building chicken coop with pictures along the way and it is finished

[badbowtie]

Coop is done and picked up two hens from a local guy today now to figure out what breed they are. Will try to get better pictures tomorrow.

Okay look down a couple post for more pictures and questions.

I started today building a chicken coop and have the coop part built but need to know how big to make the nesting boxes will only have two hens at the most 4 but I doubt it. Also how big of a door to cut in it for them to get in and out. I will try to post pictures and more info later tonight after I get farther.

 

[tcbfan5]

we use milk crates for nesting boxes & they work great! & our door for them in & out of the coop is about 14inx12in

 

[badbowtie]

Okay thanks for the fast response back out to do some more work.

 

[badbowtie]

Okay, here are a couple of pictures of what I have done so far. Have some more questions. My coop is 4 ft wide, 3 ft in depth and 3 ft tall, as the way it is sitting in the pictures there are 17 in of head room under the coop, the run including under the coop will be 10 ft long and 4 ft wide. I am not building any taller due to buying 3 ft fencing. Is this enough head room or do I lower the coop and make the run not go under it? Any other tips or advice before I go farther tomorrow?

 

[badbowtie]

Also I was going to use this fence is this pretty solid feals nice and strong.
http://www.doitbest.com/Utility+Fence-Do+it+Best-model-700684-doitbest-sku-700684.dib

 

[tcbfan5]

it's just my opinion, but i say it looks pretty good & your plan seems fine to me, as long as there are only gonna be 2-4 hens in there...

 

[badbowtie]

Thanks for your opinion but also looking for some more ideas and tips before I go farther. Were, how long and how many roost boards should I put in? I also am trying to decide between that fencing I posted or should I just use 1/2x1/2 hardware cloth. I am just not sure if 17" inches under the coop is good or lower it and make the run not go under it.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

17 inch of head room is plenty for the birds. More to think on is if the rest of the run is not going to be covered can you comfortably hang a feeder under the coop at 17 in? I have 2 ft under coop, hang feeder there to keep dry and would'nt want to bend over much more to remove it for filling.

Nesting box per 4 to 6 birds, I can't tell if your back box is split in 2 or one big box. Dimensions on my nest are 14 inch and still two chickens can be found in one at a time. I'd never believed 12" sq. nest was big enough until I'd witnessed that.

Many use poop boards under their roosts for easy cleaning. The position of your roost may be determined on if and where you are putting a poop board.

I don't know how many birds your looking to get but to give food for thought on coop space, I've a 4x4 coop and 7 hens. I don't heat it so they are well feathered and enjoy walking around in winter. They only use the coop to pass through to lay eggs and roost at night.

Your design is very similar to what I built this past fall, I have desription and pictures on web page if you want to check it out.

Oh, I like the fencing your looking at. Remember your not limited in hieght as long as you have suport post every 3 ft to staple it to, run the fencing vertical.

 

[badbowtie]

Okay thanks for the feedback I am going to use a pvc style feeder under the coop so for them to feed from and still keep it dry. The egg boxes are 12x12x14 and it is two of them divider in the middle. I looked at your pictures and pretty similar you have any pictures of what the inside looks like were the roost boards and poop boards are. Also did you cover the floor in the coop with anything or just paint or wood stain? I also have to figure out my vents and windows for light.

 

[TheWaddler]

Quote:
Lift it higher off the ground. That is my biggest regret with my coop, that I have to kneel down in chicken poop whenever I need to wrangle up one of the birds. My silkies also took to laying under the coop for a short spell till they figured out where the nest boxes were. If I had to do it over again I would make the space underneath bigger or would make a slot for a slide in board so they cant run under there when I try to catch them or to curb laying eggs down there. Other than that it is their favorite place to hang out during the heat of the day, could have made the coop smaller than it is (not that it is huge but I will have to move it from the backyard of my duplex one day) and they would love it all the same, the only thing the do is sleep and lay eggs in it.....never hang out in the coop.

As for the nest boxes, I did alot of reading and came across someone who shrank their boxes to eliminate pooping in the boxes. I followed their guidelines for the most part (brainfarted on the math a bit) and made my nest boxes basically 12" x 12" (boxes actually 11.25" x 12" like I said brainfart) and they work great. My nest boxes were poop free until I put the silkies in with the big birds, unfortunately they are small enough to stand up in the boxes and poop, while the big birds cannot stand. As for being cramped, they stuff themselves in the boxes and their tails will stick out when you open the top but they love them. I recently snapped a picture of my gold-laced wyandotte and my buff orpington (my 2 largest birds) crammed into the same box, so I think if I really wanted to I could shave in inch here and there on them and they would still use them....I have a silly notion that I hope if I make one box smaller the silkies would use it and stop pooping in my next boxes!