This is our coop. It's made completely of cedar.
It sits in a 1/2 acre chicken yard to be fenced over the next two weekends.
We plan on trying the deep litter method. We figure the deep mulch method worked so well in our garden, might as well try the deep litter method in the chicken coop.
Nest boxes are designed so that I can move them around inside the coop.
VERY spiffy! I am going to make comments some based on others' comments on the coop.
Well ventilated indeed, as you will need it to be in the hot Texas summers.
I'm not sure how much deep litter you will get in there given it sits on the ground. Deep usually means 4" to 6" and it will spill out the door.
MY chickens lay any time of day and occasionally from the roost at night. The ones that lay the most eggs in daily succession usually start early with the first egg then later each day until they take a day off, then early the next day that they lay. My Partridge Chantecler (when she isn't broody which is WAY too often) will lay 6-10 days straight then take a day or two off. Most of the other girls are 1-3 days, then a day off but again, the first one is earlier in the day than the next one(s) if they lay at least 2 days in a row. Except the "Yard Art" Cubalayas, Eggs? I think laid one a few weeks or months ago. If I get an egg late in the day from any of the girls, I don't expect one from her the next day.
I have a 4' enclosed community box attached to the outside wall of the coop. VERY dark given the hole opens into the coop which is a converted horse stall about 8' from the west wall of the barn. There is a 4' box in the coop with 3 nests all open on the front and top but with "full height" dividers (because they picked at each other with the original short dividers). The outside "wall" is shorter, like yours. The coop itself is fairly dim other than when the sun is well over to the west. ONLY the 2 Anconas and OCCASIONALLY the bigger Black Australorp EVER use the dark community box. I opened the barn one day last week to give out the mandatory (to THEM) daily Black Oil Sunflower Seed (BOSS). I heard Persephone (EE) in the coop and since several of the girls will make SURE I know they are in there so they don't miss out on the BOSS, I took some in to hand feed her like I do the others (not pets but spoiled just the same!). She was in the MIDDLE box but got nervous and bolted, went for the BOSS outside the coop with the other girls. Meanwhile Zorra (the big BA) got in the RIGHT side box. Persephone came back and decided SHE wanted to be in that box so she climbed in. Not a lot of room for two full size chickens and Zorra got out after a minute or so but she kept coming back, sitting on the access bar wanting to get back in the right side box. I finally grabbed her and placed her in the middle box where she settled down and got on with her business.
Point being - ALL chickens are different. Yours may be perfectly fine with the nests as you have them and you do have a tall divider which will make them happy. Put a fake egg (I use mismatched plastic Easter Eggs with a small rock inside, the weight should approximate that of a real egg) in each nest when the girls get close to laying age (16 to 24 week USUALLY). There seems to be something "better" about a nest that another chicken already laid an egg in (even if that "chicken" has no wings or feathers
I'm assuming you have predators in Texas so I would put a sliding bolt that can accept a lock (or in my case a carabiner) so the critters can't open the chicken door. The "twist latch" piece of wood will be no match for most of them. Probably need something similar on the opening hatches.
