Building my own coop

[Rik]

Hi guys,
I'm going to build a coop for 6 chickens which is the max I'm allowed to have in my back garden. I only have 2 chicks right now but the wife wants a silkie or two so I'm thinking ahead. Ive been reading around and I just want to make sure I've got my dimensions right before i go out and buy all the things i need.
I want to build just a stander box coop with slopping roof going down at the back and have one of the walls swing open so i can get in and clean it.
So I'm building the coop to accommodate 6 birds and I'm going to let them free range in the day.

Coop
If i have 6 bird does that mean i need to have 2 squire feet per bird?
So does 2squire foot per bird mean ill need to make it 6f by 6f?
If so does that space take in to consideration the room you need for nesting boxes?
What should i make my floor out of? or is it OK to make is of wood and line it with something or treat it?

Nest Boxes
I'm going to have two types of birds so i need the think about each birds needs right.......like i read silkie nest boxes should be on the floor, is the right? layman brown if that is there real names nest about 18" to 24" off the ground. Plus bantams nest boxes should be a 12" cubes and normal size chickens 14" cubes, is that right?
I read 1 nest box for 4 chickens, 2 for 8 and so on. Is that formula right?
Will i need a box for the bantams and the hens?

Roost
Where and at what height is it best to place the roost for both birds?
Is doubling OK to us and how think should it be?

Ventilation
I'm in a sub tropical climate here and its normally very steady around 20 at low and 35 ups in the day and around 18 to 25 at night, that's degrees celsius so i need alot of ventilation to let heat out. Would painting it white and putting in small vest do it or is having small the way to go?

Sorry it a lot of question if you can help with any that would be great
Thanks Rik

 

[ChrisnTiff]

Hey Rik, 2 square feet of usable space would be minimum for healthy happy birds. So if you have 6 chickens you would need 12 square feet or maybe a small 4 x 4 but a 6x6 would be even better pen with a roost about 2 feet off the ground that runs the whole length of the 6 foot pen. You could probably get away with one nesting box about 1 x 1 foot as all your chickens probably won't lay on the same day. Chickens do much better in the cold than in high heat so if your temps never get below freezing you should think about making their coop open on one side with just hardware cloth to cover. Finally your chickens will do well no matter what, so don't sweat the small stuff. You can always lower your nest box or raise your roosts if there is a problem. Good luck,

Chris

 

[Royal Blue]

Rik, I'm new to BYC too. There may be some ideas you could use. At the top of the page is a heading called coop designs. Inside you'll find a coop called large coops then clutch hutch. That is a design and construction for originally 10 birds. It allowed 4 sq. feet per bird. As the previous poster said, cold isn't as big a deal as heat, so ventilation is a must.

 

[Churkenduse]

You have 4 sq. ft. per bird in a coop. They need some room to move around even at night before theyh go to sleep.

I have 5 ladies at this time and my coop is 4x8 which is 32 sq. ft. I could put a few more in. My nest boxes are on the outsid, with access through the coop of course.

6 birds would mean 24 sq. ft.

Birds need about 4 square feet of indoor coop space each. They can do with less if they have substantial range and if they won't have to spend a whole season "cooped up" together indoors because of bad winter weather weather.

OK?Does that help?

 

[seminolewind]

If your birds are going to be out all day, the coop can be smaller. If not, then I think you need a larger coop. My 2 cents