A-Frame vs. Box style coop, Pros and Cons?

[mammachick]

On my previous post I had asked about the cost of A frame style coop. I have been looking through the coop designs, and love some of the box style coops. Are the box styles more practical, do they function better then a A-frame? The chickens will free range some, but for the most part will be in a run attached to the coop.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Square= the most room for a person to move around for a given footprint.

Triangle= the biggest footprint for the least lumber.


The chickens get the most usable space for a given amount of lumber if you build a good "A" frame coop.

You get the most usable space (for you to work an clean) for a give amount of lumber by building a square.

 

[patandchickens]

A-frame really doesn't use meaningfully less lumber than a box style for the same footprint (and not all its footprint is totally *usable by chickens*)... unless you insist on having the tractor be walk-in height, in which case yes an A-frame uses *slightly* (not much) less material than an equivalent height box.

The way the sides angle down in an A-frame style means that a chicken can't stand fully erect along the edges of the run and house; and in very low A-frame tractors they often can only use those edges "under the eaves" in a sitting or bending position. So the floorspace is not, from a chicken standpoint, quite what it measures out at.

Also, unless you have a really miniscule house portion (that does not use the whole length of the coop), you are stuck with a popdoor in the floor, which involves many inconveniences.

Finally, and here is the biggest problem with an A-frame, you are stuck with a very small house portion. There is just no way to make it more ample; and unless the A-frame is narrowish and walk-in height, not all of that space is usable anyhow. Furthermore it is an extra-small air *volume*, making it even harder to adequately ventilate in wintertime than your average small coop.

In favor of an A-frame, they are a bit less tippy in high winds than an equivalent-height-and-footprint box style coop. And of course they look kind of Swiss chalet cool.

It is not that I am against A-frames, as such. They can work just fine in year-round mild climates where the chickens are allowed to free range most of the time -- and notice that this is basically the situation they were designed for, i.e. British backyard chickenkeeping

But in any other situation, they have so many really significant disadvantages (for the chickens, and for easy management) that a rectangular, box-style coop would really make a lot more sense.

JMHO,

Pat

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Lets say you want a coop with a enclosed full upstairs.

If you use standard lumber. Making a 8 foot by 8 foot footprint with 8 foot walls at 45* angle. Minimum you need 12 2x4s. an 4 sheets of plywood. Assuming you don't count any part that has a roof under 1 foot then you have a usable run that is 6 foot x 8 foot an a enclosed coop that is 2 foot x 8 foot. That's a run that is 48 square. Good for 6 chickens at 8 square a bird. The enclosed coop is 16 square. Good for 4 birds at 4 square a bird. So we will say its a 4 bird coop.


Now we build a square coop just like the triangle one. You need 18 2x4s an 8 sheets of plywood. Adding a pitch to the roof may take more. That gives you a run an a coop that both have a 8 by 8 floor, 64 square. The run would be good for 8 birds an the coop would be good for 16 birds. If you don't free range as a whole its good for 8 birds.

At 3 dollars a 2x4 an 40 dollars a sheet of plywood the triangle costs 196 dollars in wood. just under $200 to house 4 birds.

The cube costs $374 in wood to house 8 birds. I assume adding a sloped roof would put it just under $400.

So its a matter of preference and/or climate.

If you are in Canada, one or more 8 bird square $400 coops with extra enclosed space per bird may be better because they will be inside more.

In the south you may prefer one or more 4 bird triangle $200 coops with extra room per bird on the ground because they wont be inside that much.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
But nobody would ever build the second design you have mentioned. (Well ok, there's probably someone somewhere out there

, but you know what I mean).

The comparable design would be to have 16 sq ft of 'house' on the box style, same as your roughly 16 sq ft usable in the A-frame. Also, as I said in my original post, if you do not demand a walk-in coop (and realistically, many/most people do not, for small coops like this) then you would not build the run 8' tall either

By my calculations, building the SENSIBLE box-style version would take 3 sheets of plywood (although this gives you no roof overhang, so you might want to splurge on a 4th one, which puts it back equal to the A-frame's plywood count); and approximately 11 8' 2x4s, which is one less than the A-frame. That's for a 3' high run.

In reality you would need a few extra 2x4s, ripped down into 2x2s, for crossbraces and to support where pieces of plywood join and so forth, but that is ALSO true of the A-frame design.

My point is, you can provide the same square footage of house and run for the same (or, depending on how you build, some people might use *slightly* more) lumber and plywood. The A-frame has NO real materials advantage in this case.

Pat

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Maybe I misunderstood the question but I thought that was what mammachick was asking. A frame v/s the cube in her other thread.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=258525

I also was trying to stay with standard board sizes.
Using the same math You could build the same cube with a 4foot by 4foot footprint using 10 2x4s an 3 sheets of plywood for about $150. That would be a coop that is 16 square an a run that is 16 square. That should hold 2 chickens. She said she had 3. 3 could be put in that coop.


You could build the equivalent of the A frame I priced out above by making it all ground level. A 4foot by 4foot house would take 6 2x4s an 3 sheets of plywood. That's about $135. The run would take about 10 2x4s adding another $30. That would come out the cheapest to hold 4 chickens. You could even save a little if you own a table saw to rip the 2x4s down. Most people don't.


Its a matter of what ya want. There's no one better than the other. Its really a matter of what you think looks better.

I may go with the 8x8x8 cube for my next coop. Not that I like it better but because I don't build anything shorter than 5 feet because I would have to build it to hold up horses, goats an dogs if I did. I'm also thinking the triangle may find livestock trying to climb it to.