Building a new coop! Need suggestions!

[lauranickerson]

I'm now in the process of moving into my first home, but it needs a chicken coop! I have 44 chickens, two guineas, and four ducks. The coop and run they are in now is way too small (coop is 10x10, but the actual living space is I think 6x10. And the run is 20x10, though I was free ranging all day until recently, because I'm lost about 10 birds in just two months to predators).

My dad has a sawmill so I planned on just having a wooden coop. The current one is metal siding with just the wooden frame and I hate it. I planned on just a basic building, with plenty of room to store bedding and feed, the coop area with roosts and poop boards, nesting boxes, and hopefully a little spare room to segregate injured ones. I also want little areas for broody mommas.

I also planned on having a big run, but don't know how big I should do it. I want to put a roof on at least part of the run like they have now, so they will go out in the rain.

If anyone has any suggestions on how big the coop and run should be, please let me know. And if you have any designs, please show pictures, I'd love to see them. I don't have a ton of time, because winter is coming fast (it's supposed to snow here in Northern Michigan tomorrow) and I have to start getting materials since we should probably be in the new house in a month or so, and building in the snow suuuuucks!

Thanks in advance!

-Laura

 

[MeepBeep]

For about 50 birds the coop should be about 200 square feet or more since it's a mixed flock and you want storage and isolation space, and the run should be 400 square feet or more... Realistically you are looking at a one car garage sized building, look for big shed plans and modify that into a coop...

That is based on 4 square feet per bird in the coop and about 8 square feet per bird in the run...

With time short and winter closing in, it might be best to contact a place that sells prebuilt sheds and have one trucked in and then modify it yourself... Being the end of the season you might be able to get a deal on a display model...