8x8 Coop Opinions

[BWSY]

Thanks patandchickens! I think it's cute considering the cost etc. I couldn't spend a lot since I'm unemployed. It also helps to have a dad that's a carpenter.

There are a lot of sweet coops on this site. I got my idea on the basic setup from here. I can't find the one that I saw on here to give that person credit.

 

[Judy]

I always encourage people starting from scratch to go with 8x8 with a roof slanted only to one side. and walkin height at least for most of its width. It really isn't much cheaper to go smaller, and you will use the space even with just a few chickens. It's the simplest to build and to ventilate as well. Anything smaller and it is likely to be a second coop pretty soon, if only because small ones are so inconvenient and everything has to be hauled instead of stored inside. Don't waste time and effort, not to mention expense, on external nest boxes. I have never had anything but a dirt floor and would not want anything else. I had to choose my site for this coop carefully and haul some fill in to do it, as everything is on the low side in this area. (This is my 4th or 5th flock over the years.)

If you don't run water and power to it initially, try to plan things so this won't be too major a project -- especially water. You certainly should never need to heat so power is really a convenience, but they need water quite regularly!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
Unless you have something really small with big access doors built high enough to work in without bending over - having a coop you can walk into standing up is something you'll appreciate for the life of it. It doesn't even take a lot longer to build either.

Running water is a great idea too(almost a necessity). I haven't done that yet but when it's not freezing I use huge poop free waterers that I only have to fill once or twice a week so for now a hose works.

I have to admit that the external nest boxes took a lot of time to build but in my case it was a necessity. The man door to the hen house faces the bee hives opposite my house so if I didn't have nest boxes facing my house no one other than me would ever be able to collect eggs. So my point is, every situation is different.

Taking drainage into consideration before siting or building is the most easily overlooked important point. Think about your property after your rainiest period in memory. Don't build in that wet spot. Unless your run is absolutely huge the chickens will quickly turn it into a moonscape.