Building a new coop, but have a few questions...

[20736]

"draft-free coop" ......hmmmmmm
I would suggest reading "Fresh Air Poultry Houses" by Prince T. Woods, M.D.
Between my "draft free coop" and my fresh air coop, I like the Woods coop much better.

 

[vwap]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, it's much appreciated. I'm getting close to completion, and unfortunately didn't take any pictures. Nevertheless, I've got some additional questions.

1. Nesting boxes -- I didn't do any research prior to designing the coop, and it appears there's conflicting opinions on this -- I currently have an area along the floor dedicated to where I'm building the nesting boxes. It's going to be an external box, but the dimensions I have dedicated to the "nesting box hole in the wall" are 48" x 18" x 18" (W x H x D) -- the roof of the boxes will slope from 18" down to about 12". I was planning on 1-2 nesting boxes of ~14 x 18 x 18, with the rest being extra space for the chickens. (Will they even use this extra "space"? Or do they spend most of the time roosting?) There will also be a 2x4 along the entrance so they'll have to jump.

That said -- given the amount of space I have allocated to nesting boxes, should I make some attempt to raise them, even by 6"? Or have one high and one low one?

2. Roosting bar -- I currently have one placed at 19" high, and am planning on stacking a 2x4 across it, making one 19" bar and one ~21" bar. The coop is a 4'x4'x4' box, should I attempt to raise one or both bars, either into a ladder system, or just a lot higher? Given that the ceiling height is about 42" -- is there a rule of thumb as to how much headroom a chicken needs -- I didn't want to make the roosting bars too close to the ceiling. There's also vents 6" from the ceiling on pretty much all four walls -- does this matter?

3. Flooring -- currently, the flooring is the bare 1x6's making up the floor, meaning there's lots of gaps. I've learned this is a bad thing and I probably should have used a sheet instead. Nothing a sheet of vinyl can't fix! :-D I plan on putting down a sheet of vinyl, then sand. With the "run/coop" type designs (or even, in general), do people typically put some sort of bedding (wood shavings/pellets, straw, etc.) in the coop? I'm planning on sand on both the coop and run floor, and wood shavings or some soft bedding of sorts in the nesting boxes -- so the nesting boxes would be the only area with "soft" bedding. Should I consider bedding elsewhere?

4. Ventilation -- I don't know how cold chickens are wont to get, so I'm hoping this isn't too much ventilation:

6" x 48" vents along the top of three walls, these will be closable (though not tightly -- the may still be a draft).
8" x 14" vent along the fourth wall, I'm not planning on a door for this one.
One, possibly two, windows/vents of approximately 15 x 15" on the cleanup door, also closable.
The entire ceiling is vented, 48" x 48" -- I currently have no plans on closing this up, which I hope doesn't end up being a bad idea. There is a roof above the coop, extending about 1-2 feet past/over every wall, so rain won't be a concern. This should provide plenty of ventilation, I'm just hoping it's not too much?


I know this is a rather lengthy post, and without pictures, pretty hard to visualize. However, I thank everyone for taking the time to read through it (if you're at this point!) and possibly deciphering it. I've had a lot of fun so far, but clearly there's a lot I need to learn.

Thanks again for your time!

-Andy

 

[20736]

How high are your nests off the coop floor? I think 12" is "standard."
I use a 2X2 or 2X3 for the roost. Chickens seem to favor this over a 2X4, which I have tried, but they like the smaller lumber. Even my turkeys like the 2X2.
Sounds like you are making excellent progress.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

How high are your nests off the coop floor? I think 12" is "standard."
I use a 2X2 or 2X3 for the roost. Chickens seem to favor this over a 2X4, which I have tried, but they like the smaller lumber. Even my turkeys like the 2X2.
Sounds like you are making excellent progress.

That's probably fine in warmer climates but up here with sometimes 25 and 30 below zero, their feet need a wider roost (I am using the 4" side of a 2X4 so they can "sit:" on thier feet. That's their protective night-time slippers against getting their unfeathered toes frozen while they sleep on the roost.

My experience with using both the narrow side and the wider side of the 2 X 4 is that they establish a much better footing with the wider roost, too. Tested and true! IMHO

 

[vwap]

So I finally (mostly) finished the coop, it took a little longer than I'd hoped, but it's pretty close now. Here're a couple pictures, followed by a new set of questions! :-D (Of course!)






1. Is there any benefit to having a roosting bar of sorts in the "run" area? If they're let out into the run during the day, will they use the roost, or is that pointless? (I had extra wood from the roof that I figured I'd set there, you can see it in the first picture.)

2. As you can see, it's not really dig-proof currently. I've seen the suggestions to dig 1' down and bury hardware cloth, or "L" cloth down and cover it with sand. Given the size of the base frame of the structure (treated 2x2s), there's not really going to be room for me to put a few inches of sand down in the current setup (without a bunch of sand spilling out.) Has anyone tried placing 12" square pavers down as a digging deterrent? I figure I'd place the structure in the middle of each paver, so about 5" extending both inside and outside from the coop, then covering over with sand -- this allows the benefit of raising the structure so I have some more room for sand/gravel, and also a few inches to deter predators from digging. Well, that's the theory *in my head* -- are racoons/other predators smarter than the paver, and will they manage to dig in anyway?

3. The roof on the nesting box is currently just bare boards, I'd like to cover it with something. I've got a section of sheet roofing that I cut from the run/coop roof that I can/had planned to use. However, I'm running into a couple issues -- the nesting box top opens, meaning I can't use the roofing flush with the top edge of the box -- the roofing material would hit the board above the lid and prevent full lifting. Secondly, even without the roof section, there's a bit of opening where the hinges sit -- it's not flush with the 2x4 the hinges are mounted to, but I don't think I can stick a shim in there or anything, otherwise it wouldn't open (I don't think?). Any ideas how to close the gap, and/or what I did wrong and how to redesign it?

4. I'm slightly concerned about some of the gaps, albeit small gaps, between some of the 1x6 boards -- Even in the winter when I board up the windows on the doors to the coop, there're gaps there, too. Should I try my best to seal those up, or should it be OK? The floorboards of the coop will have vinyl on top, so I'm mostly just concerned about the walls. (Once again, I'm in Seattle, where the typical winter is fairly mild, we might drop into the teens/twenties for a week, but generally around/above freezing..)

Thanks for all the input everyone, I really appreciate it!

 

[coolcanoechic]

Could you possibly take some closer pictures of the nesting box? I think I understand what you are explaining, but it is hard to see.

Also, some keeper strips around the inside of the windows and doors will prevent drafts from coming in. That is just a thin piece of wood used as a backer for when the door is shut. I'll try to get some pictures tonight to show you what I mean. I have to hit the road for work now and don't have time to take pics and load them.

 

[vwap]

Here's a picture of one of the larger gaps between the 1x6 boards. I'm thinking maybe I'll get sheets of 1/4" boards to nail to the back. In hindsight, I think it would've been cheaper, less drafty, and less work to have gone with plywood or OSB (plus, I wouldn't have to back each gap with more wood! ). Maybe for the next coop..




Here are some pictures of the nesting box "gap":

Lid closed:



Lid fully open:



Closer-up picture of "The Gap":

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Right. The more cracks and gaps you have, the more places you have to preventativly treat against mites. That's where they hide. Because I'm dealing with lice right now am now also so aware of all the places mites can hide. Using Orange Guard to prevent that....everywhere where they can 'hide from the light'.

Just saying this because it is so current for me.

Missa

 

[vwap]

Hmmm.. so if I close up as many of the gaps as I can on the interior(e.g. with 1/4" Lauan board), is there still a concern of lice and mites between the gaps on the exterior side?

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Even if you close gaps inside, wherever there is a seam or crack...even little ones, those critter can hide in them. What was recommended to me was the Orange Guard I had mentioned, and just spraying every crack, crevice or seam at regular intervals....and also keeping a super-clean coop. I've added DE to my shavings on the floor.

~Missa