Recent content by Mr. Peepers

Quote: I'd go a step further and say you'd have to be a great carpenter. Good solid roofs on rectangular walls are hard enough, on a circular wall they're darn near impossible. A tent style fabric roof would be relatively easy, but it wouldn't last too long in the weather and it wouldn't be...

Go to this thread for plans that might suit your needs: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=270004 Here's a depiction of the coop:

I'm getting the impression that most feel that a poo pit is not that important, that it's just as easy to shovel under the roosts (assuming an easy clean floor) as it is to shovel out a poo pit. Anyone else?

I'm in the process of designing a 64 sq ft walk-in hen house and I'm considering the advantages/disadvantages of a "poo pit" in this size structure. It occurs to me that no matter where the poo lands it ends up having to be shoveled or raked away. Is the convenience of a slide out poo box or...

Quote: Good idea except you forgot about the floor and roof! I would caution against attempting to merely double or quadruple the dimensions and expecting to come up with parts that fit and economical use of materials. The dimensions of the original design were carefully selected to make...

Quote: Although the coop at this URL is one of my designs, it would be more expensive to build because it doesn't make best use of ply, more than one roof panel would be required, a window is used instead of screen, and the trim is more extensive (and expensive). I'd guess that this would be...

Quote: The easiest way to get more details would be to download Sketchup from Google. It's free, and takes up very little space on your computer. Once you have Sketchup, I can send a file that contains the whole design. With the design, it's possible to take it apart piece by piece, get all...

Quote: Here are the dimensions you need for cutting ply. Let me know if you need more info. Only 3 sheets of ply are shown here since the nest boxes are the only other requirement for ply and their size and placement is optional.

Quote: Unfortunately, making it a little bigger would eliminate one of the advantages of the design in that it makes optimum use of 8x4 sheets of ply. You might make it wider or longer, but not without having to buy additional sheets of ply, most of which would go to waste. Maybe the next...

Quote: I'm not sure this design would be large enough for six birds unless they're bantams. If there's enough interest I'll put the design up on the Sketchup site and anyone can get all the detail, including dimensions they'll need.

Here's a good rule. If, using your bare hands you can break into your chicken coop, so can a raccoon. It's hard to visualize the structure you describe, but the rule applies and if you can gain access bare handed, it's best to consider another structure for your chickens.

Quote: Sketchup is free from Google, and a very easy to use design tool. It's not Autocad, but it is quite functional for whipping up simple stuff. Download it and give it a try. You'll be doing small designs in 30 minutes and move to more complicated stuff very quickly. Mrs. Sketchup...

Quote: This coop was designed for the urban backyard. 40 chickens is way too many for most backyards. OTOH, if you're seriously interested in a larger coop (hen house) let me know your requirements and maybe I can whip something up.

Here are couple more views with the ply walls removed. The arrangement of the nest boxes and perches is optional, and as has been pointed out, there are way more nest boxes than four hens require, and probably more perch space too. Eliminating a nest box is as simple as sliding it out, and the...

Quote: It's hard to see in the photos, but there are two perches, and neither are over the nest boxes.