Beginner Coop Designs?

[3KillerBs]

Right, we had our first freeze in a couple of years this year (teens, and a few single digits) and our summers top out around 105, but those are peaks, avg... I'd say 20-90 degrees F

I'm not a pro but I do some woodworking for fun. The biggest thing I've built from scratch was a picnic table, from box was a playset.
I have many types of saws, drills, drivers, sanders, levels, squares, etc.

For your climate and your level of skill you should consider a Monitor Roof -- the best decision we made for our current coop.

My Little Monitor Coop is too small for your needs, but the design should scale up nicely and my article clearly shows how to frame the monitor. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-little-monitor-coop.76275/

 

[21hens-incharge]

I'm not a pro but I do some woodworking for fun. The biggest thing I've built from scratch was a picnic table, from box was a playset.
I have many types of saws, drills, drivers, sanders, levels, squares, etc.

I find the biggest thing that stops folks from building one is lack of tools.
Since you have tools building a 4x8 coop can be a great skill builder.

 

[aart]

My first recommendation is to read all about the Yakisugi Coop :
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/yakisugi-coop.76398/

This coop write up spells out exactly why every choice was made and will help you decide what you want to do from a big picture perspective as well as for the little details. The result is a beautiful coop.

It's tiny.....
....and the models are near worthless without dimensions. IMO.

 

[MissE]

Lowes and Home Depot have shed kits that have all the materials cut to size. There is a huge selection. I am seriously considering this one:

Heartland 12-ft x 8-ft Rockport Gable Engineered Storage Shed in the Wood Storage Sheds department at Lowes.com
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Heartland-12-ft-x-8-ft-Rockport-Gable-Engineered-Storage-Shed/5001785359

It would be overkill for what you need, but there are smaller sizes and adding windows and ventilation would not be difficult. Heck, just replacing the soffit and fascia boards with hardware cloth might be enough for just a few birds, though to help with summertime heat, I would add large vents to the gable ends.

In your climate you may even get away with more of an open air coop so long as you can block drafts in the winter. Cold doesn't bother chicks so long as they are dry and not exposed to drafts. Lack of ventilation is more dangerous.

 

[Krugerrand]

It's tiny.....
....and the models are near worthless without dimensions. IMO.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned that the @Yakisugi Coop was too small for the OP needs.

However, it references a great discussion on ventilation. It points to other coops for ventilation inspiration and discusses the importance of roost height relative to ventilation.

It references the roost size/shape they chose and why they chose it.

They discuss securing the run and what went into their decision to leave the pop door open at all times.

The page references other sites about non-toxic staining options.

They reference sites about roof pitch along with construction tips. In fact, as the entire construction process is detailed - so regardless of the size somebody is building, they can reference the steps involved.

The thought process is outlined for protecting the coop floor.

The PVC feeder pictures are better than some BYC articles of seen on them.

The nesting box discussion is as thorough as some of the others, but it highlights some important considerations.

SO ... yes, the coop is too small for the OP needs ... at the same time, for somebody investigating "Beginner Coop Needs" the Yakisugi Coop page goes over in great detail almost any consideration somebody should think about as they decide what they want to build for a coop.

Considering the OP's original interest in an elevated coop ... a stretched lean-to version of about 3.5x8 could accommodate 6-7 chickens and still be fairly manageable to clean with some good access doors.

And the Yakisugi Coop is probably one of the most aesthetically pleasing coops I've ever seen. So, of course, I wouldn't blame somebody for building something bigger copying some of the same materials/techniques.

That's is why I suggesting the article as a good starting point.

 

[junior67]

if you are building check local facebook pages for wood, shingles or anything you may need. I found a guy that had 17 bundles of shingles that he was selling for $50. WAY more shingles than I need but they sell for $33 a bundle so I couldn't pass them up and will just pass on what we don't use (we will have an 8x16 roof to shingle). So we were getting those and I mentioned that we were building a chicken coop. Well he had some plywood that had been sitting for a bit and some rot at the bottoms but hey we can cut that off and still use the rest, he also had a ton of other wood that was in great shape and will work great that was all free!!!!!! of course I had already ordered the majority of my wood before all that came up but we still needed some more so will be able to use a lot of what we got for free. All in all I am guessing I saved around $1000 on the shingles and free wood that I got!

 

[Yakisugi Coop]

Glad you liked my coop write up @Krugerrand. My goal was to provide useful information--tips, tradeoffs, considerations--even to people who were building something entirely different, so glad that came through!

@aart I'm sorry you didn't like the models. I do have a note in the write up that anyone can email me and get a copy of my excel file, which has the dimensions for every last piece of framing lumber. The screenshots are just to show generally what we did. Obviously you aren't interested in that, but I just thought I'd note that that information is available to anyone else who might want it.

 

[Krugerrand]

if you are building check local facebook pages for wood, shingles or anything you may need. I found a guy that had 17 bundles of shingles that he was selling for $50. WAY more shingles than I need but they sell for $33 a bundle so I couldn't pass them up and will just pass on what we don't use (we will have an 8x16 roof to shingle). So we were getting those and I mentioned that we were building a chicken coop. Well he had some plywood that had been sitting for a bit and some rot at the bottoms but hey we can cut that off and still use the rest, he also had a ton of other wood that was in great shape and will work great that was all free!!!!!! of course I had already ordered the majority of my wood before all that came up but we still needed some more so will be able to use a lot of what we got for free. All in all I am guessing I saved around $1000 on the shingles and free wood that I got!

Anybody interested in cheap/free wood should also check out this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/repurposed-box-spring-secondary-coop.1458393/

 

[aart]

but I just thought I'd note that that information is available to anyone else who might want it.

Not sure why if you have dimensioned illustrations, why you wouldn't post them.
But then I'm a design drafter by trade for decades where dimensions are SOP.

 

[Yakisugi Coop]

Not sure why if you have dimensioned illustrations, why you wouldn't post them.
But then I'm a design drafter by trade for decades where dimensions are SOP.

As I said in my post, I couldn't figure out how to attach an excel file to the article. If folks want exact dimensions they can email me; I have an autoreply set up so the file is emailed automatically to anyone who wants it. The excel file is organized such that each cell represents 1/2 inch in size.

Otherwise, my article description goes through overall dimensions (length/width, height of coop on either side, amount it's raised off the ground, size of nest box, etc.).