Anybody else regret their initial coop design?

[Cat's Coop]

I placed one of the roost too close to the wall. They crap-bomb the wall and runs all the way down!!!!! I corrected the issue very quickly.

 

[stilldeb]

Isn't it funny how everything looks like a chicken coop? We went to WalMart the other day and in the parking lot they had these great wooden "garden sheds" and I said, "Look at all those chicken coops!" (I'm seriously thinking about one of them)


deb g
KY

 

[NMbirds]

Yeah, sure. I bought an old wooden shed, built in the 1940's, 11 x 15 and transported it 119 miles from where it sat. That in itself was a project, especially unloading from my trailer and setting it on cement pillars. Should have documented with pics.
I made a small entry, storage space and that seems to work fine but did build the roost too close to the wall, everything else is ok but will probably do some remodeling this Spring, not now.
Plenty of space for my 14 birds and use the deep litter method. Built 8 egg boxes for laying, most only use the bottom four but will be adding more chickens this Spring. Mantra here is "whatever works!"

Good luck!

 

[taprock]

The biggest problem in my coop design was the fact my husband built it without asking what I would like or looking at any chicken coops. So really it was his design not mine! The good news is in the spring the coop has to move and then I plan to redo the inside. I have to say as much as my coop drives me nuts sometimes after visiting a couple friends with chickens it is very spacious which is good for the winter when my little Polish want to stay in.

 

[Captain Cluck]

Well, my coop is brand spanking new. Designed and built by my husband out of rescued materials and painted vibrant mint green with "oops" paint. What I wish is that he would have built it more like a shed or one of the cuter coops here on BYC so I could walk inside and it wouldn't be so plain. Thankfully, paint can cover a multitude of sins.

As it is, he built me a 5'x10'x3' box with a pitched roof on 3' legs and put doors on either end of the coop so I could clean or "do whatever you do in a coop". He made them swing sideways instead of lifting up which takes up a lot of room when they are open, but makes them easier for me for now.

In the summer I plan to have the doors lift up and out with chains to hold them open and add wire interior "screen" doors that swing open for access. That way my coop will have ventilation be secure and have "rain" shutters for the summer and still be easy to clean. I want the same arrangement for the pop door and windows, too.

I also want to add nest boxes to one side (haven't got any right now) and raise the roost. My husband put it 4" off the floor and it needs to be at least 2' higher. As it is, they try to roost on top of the babies' crate.

I have 2 chicks and a crippled bantam hen in a 2'x3'x4' dog crate inside the coop, so they are protected from the other birds. During the day, I like to leave the doors open to let in light and air and close them if it rains or gets too windy/cold (leaving the pop door open and a light on inside). I want to add a porch roof for the pop door and adjustable vents under the eaves by summer. Right now there are enough gaps at the tops of the large doors to let fresh air in without causing drafts, but once those doors are hinged to lift up, the gaps will be gone and I will need ventilation for the bad days. Since we are in Central Florida, I am not too concerned with the cold as I have 2 heat lamps I can put in if they need heat overnight. I am more worried about the heat, rain and mugginess of summer. My husband told me he left off the windows trying to keep our cockerels quiet. He figured the longer the coop interior stayed dark, the longer they would be quiet in the morning. Since it didn't work (thanks to those over the door air gaps), he will be silencing them permanently by inviting them to dinner. Then he will be installing the windows for me.

 

[Vanessabuffsnsilkies]

Quote:
My coops are pretty good except one does not have actual vents. And they are set up in an area with little shade. Would like to eventually build a sort of "chicken port" outside the pop doors in the run so rain and snow doesn't blow in and they would have lots of shade in the summer.

Also the nest boxes are too high in the silkie coop so they are just shelves. I made little nest boxes out of dollar store baskets and buckets. Didn't know when I got the coops that I would end up with so many silkies...

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

Another design element I regret is that I did not cover the chicken pen. Hawks could swoop down and chickens can fly out. Today I added a bird net to cover the whole pen.

 

[equinehugger3]

We bought a coop that just wasn't built for the 22" snowfall we got... Plus my poor chickens are cramped in that coop because we have more chickens than we planned for... I REALLY want to build a new fancy chicken coop from scratch this spring, but the rest of the family wants to build off of the old coop.

I guess that is my chicken coop regret...

LOL... My advice for "new eggs": BUY A BIGGER/MORE STURDY COOP THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED; YOU'LL END UP GETTING MORE CHICKENS THAN YOU PLANNED FOR! lol...

Oh, yeah, and next time I build a coop I will DEFIANTLY cover the run... I haven't lost any chickens yet, but I don't want to risk it. AND, I have a weird mix chicken that's VERY capable of flying.

 

[WisconsinChickenWhisperer]

There are a couple of things I regret not doing/planning for: I re-wired the garage/coop area-should have put in at least one more outlet in the coop. I mean, I guess it's working out ok, but I have to use a 6 outlet surge cube in order to have room to fit the heated waterer, timer for the light, and a plug in for the heat lamp when it gets really cold.

I defineatly would have put in a door to the west side of the coop, for cleaning purposes. My compost pile is on that side. As it stands right now, I have to go all the way through the fenced in yard and around the garage to dump the wheelbarrow and back again. If I clean out the entire coop, that is at least 4 trips back and forth. My coop walls are finished, so no door going in at this point. I may put a gate in the chicken pen come spring so that I can just go out that way.

I need to cover my pen. I never got the 2x4's across the top the edge of the wire, so the snow catches on it and weighs it down and I have to knock the snow off or risk the whole line of fencing coming down. I would really like to put an actual roof on the pen, but we will see how finances look this summer.

 

[X2Farm]

Somewhat yes. I have a big 8x16 with a run. Its a terrific design, but with our flocks now being for a somewhat different purpose as when we initially built it, I've got some changing around to do....such as sectioning off the coop/run into 3 housing areas, redoing the roosts/feeders/waterers/nesting boxes....AND we boogered up the roof, which has now been busted up some by the winds last week so we'll be reroofing it in the spring

I'm almost wishing we hadn't built it at all, and instead made about a dozen big hoop tractors instead!!!!