bulding a chicken coop- some questions???

[SQUARElips]

hiya-
i am building a chicken coop out of bits of wood i have found on the street. but i have some questions.
1 - i want to build the coop on stilts. maybe so the floor of the chicken coop is about four feet off the ground and build a long ramp up to it. Will the chickens mind this do you think?
2- i live in scotland it can get quite cold but not really that bad. do i need to worry about the chickens being warm enough? someone told me it is more important to make sure they are not TOO warm not the other way round?

3- i want four chickens. how many nesting boxes should i make?
4. do the chickens only use nesting boxes for laying eggs? or do they want to sit on the eggs too?

thank you very much everyone.
im really excited about getting chickens. if there is anything else you can think that i should know or be thinking about please let me know.

thank you very lots
squarelips

 

[latebloomer]

there are certain breeds of chickens which do better in certain climates.

you may want to select a type that does well where you live.

the breed list here on the forum is a good starting place. https://www.backyardchickens.com/breeds/breed-chart

i don't think the chickens will mind heading down to the ground on a ramp. if you look on the coop designs page, you can see many that work like what you're describing. https://www.backyardchickens.com/coopdesigns.html

welcome chickenlips.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
No, just make sure the coop is not tippy with that high center of gravity. Maybe anchor it to the ground in some fashion.

2- i live in scotland it can get quite cold but not really that bad. do i need to worry about the chickens being warm enough? someone told me it is more important to make sure they are not TOO warm not the other way round?

Yes, sensibly-chosen breeds deal a lot better with cold than with heat. I don't know how cold your "quite cold" is, but you might want to choose a breed that does not have a huge comb. Make sure you have enough ventilation, don't try shutting the coop up tight in wintertime "to try to hold the heat in", that just gives you major humidity problems which can cause frostbite when you *wouldn't'a* had it in drier air of the same temperature. The ventilation needs to be structured such that cold wind isn't blowing right at the chickens, in winter.

3- i want four chickens. how many nesting boxes should i make?

One is fine. If you'r concerned, build it a little bit extra wide. But really, one is fine

4. do the chickens only use nesting boxes for laying eggs? or do they want to sit on the eggs too?

If they are sitting on the eggs for a prolonged period of time it means they are going broody, which is good if you have a rooster and want to hatch chicks but bad if you have no rooster or do-but-don't-want-chicks. Most people break up broodies unless they *specifically* want them hatching a clutch, because the hens don't lay eggs while broody and it's hard on their bodies to be broody.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[Hoosierchickens]

A couple thoughts come to mind to consider. Four feet high might make it difficult to clean and access the coop. I wouldn't go any higher than three. In fact, I built mine 3 feet high and wish I'd built it a foot lower. As far as a raised coop being cold, I think it shouldn't be a big issue if you have enough litter on the floor. In fact, if you do the deep litter method you should be generating some heat from the composting effect. One nest box is plenty for four chickens. The rule of thumb is one nest box per four chickens. Until they figure out what the nest boxes are for they may use them to roost on and what not. If you're able, you might want to restrict access until they are old enough to start laying which is around 5 to 6 months for most breeds give or take.