Building narrow coop within run

[Bostonburbs]

Hello all,

We had a bear get into our coop this week. We lost two of our best girls. It was awful. Our remaining chickens are safe in the garage while we regroup and rebuild. Live and learn.

We are installing electric fencing. We have a very long, fairly narrow run. (26’x3.5’) I am hoping to build a coop inside that run, with nesting boxes located elsewhere inside the run. This coop will be bare bones - truly a safe place for them to sleep, no bells and whistles.

With 6 birds, what would you say are the *minimum* dimensions for the coop, which will ultimately just be a box with a roosting bar for sleeping? And is 8" per bird considered adequate roosting space? These are all standard size breeds.

If anyone has built something like this, we would love to see photos!

Thank you for your help!

 

[rosemarythyme]

That is pretty narrow. But for 6 birds, assuming you run the coop wall to wall, 2 roosts across the 3.5' width should suffice for the flock.

The minimum suggested floor space would be 24 sq ft of floor space (4 sq ft per). Since the run is 3.5' wide you might be able to get by with 3.5 sq ft per bird instead, to make this as simple as possible (so 6'x3.5'). I assume the run is climate protected each winter so the birds can use it year round?

 

[Bostonburbs]

That is pretty narrow. But for 6 birds, assuming you run the coop wall to wall, 2 roosts across the 3.5' width should suffice for the flock.

The minimum suggested floor space would be 24 sq ft of floor space (4 sq ft per). Since the run is 3.5' wide you might be able to get by with 3.5 sq ft per bird instead, to make this as simple as possible (so 6'x3.5'). I assume the run is climate protected each winter so the birds can use it year round?

Yes, wrapped in plastic all the way around, and they used it daily this winter, even on the coldest days here in MA.

 

[avjudge]

We have 6 birds and their coop is just 3’ wide (at the back of a 12’x12’ bay in my barn). As suggested above, my roosts run crosswise at one end, two 3’ long boards at 3’ and 4’ high. Unlike your case, the door is in the middle of one long side with a shorter portion (allowing a storage shelf above) holding nest boxes and a future pop door at the opposite end from the roosts, so I can’t really address other issues in the layout.