Sharing my coop build

[MMelton67]

The final product with run. Coop is 8'x8' 6.5' on the front sloping to 5' at the back. The next one might be 6' -> 5'. Door from the side to enter, door out the front with chicken door in the bottom of it. 2 8' roosting bars inside with 1 48" wide x 14" deep colony box. The run is 8' wide x 40' long and covered (loosely at this point) with a 1x1 mesh. The plan is to build 2 more runs parallel to the first. The coop is on wheels and I plan to roll the coop to a new run every 2-4 months and garden in whichever one is open at start of spring. Rinse and Repeat. The overall plan is to add two more coops with 3 runs each on the other side of the field for a total of 48-50 chickens.

 

[Sally PB]

There is roughly a 1'' gap on the east and north sides at the top of the wall for the entire 8' of each wall. The doors on the south and west sides have a small 1/8" or so gap around them and for now, the chicken access door at the base of the south door is open for 15+ hours a day. If that still isn't sufficient come next summer I can easily cut and add grilles at the top of the south and west walls. I am new at this so please do comment if I've erred in my approach.

When you're talking about ventilation for chickens, think in terms of square feet, not square inches. The usual rule of thumb is 1 square foot, per chicken. Open 24/7/365. "Open" means covered with hardware cloth, to keep out predators.

Ideally, the ventilation should be above the chickens' heads when they're on the roost. So think high openings, to vent out ammonia from their poop. Also, in the winter, if you have cold temps, you want the moisture from their breath to vent out as well. Moisture and cold is what leads to frostbite on combs, wattles, and toes.

Your climate makes a difference, too. What works for me in Michigan might not work for you.

 

[saysfaa]

Oh. And I got the data from Prince T Woods' book "Modern Fresh Air Poultry Houses"
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003138272&seq=7

He was well-known in his time (a hundred years ago), editor of several major poultry journals among other poultry related activities. His books describe many people in the poultry world adopting his advice on ventilation and the health benefits they noticed in their chickens. He figured it out mostly by observing his own flocks in different types of coops, from what I've gathered from his books.

 

[gtaus]

huh. Ok. so, in a 64 square foot coop that should be good for 16 chickens (at 4sf per large bodied chicken) you're saying I need 16 square foot of open wall? Sorry, but that doesn't make sense for cold weather. Please explain to me how exactly to do that and where you get that data point from. I've not seen it anywhere yet.

I live in northern Minnesota. Half of the year my chickens live in their coop - never going outside if there is snow in the chicken run. I agree that ventilation is very important, but there are many things that I believe affect that 1 square foot per bird ratio.

In my coop, I have almost 8 sq ft per bird, because I factored into the fact that the birds would be living inside the coop for 5-6 snow months per year. A larger coop, with more room to move, helps the birds be not so aggressive towards each other.

The coop build makes a difference. I have a gambrel roof on my coop, which is probably 8 or 9 feet high at the peak. The roosts are at about 5 feet high. So, there is plenty of air volume above their heads at night.

I have small vents in the peaks of the roof, on both sides, allowing for cross ventilation. I also have two sliding windows across each other about 4 foot off the floor for cross ventilation. I will close them if a winter storm is coming, but usually leave them open otherwise.

I estimate that I have maybe 1/2 square foot of ventilation per bird in my coop. But it works for me because I have a small number of birds in a big coop with a very high roof. Also, there is no cold air, or a draft, coming up from underneath the roosting chickens. My ventilation is at above their heads in the peak of the roof and on the opposite side of the coop from the roosts.

In 4 years of keeping chickens through Minnesota winters, I have never lost a bird to the cold in an unheated coop. Our temps can get down as low as -40F for a week or longer in the dead of winter.

Some birds have suffered from frostbite, but nothing that they could not survive. For a roost, I have a 2X4 laid on the flat edge. That allows them to sit on the 2X4 with their feet tucked into their body to keep warm. They also fluff up their feathers in extremely cold weather to trap warm air against their bodies and look almost twice as big as they do in the summertime. That is why you don't want any cold drafts coming up from below them. That would reduce their ability to fluff up their feathers and keep themselves warm with that trapped air.

I don't know what the perfect ratio of ventilation for your specific geographic area might be, but before I built my coop, I visited a place where our local Amish people build and sell chicken coops. They do not have that 1 square foot of ventilation per bird ratio in their chicken coops, either. But again, they also have high roofs with cross ventilation at the peaks. Again, the type of build and the number of chickens in the coop makes a big difference.

Hope some of that helps. Many things factor into that suggested 1 foot of ventilation per bird ratio. Certainly, if you see condensation in the coop, or other negative aspects of trapped moist air inside the coop in the winter, you should probably consider more ventilation.

 

[aart]

The overall plan is to add two more coops with 3 runs each on the other side of the field for a total of 48-50 chickens.

What's your timeline for these additions?
Is your goal lots of eggs or....?
Wondering if you'll stagger the additions to have eggs each winter with fresh layers

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[Ted Brown]

Have you looked into Chanteclers?

Chanteclers lay ~200 eggs per year and are said to lay throughout the year. Very cold hardy, very docile well behaved.

 

[MMelton67]

The base is 3, 4x4-8's treated, connected with 2x4-8 treated and lain with 5/8 treated plywood. The wheels are Harbor Freight' 10'' replacement wheelbarrow wheel, 5/8" bolts acting as axles. Each wheel is rated at 300#

 

[MMelton67]

Lowes didn't give me my roofing with the rest of the order, had to tarp it for a week and paint it.

 

[MMelton67]

The run wall panels are ripped 2x4's, a piece of treated for the bottom plate, the rest just regular 2x4. 14guage 2x4 mesh fencing 6' tall. I wasn't sure if I was going to go with 32' or 40 feet and wanted the ability to take it apart and move it if necessary. The roofing is a pretty lightweight corrugated galvanized roofing.

 

[rosemarythyme]

huh. Ok. so, in a 64 square foot coop that should be good for 16 chickens (at 4sf per large bodied chicken) you're saying I need 16 square foot of open wall? Sorry, but that doesn't make sense for cold weather. Please explain to me how exactly to do that and where you get that data point from. I've not seen it anywhere yet.

Ventilation is important in cold weather as frostbite can occur as high as freezing if moisture isn't allowed to escape the coop, which is why you still want ample ventilation up high even in cold weather.

In hot weather you ideally want the option to open up even more ventilation if possible.

A couple of good articles about ventilation vs. drafts:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop.47774/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/