Add storage to Prince Woods coop?

[Ted Brown]

Pretty straight forward although I see I made a mistake (before coffee and without a fugue by Bach).

1. I started with the depth of the back section of a 10' by 16' Woods which is 10' and multiplied that by 12/16 (ie scale down to a 12' overall side length):
   • (10 * 12)* (12/16) = 90 inches or 7.5 feet
2. I subtracted the width of the door which is 2' 7" in Woods diagrams/text to get the available depth of the back section of an 8' by 12':
   • 90 - 31 = 69 inches or 4.91feet
   • It is possible to make the door more narrow (24"?) but one is always carrying things in and out and high on the priority list is convenience.
3. I subtracted the width of the drop boards along the back (36" using two roost bars; ie 12" from the wall, 12" between the roost bars and 12" beyond the 2nd roost to catch the poop):
   • 69 - 36 = 23 inches or 1.92 feet

Apologies I said 18" of width for the nest boxes above, it is actually 23". One needs a minimum of 12" width for a nest box @aart made hers 14", I trust her guidance and made mine 14". So 2 nest boxes unless you stack them (more inconvenient). NB nest boxes need to be lower than the roost bars or the chickens will try to roost on top. aart says that 4 nest boxes will accommodate 16 laying hens. The wall opposite the door will have 54" free so can easily accommodate 4 nest boxes.

So ~9" deeper than I originally said for the grain house, width can be what you want.

PS As long as you keep the heights of back and center as Woods specifies the low back wall is manageable. You will store things at the back and possibly under a shelf, the upward slope of the ceiling give ample headroom after you bump your head once or twice (ask me how I know).

PPS The 4.9' depth of the grain house is the OUTER DIMENSION, actual inside depth would be ~4'

PPPS The more I think about an attached storage area the more I think it is a very good idea!

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[Billylynn]

Thanks. I read all this to my husband (he's not illiterate, just didn't have his glasses on this early in the morning) and it immediately made sense to him. Thank goodness, since he will be the head carpenter and I will be the 3rd hand. I'll keep working at this.

 

[Ted Brown]

There are many times in carpentry (and in life) when a third hand comes in very handy!