New Coop Design...advise?

[5acreFarm]

One of the things on my list this summer is to get a coop built and start chickens. I am new to this and have been reading and researching to slow the "learning curve".

This is what I have in mind to build. I wanted to go maybe a bit bigger but am working the size around some steel I salvaged off of a roof job and some pine I have milled for the siding.

After looking over many coop designs I know that I want to have access to the nesting boxes from the inside of the coop in the entry area with the brooding and storage space. I am planning on building it very airtight with lots of ventilation.....we are in a northern climate and see some long winters. Am also going to be running electricity to it for lights and heat lamps if needed.

Right now I'm planning on keeping them in coop and run most of the time. I know in my drawings I don't have any top on the run but am planning on making it predator proof.

I'm going to start small and go from there....any comments or advise is welcome!!

Great site.....glad I found it!!

 

[aart]

Nice plan, what software did you use?

Looks pretty good for up to a couple dozen birds. I would suggest that you use 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth attached with screws and washers for optimal predator exclusion, hotwire if you have very large or tenacious predators.

Chicken's don't really need heat, ventilation is much more important, tho you might need some heat device to keep their water thawed.

Humidity causes frostbite, they can take very cold temps if coop is ventilated to remove the moisture created by respiration and excrement.

Putting your location in your profile will help people give better answers.

 

[SobbaChickens]

Fancy fancy! Looks awesome. I'd say just make sure you use hardware cloth and it looks like you have a great start

Katie

 

[nab58]

Well, it's beautiful! You say start small, but you may not realize how much work that 'little' coop will be. I don't mean to discourage you, it's a beautiful design. We're currently 'trying' to complete our 4x8 coop and run and seem to be loosing momentum. Of course, I'm not doing the building and am being impatient with my son and husband. We have very little construction experience and are realizing how much work this 'little' coop really is.

Keep us up to date as you begin construction.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Great coop and I love the generous size. Your brooder/storage room is particularly nice and it will come in very handy. I currently have a grow-out pen in one corner of my coop and that works for us now as I've only got 3 adult chickens in the rest of the coop. However, if I had more adult chickens, I'd be short of room. Nice that you'll have an area specifically for that and you can NEVER have too much storage space!

The only thing you might want to look at is the door into the chicken area of the coop. I see you have it swinging into the coop area. I chose to have mine swing outward so as to not accidentally bump into or squish a chicken as I opened the door. As you have the brooder/storage room between the coop door and the main door, there's little likely-hood that you'd have any "escapes" from the coop area unless you accidentally left the main door open. Having my door swing out is just how I did it - everyone certainly does things differently as best works for them but that was the only thing I noticed that I'd do different.

It looks great and I hope you'll take bunches of pics and keep us up to date as you go along.

 

[DeerFangRanch]

I really like the covered entry and a run tall enough for a human to walk in.
Your coop is a little bigger than mine (any thing less that 8 x 12 keeps us from having the county building folks come out), but with chicken math, it will fill up nicely.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[5acreFarm]

Nice plan, what software did you use?

Looks pretty good for up to a couple dozen birds. I would suggest that you use 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth attached with screws and washers for optimal predator exclusion, hotwire if you have very large or tenacious predators.

Chicken's don't really need heat, ventilation is much more important, tho you might need some heat device to keep their water thawed.

Humidity causes frostbite, they can take very cold temps if coop is ventilated to remove the moisture created by respiration and excrement.

Putting your location in your profile will help people give better answers.

I used a software program I use for my construction business- Home Designer- Architectural.
From what I've read it sounds like ventilation is very important....

Fancy fancy! Looks awesome. I'd say just make sure you use hardware cloth and it looks like you have a great start

Katie

I am planning on using hardware cloth...chain link was the closest I could find on my drafting program

Well, it's beautiful! You say start small, but you may not realize how much work that 'little' coop will be. I don't mean to discourage you, it's a beautiful design. We're currently 'trying' to complete our 4x8 coop and run and seem to be loosing momentum. Of course, I'm not doing the building and am being impatient with my son and husband. We have very little construction experience and are realizing how much work this 'little' coop really is.

Keep us up to date as you begin construction.

I build for a living so the knowledge is there....it's always too many things on the list and too few hours in the day sometimes....small projects can really drag out!

Great coop and I love the generous size. Your brooder/storage room is particularly nice and it will come in very handy. I currently have a grow-out pen in one corner of my coop and that works for us now as I've only got 3 adult chickens in the rest of the coop. However, if I had more adult chickens, I'd be short of room. Nice that you'll have an area specifically for that and you can NEVER have too much storage space!

The only thing you might want to look at is the door into the chicken area of the coop. I see you have it swinging into the coop area. I chose to have mine swing outward so as to not accidentally bump into or squish a chicken as I opened the door. As you have the brooder/storage room between the coop door and the main door, there's little likely-hood that you'd have any "escapes" from the coop area unless you accidentally left the main door open. Having my door swing out is just how I did it - everyone certainly does things differently as best works for them but that was the only thing I noticed that I'd do different.

It looks great and I hope you'll take bunches of pics and keep us up to date as you go along.

I really like the covered entry and a run tall enough for a human to walk in.
Your coop is a little bigger than mine (any thing less that 8 x 12 keeps us from having the county building folks come out), but with chicken math, it will fill up nicely.
Thanks for sharing.

I figured with the size I have now I can comfortably have 20-30 birds.

 

[Stumpy]

It looks like a great plan. I don't know how wide your run door will be, but it's convenient if it's wide enough for a wheelbarrow to fit through easily.

 

[5acreFarm]

It looks like a great plan. I don't know how wide your run door will be, but it's convenient if it's wide enough for a wheelbarrow to fit through easily.

Great advice!

 

[5acreFarm]

I wanted to update this thread I started before my coop construction....

I am now on the backside of the coop construction and have 10- 9 week old pullets. The construction went well....the size of the coop changed a little from my drawings to fit the materials I was using. Most of the building materials I scavenged from different construction jobs I have worked on. The color changed from "matching our house" color to staining the rough cut pine with some stain I had left over from a job.







I kept the interior layout close to the same with a separate storage area inside the coop with access to the nesting boxes (which is the only thing I have left to build)....all ideas I got from other BYC coops.











The run was what probably cost me the most because all of the hardware cloth I purchased exclusively for the coop.



Overall I would say the chickens have been easier than I expected....just waiting for some producing to help with the consuming that they do!! We are already talking about a few more layers and trying some meaties next spring

Thank you to all at BYC for your advice and knowledge....It helped shorten the learning curve for this chicken novice!!