I thought I'd share our coop design. I got a lot of ideas from BYC but maybe someone will get some ideas from ours.
Here's a rendering of the design. The main goal of the new coop was ease of cleaning and egg access. The two large doors have no lip at the bottom so the shavings and poop inside can be easily swept out into a bucket. The external nesting box is also much easier to deal with than our old coop too. The footprint is 4' x 10'. The main coop is 4' x 4'.
Some of the framing:
The rafters and some of the siding going on:
Linoleum Floor:
I used some leftover scrap pieces for Roost Pole guides. The roost poles are removable.
Primer on the siding:
Some "Barn Red" paint and trim going on. I used home heating vents for ventilation. The nesting box hinged roof on too.
Door stops and a view of the inside:
Some of the metal roofing going on:
Moved into the yard and begin the run framing:
Some finished coop pics. Overall it went very smoothly and the plans were spot on.
The placement next to our old coop. We'll probably use the old one for new birds as a temporary home. The old coop was purchased on craigslist about a year ago. It served us well but has proven more cumbersome to clean.
The PVC feeder. I saw this on BYC. I plan on installing a small access door so it can be refilled from the outside without opening the coop. Just in case we have our neighbors watching them while we're on vacation or something. The water bucket with poultry nipples is a temporary transfer from our old coop. I plan on installing a system with the nipples in a PVC pipe that runs to a bucket on the outside of the coop.
The ramp. Our rooster had a tough time figuring this one out. He went up backwards the first night and I had to shove him into the coop door with a pole.
The nesting boxes and separators. We got an egg the first night so the move must not have been too stressful on the birds. These separators lift right out so the nesting boxes can be swept out into the main coop for easy cleaning. I regret using 2 x 4's because my rooster and one of the hens are nesting on them instead of the roost poles. I think thinner separators may prevent them from roosting on them. The roost poles may be too close together for the rooster to jump/fly up there. I may need to rethink this. Although, my attack rooster is probably going to the other side of the dirt soon.
An addition we're already planning. We do free range our 4 chickens daily but we want to have about 9 or 10 total and the extra coop space will be welcomed. I plan on making it detach easily from the main coop for easy cleaning.
Here's a rendering of the design. The main goal of the new coop was ease of cleaning and egg access. The two large doors have no lip at the bottom so the shavings and poop inside can be easily swept out into a bucket. The external nesting box is also much easier to deal with than our old coop too. The footprint is 4' x 10'. The main coop is 4' x 4'.
Some of the framing:
The rafters and some of the siding going on:
Linoleum Floor:
I used some leftover scrap pieces for Roost Pole guides. The roost poles are removable.
Primer on the siding:
Some "Barn Red" paint and trim going on. I used home heating vents for ventilation. The nesting box hinged roof on too.
Door stops and a view of the inside:
Some of the metal roofing going on:
Moved into the yard and begin the run framing:
Some finished coop pics. Overall it went very smoothly and the plans were spot on.
The placement next to our old coop. We'll probably use the old one for new birds as a temporary home. The old coop was purchased on craigslist about a year ago. It served us well but has proven more cumbersome to clean.
The PVC feeder. I saw this on BYC. I plan on installing a small access door so it can be refilled from the outside without opening the coop. Just in case we have our neighbors watching them while we're on vacation or something. The water bucket with poultry nipples is a temporary transfer from our old coop. I plan on installing a system with the nipples in a PVC pipe that runs to a bucket on the outside of the coop.
The ramp. Our rooster had a tough time figuring this one out. He went up backwards the first night and I had to shove him into the coop door with a pole.
The nesting boxes and separators. We got an egg the first night so the move must not have been too stressful on the birds. These separators lift right out so the nesting boxes can be swept out into the main coop for easy cleaning. I regret using 2 x 4's because my rooster and one of the hens are nesting on them instead of the roost poles. I think thinner separators may prevent them from roosting on them. The roost poles may be too close together for the rooster to jump/fly up there. I may need to rethink this. Although, my attack rooster is probably going to the other side of the dirt soon.
An addition we're already planning. We do free range our 4 chickens daily but we want to have about 9 or 10 total and the extra coop space will be welcomed. I plan on making it detach easily from the main coop for easy cleaning.
