Building Design for Chicken Coop

[Barred Rock Boy]

Hey guys, I have been using a small(12'x7') shed that used to be a granary. I have about 50 chickens, and more customers than I can produce for having that small of a house. I was wondering if some of you who have build a coop before could give me some ideas on design, material, cost, sizes, flooring, how to insulate walls, roost design, nesting box ideas, etc.

 

[Harvest Mint]

I have never built one but from what I have seen I would make sure you use the wall space. I have seen where people put the nest boxes and brooders on the floor and build three level roost over those items.You could build cabinets for storage and put more roosts.

 

[Howard E]

You have 50 birds now, but how many are you going to go to? There are old school designs and parameters you can follow, but scaled up as you are talking about doing is going to be expensive.

You currently have about 1.7 sf per bird. That is the space used for the "cage free" and "free range" standards you see for eggs marked in the store. That is a lot of birds packed into a small space, but that is what commercial houses use and that is your competition. That is their cost for space per bird.

Old school standard was 4 sf per bird. With smaller birds like leghorns, that dropped down to about 3 sf per bird. That was for houses where birds could stay in them all day or even be let out to yard them and that is also about 3X the space per bird you have now. Is that something you think is doable and realistic?

 

[barneveldrerman]

The general rule of thumb is near 4sq.ft. Per bird. If you wish to go smaller it is fine,but going too small may cause your chickens to become stressed. As for the cost of your chicken coop, the nicer you make it the more money it would be. If you built a simple coop it will add up quickly. You would need the tin for a roof, wood for walls and a floor, the cost can easily become a few thousand dollars. A very simple coop 8x25 may cost near $700. (COST MAY VARY ON AREA YOU LIVE IN AND THE DESIGN OF THE COOP.) The flooring I would use concrete, but if you are in a cold climate you may want to look into rubber flooring. As for insulation I would not put any unless you will in a somewhat cold environment. I would think one nesting box could work for 3-5 chickens. If you are limited on space I would do a multi level nesting box design.

Hope this helps. If you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask.

 

[aart]

Hey guys, I have been using a small(12'x7') shed that used to be a granary. I have about 50 chickens, and more customers than I can produce for having that small of a house. I was wondering if some of you who have build a coop before could give me some ideas on design, material, cost, sizes, flooring, how to insulate walls, roost design, nesting box ideas, etc.

That's a lot of questions for one thread.....
....and all of them have varied answers.
Curious how long have you had chickens and what are you using now for:
flooring, insulation, roosts, nests...and ventilation?

Here's one of my design tips......
The 'stack up' aspect to coop design:
Bottom of pop door is best about 8" above floor so bedding doesn't get dragged out of coop.
Nice to have bottom of nests about 18" above bedding to allow use of that floor space under them(doesn't count if your nests are mounted on outside of coop).
Roosts are best about 12" higher than nests so birds won't roost(sleep) in nests and poop in them, if you use poop boards under roosts it will also 'stretch' your floor space.
Upper venting works best as high as possible above roosts so no strong drafts hit roosts in winter...and hot/moist air and ammonia can rise and exit coop.

Article on Space in my signature is a good one to read.
..and this on ventilation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1048597/ventilated-but-free-of-drafts

 

[Barred Rock Boy]

About the pen size. That was only the building. They have a 60' x 20' run on top of that. And to aart, I have wood walls with tin on the outside, wooden floor, no insulation or ventilation, nesting boxes 3' off the ground, and a slopping 3 tier roost.I live in Eastern Kansas.