4’x8’ chicken coop that’s is 3’ off ground

[Brown-Egg]

4’x8’ chicken coop that’s is 3’ off ground, front of the chicken coop is flat with 7 nesting boxes on the inside left 12’x12’ and a 2’x 8’ window on top of the nesting boxes, I also plan on drilling 4” holes from outside to each nesting box and having that hole closed with plexy glass up take eggs down closed. Would this make it to bright inside.

 

[pennyJo1960]

4’x8’ chicken coop that’s is 3’ off ground, front of the chicken coop is flat with 7 nesting boxes on the inside left 12’x12’ and a 2’x 8’ window on top of the nesting boxes, I also plan on drilling 4” holes from outside to each nesting box and having that hole closed with plexy glass up take eggs down closed. Would this make it to bright inside.

How many birds to go in it?

 

[rosemarythyme]

7 nest boxes is a bit unnecessary when the coop holds maybe 8 standard birds.

How bright it would be inside depends on the directions the windows/vents face, and whether there's deep shade in the immediate area. I personally don't believe a coop can be too bright inside, but they certainly can be too dark.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi. Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!

7 nesting boxes on the inside left 12’x12’

I'm confused by this. You probably mean 12" x 12" but how many chickens is this for? The standard ratio is one box for every 4 hens but I have a personal preference for a minimum of two nests. Why do you have 7 nests taking up valuable coop space? Is this just a laying box where your chickens sleep elsewhere? Where are you located so we have an idea about your winter weather? To me, this raises a lot of questions about whether you will have enough room for your chickens.

I also plan on drilling 4” holes from outside to each nesting box and having that hole closed with plexy glass up take eggs down closed. Would this make it to bright inside.

Different humans have different personal preferences for how dark a coop or a nest should be. Some people go so far as to hang a curtain across the front of a nest to make it darker. My personal preference is to have the coop and nest a bit dark as I think darker tends to calm them down. They still need enough light to see.

Others that I highly respect on here like Rosemary have different opinions. So I put this down to a human personal preference where the chickens don't really care that much.

The way I understand this you want to be able to reach into the nest from outside to remove an egg. Practically everyone does that on coops this small. One standard method to do that is to hang the nest on the outside of the coop so you don't take up as much coop space inside and have a lid on hinges that opens upward to retrieve the egg. You have to be a bit careful with these so rainwater doesn't get in the nest but they are very popular. My preference is to have the door hinged so it swings open horizontally. That can help with the rainwater issue.

No matter how you go about it, an opening on the outside into your coop is a potential place for predators and egg-eating critters to enter. You need to assure that you can lock it unless it is in a predator safe area.

I haven't seen your idea before on here. I don't know how much all that light will affect the chickens, if it does at all. If you address the rainwater and predator issues it should work.

So good luck and once again

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Somehow, some way, an egg is going to end up in that 3" space under the coop.

 

[McChooky]

Somehow, some way, an egg is going to end up in that 3" space under the coop.

It says its 3' off the ground lol

 

[McChooky]

4’x8’ chicken coop that’s is 3’ off ground, front of the chicken coop is flat with 7 nesting boxes on the inside left 12’x12’ and a 2’x 8’ window on top of the nesting boxes, I also plan on drilling 4” holes from outside to each nesting box and having that hole closed with plexy glass up take eggs down closed. Would this make it to bright inside.

That's a mighty small hole to pull eggs out.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

It says its 3' off the ground lol

Oh - whew!

 

[aart]

4’x8’ chicken coop that’s is 3’ off ground, front of the chicken coop is flat with 7 nesting boxes on the inside left 12’x12’ and a 2’x 8’ window on top of the nesting boxes, I also plan on drilling 4” holes from outside to each nesting box and having that hole closed with plexy glass up take eggs down closed. Would this make it to bright inside.

@Brown-Egg you need to clarify your measurements here.

 

[perkolator]

7 nest boxes is overkill. How do I know? I made 6 nest boxes - only 3 get used, but only 1-2 will have the eggs because they'll all pile into the same box.

Just looking at the dimensions and design mentioned....My enclosed coop is 5x8 and 3ft off the ground; the front of my coop is flat and this is where I put my nest boxes - the boxes that get used are the 3 underneath the coop accessed by chickens from the run only (flip-down access door), nobody's laid an egg in the upstairs coop in 2yrs (they don't sleep in there either, they prefer the run)