Ambitious first build. Phase 1: Planning and design.

[General_Tao]

I'm building a very ambitious coop this fall for chicks this coming spring. I'm working on a design. I've scoured the internet for various coop design ideas and I think I've incorporated as many as I could. Below is a model I made on Sketchup.

Floors:
I can get bulk pallets from work, they are 44"x56". The top of the pallets is plywood so no boards to deal with. I am planning on putting them in a 3x3 rectangle that'll give me 11'x14'. Pretty big but I'm planning on having about 35-40 chickens, about 20-25 layers and the rest for meat harvesting. Once the pallets are together I'm planning on putting linoleum or equivalent on the floor to make cleanup easy. The pallet floor will be on top of cinderblock bricks.

Walls & Roof:
Planning on making the back 7' high and the front 8' high, made of plywood. The holes in the building is where the windows will be installed. The roof will be made of corrugated galvanized steel roofing material. The rectangles at the top of the front and back of the coop will be where I put ventilation shafts, just a cutout with hinges that I would leave open. Of course, any and all openings will have 1/2" hardware wire mesh covering it. The bottom rectangle on the back will be for easy cleaning pull out trays that will be under the roost. The small square on the bottom side will be the chicken door. Planning on putting a string on the door so I can open and close easy from the outside.

Roost:
I plan on having 4 perches using corner rounded out 2x4s 11' long. The bottom one is 24" off the ground, the 2 middle ones are 12" higher and 15" away from the bottom one. There is 18" between the two middle ones and the top one is 12" higher and 15" away from the middle one, and 18" away from the wall.

Nesting boxes:
Planning on having 12 nesting boxes 14x14x14 with a 4" lip in the front and planning on using burlap curtains too. Trying to find some kind of 13x13 plastic tray i can insert for easy cleaning. The boxes are 12" off the ground, I will also be installing perches on the boxes. The outside will have 2 doors for easy egg harvesting. Don't want a long single door cause of the weight.

Run:
Not pictured but it'll be big, also planning on free ranging the chickens as much as I can.

If you have any insight or suggestions or constructive criticism, please fire away. I think i have everything covered but you never know!

 

[MissChick@dee]

Wonderful!! I’d like one
How long till competition?

 

[WhiteWyan]

Don't skimp on the material on your outer layer... my co worker bought a flimsy cheap coop from a kit and a raccoon ate through the floor and killed all her chicks.
You mentioned putting linoleum on top of the pallets... maybe you want to rethink that.
Unless it's going to be built inside of a predator proofed vicinity like a very deeply dug and high up fence?

 

[Folly's place]

Your floor will be a problem, both because it's not secure enough, and because there's space under it for critters to invade. It would be better to have the coop at ground level, with a dig-proof foundation, so nobody can live underneath it.
Big south facing window openings, and a solid north side, will work well.
Have you looked at the Woods coop design? It's more complicated to build, but wonderful otherwise.
Your location helps us give better advice too.
It's a good start, but can be even better.
Mary