"Aviary" & pophole question

[ChickenBiffer]

Hi,
So our coop is almost done (YAY!) and we're just working out last details like a door to the run, pophole, and windows (covered from the winter, will eventually be screened with insertable plexiglass windows for winter). My husband calls it the AVIARY...haha The blue structure to the left was just a playhouse my husband built for our kids when they were little and the octagonal structure is the "run" addition. It will eventually (hopefully SOON!) house six hens.




In the course of construction, my husband has said probably a million times, "If only I had known this would eventually be converted into a chicken coop, I would have designed it differently!!" One of the tricky parts has been figuring out how to make a good size pophole on the right side under the window (toward the front). We've worked out that we can make it about 10X12, but I'm worried that might not be big enough for our buff brahma. The other breeds we have are smaller (white sultan, partridge cochin, welsummer, buckeye, and silver laced wyandotte), it's the buff brahma I'm worried about....

 

[Hokum Coco]

. We've worked out that we can make it about 10X12,

My pop hole is only 9x12 and can accommodate this Delaware rooster and Golden Comet hens NO PROBLEM !! I personally think you have nothing to worry about. I wish I would have raised my pop door about 12" off the floor especially during the winter when I begin to use the deep litter on the floor of the coop.

 

[ChickenBiffer]

Thanks for the tip! Yeah, we plan on using deep litter and we had read about other people who have the same regret (i.e. not making the hole high enough). I'm cautiously optimistic that it all works out. The other thought I had: if the chickens did ever "outgrow" the pop hole, maybe we could figure out how to make the window itself the pop hole, it's not that high or we could make a ramp...