the ramp)
- put smaller blocks for them to get to the ramp to free up a little floor space, though they seem to get a kick out of the bigger ones.
- they'll get a new Rent-A-Coop feeder soon, but I want them to get a little bigger before I introduce it.
They will have some time outside the coop when I finish the main yard fence (this weekend) and get the new pool fence up (couple of weeks out), but they seem really happy in there. They go bed peacefully, no fighting over roosting spots like in the smaller one.
Last edited:
