Building up?

[Winter]

I am eagerly looking forward to getting more chickens in the spring. My last flock were tragically taken out by a predator.
I have a new horse barn where I specifically left space for a chicken coop. We were very tight on space so what I have indoors for the chickens is 4.5x9ft. It has a concrete floor and plywood sides.
On one end of the 9' sides is a people entrance door, on the opposite short end is the dog door for the chickens to go outside. This is at ground level.
It has 10' ceilings.
What I'm wondering is if I should build multiple floors on the inside? Ladders going up to roosting space?
Could I put nest boxes below a board below a roost?
I want to be creative for the birds. As their whole run will be covered, I imagine even in cold weather they will spend quite a bit of time outside but I want their inside time to be comfortable.

I want to get 6-10 birds.
Thanks!

 

[TNBlacktails]

Sounds like a plan to me.

Could you post pictures to this thread when your done Id love to see the end result.

 

[stevetone]

You have approximately 40 square feet of floor space. That's good for the 6-10 birds you are planning for.

I would put roosts of various heights so that they can find their own levels. If you space them vertically, there will be no need for ladders.

I wish we had 10' of vertical to work with!

 

[Winter]

What about the roosts? Should I have one long roost along the whole 10' side? Or maybe stagger, 2 or 3 different roost heights along one long side? I want to do poop boards underneath.
I am concerned about them getting down. If I run the roost along one long side, they only have 4' in front of them to get down, could they hit the wall? I could build a ladder but I doubt they would use it to get down....
If I had roosts on the short side, over the chicken door then there woudn't be enough space for all the birds. Hmm. I'll have to think about that one.

 

[stevetone]

Having trouble visualizing the space, but I'd provide multiple levels if there's enough room. That way the flock can choose to roost together or separately, depending on what drama is going on that night

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Below a roost is where most droppings will accumulate.
Multiple levels will just make it harder to clean and won't really be increasing the capacity.
A ladder going up to the roosts can help, but I wouldn't want additional floor levels

 

[3forfree]

My coop is going to be 5x8 with 4ft walls and elevated how should I put in roosts. I will have external nest boxes on one 5ft side, and double doors on the 8 ft side for clean out.Thanks