Almost finished with new coop...now on to the run. Suggestions welcome

[LovinMyNewChicks]

Thanks for the input. This forum has been so helpful! And it's nice to talk to people who don't think you're crazy for wanting chickens in your yard

We haven't made much more progress on our run since I first posted the pics. My husband's work schedule has been pretty hectic. But he will have three days off soon, and we'll get as much done as possible then.

Andrea - we read somewhere on this forum that chickens need at least 2 - 3 square feet each in a coop, and 4 - 5 square feet each in a run to keep them free from diseases and to keep them from fighting. We used that info to decide how big to build. Our coop is 8' x 8'. Our run is 8' wide (only because that's the width of our coop) x 24' long. We have 28 chicks. Using this formula, that would be about 140 sqare feet for the run (28 birds x 5' each). We knew we wanted it 8' wide, so that would leave it about 18' long. We had plenty of room, so we went ahead and made it 24' long. (We also read in several places to go bigger whenever possible

. We have used 1/4" x 1/4" hardware cloth on the bottom section. We will probably use 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth for the rest. We are planning to cover the top, too. Our posts are 8' apart. We put the middle boards at the top of the wire, which I think was 48". We'll put another row of boards at the top edge the same way to attach the wire.

We will be putting a wire skirt/apron around the bottom, also. We're thinking about using some old cattle panels we have from some old calf pens for the skirt -- any thoughts? We will just dig down a little, attach the panels to the fence (which has been buried 8"), then cover them back up. I have seen where someone put pavers over their apron, and thought that would look nice. I would like to see pics, though. We haven't totally worked out what type of door we'll have, but it will be on the opposite end from the coop.

We love the chicken nipples!! They are great! No dirty water and no problems teaching the chicks to use it. I rinse and fill the water bucket about once per week. I am putting a 2-liter bottle of ice in the bucket every day now (it's gotten over 100 degrees the last three days in a row) to keep the water from getting too hot. The chickens really like the cool water. When we get the run finished, I'm planning to put a bucket outside the run with pvc pipe running down the inside of the run with the watering nipples in it. That should make it easy to fill, etc.

 

[CatsCrazyCoop]

There seems to be a ton of confusion (at least on my part) for square footage per bird. I will have 5 standards and 8 bantams and an 8x8 coop as well (once we finish it) and I am reading this isn't enough room! I am in a slight panic.

I haven't even started building the coop yet - because I am toally OCD and I want to make sure I am not missing anything important that I will need. Luckily for me,I have a carpenter for a father (although he is old and cranky now, haha) but he will be helping me do the build. Just hoping he doesn't get bossy and not do something I want.

What needs to be inside the coop?
I know roosting poles, nesting boxes, storage... what else?

I love this forum.
I love all my fellow chicken lovers

 

[equinelyn]

I love that coop! Great job!

 

[LovinMyNewChicks]

I am right there with you on the OCD thing. And I, too, found a lot of conflicting info on how much space is required. Our chickens are only 5 1/2 weeks old right now, so I can't really say how it's going to go when they are grown. But...our plan is to leave the chickens in the run during the daytime. Then put them in the coop at night to roost and sleep. Our coop is 8' x 8', and there was plenty of room in it for roosts for 28 birds (again, assuming our info was correct in calculating this -- we read a lot of opinions and went with "at least 10" roosting space per bird"). We put three rows of roosts on one wall and two rows on the opposite wall. We also have 7 nest boxes built inside the coop (they do not extend outside, but we have a door just above them to reach in from the outside to collect eggs). I had read we needed 1 nest box per 4 - 5 hens. We had room for seven along one wall, so that's what we did. We have a total of 28 chicks, but two are roosters. We ended up with enough space down the middle of the coop to hang two five-gallon buckets: one for feed and one for water. There is plenty of room for us to walk into the coop to clean, etc. We don't have any room for storage, though. There is enough room that we could add some shelves or cabinets up above the doors for the nest boxes if we wanted. That wall is opposite the door. We're thinking that since they will spend the majority of their waking hours outside in the run, this coop size should be sufficient.

But I will warn you that it was pretty alarming to see all that space sucked up so quickly once we started adding the needed elements inside the coop!!

Our chicks are staying in this coop 24/7 for now, and are doing great. They have oodles of room since the entire floor under 24" high (except for the feed bucket) is open space (and they are still small). We have removed all the shavings and boards since it is so hot now, so the floor is mostly 1/4 " hardware cloth. We have plywood just in the doorway and down the middle for us to walk on -- that is also where the feed/water are located. This lets air flow through to the wire on top. We also covered the window with hardware cloth so we can leave it open. I think the one thing I would do differently already is add more ventilation. I even attached hardware cloth over the egg doors for now to get more air flow. Once they start laying, that will need to come off. We may have to add ventilation at the top of that wall in the future. But I have to keep reminding myself that they won't be in the coop in the daytime once we get the run finished, so that will help.

 

[CatsCrazyCoop]

Glad to meet another OCD pal

But, I read pretty much all of the same dimensions in figuring out coop space. I think my husband will flat out murder me if I go any bigger than 8x8. (So, if I mysteriously disappear... please call the authorities

Well the coop sounds awesome.
I only need 3 sq ft of space... can I move in?

 

[bryan99705]

Looks great, those pink studs were eye catching

You may find you want to make a shroud for the waterer top as the birds may like to perch on it and poo on the lid just to watch you have to clean it.

Thats a nice run you got too. they will love the room. You may want to keep an eye on the heat inside the coop, If it gets too hot in there, if it gets too hot in there and another large screened hole may be needed and you could hinge it the cut out piece or add shutters to be closed during bad weather.

Great work!

 

[bryan99705]

Quote:
Your good with 64 square feet inside the 8X8 coop, you could go up to 16 birds based on 4 square per bird but keep in mind what else you set on the floor.

You list pretty much cover coop contents unless you plan on having their feeder and fount inside but that can be right out the door under a little porch roof. It keeps the coop cleaner, does not take up floor space, and water spillage is not a issue. Poop boards don't take floor space but can make it tight for you when cleaning if they don't remove easily.

Set the roosts be higher than the nest boxes so the chickens don't want to sleep in the boxes. (you'll wind up with nasty butted chickens and a mess to clean out of the boxes) Also try not to go too high with the roosts as in a limited space the heavy ones could hurt themselves jumping down

 

[ginger c.]

fabulous coop!!!