Can I get your input?

[flyladyrocks]

Hi there. We are just beginning our chicken journey. We have 6 chicks and are starting out with a small playhouse upcycle coop, but planning to expand our flock over the next few years (to probably around 30). So hubbie and son are planning on building a bigger coop this summer. Hubbie has some basic framing and carpentry skills, he is not an expert but not a total novice either. We have access to a woodshop which is wonderful. I have a few questions. We are looking at buying plans on ebay, and looking at this specific coop:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chicken-coo...3525&clkid=7059878308452221735&_qi=RTM1562569

Wow, that was a really long web address sorry! So here are my questions:
1. Has anyone bought plans from this guy? Are they good plans?
2. Does anyone see any problems with the design of this coop?
3. Anyone have any other suggested (detailed) plans we can get online that you think might be better?

The plan is to use half for storage (feed bedding etc.) at first, and then the other half for the chickens and then as the flock grows use both sides for chickens and use the workshop off our garage as our storage.

Thanks so much for your help. Not sure what I would do without BYC!

 

[Judy]

First, where are you? You can add a general location to your postbit by going into your profile, and this will help a lot with many questions you will have, particularly about the best type of coop.

 

[TomGallopavo]

"1. Has anyone bought plans from this guy? Are they good plans?"

No, but this looks like a very nice coop and at 15 bucks, what's to lose?


"2. Does anyone see any problems with the design of this coop?"

I do, the run area is 96 feet if I read it correctly. If you use the rule of 10 sqft per bird you will have a third of what you need. It will get muddy and stinky in a short period of time. I have a larger run for usually between 8 and 15 birds....BUT, I free range most of the time and they have acres to roam. It would be great as a temporary lock up for times of intense predator pressure. I would use hard wire verses the chicken wire. Looks to have plenty of ventilation and egg boxes. Obviously needs paint or stain. Like the poop deck under the roost.


"3. Anyone have any other suggested (detailed) plans we can get online that you think might be better?"

I would consider a much larger run off to one side or just cut them loose most of the time to turn bugs into eggs. I can see the coop itself being very expensive but I personally like the way it looks. You can always consult this site, it is full of beautiful coop examples.

 

[flyladyrocks]

First, where are you? You can add a general location to your postbit by going into your profile, and this will help a lot with many questions you will have, particularly about the best type of coop.

I just added to my profile that we are in Indianapolis, IN - I can see how that would be helpful info! Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[ChickCrazed]

I just added to my profile that we are in Indianapolis, IN - I can see how that would be helpful info! Thanks for pointing that out.

Hi! I just wanted to pop and and suggest you visit and subscribe to the Indiana thread. We are a great group and you will learn a lot! Plus it is a great resource for local birds.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730582/indiana-bycers-here/27810#post_13529881

Also, my suggestion would be to get a standard shed and do a makeover. It usually ends up being nicer, cheaper and less of a headache! Here is mine as an example. I have it divided into three different areas, two for my breeders and one larger area for general egg layers.

 

[flyladyrocks]

"1. Has anyone bought plans from this guy? Are they good plans?"

No, but this looks like a very nice coop and at 15 bucks, what's to lose?


"2. Does anyone see any problems with the design of this coop?"

I do, the run area is 96 feet if I read it correctly. If you use the rule of 10 sqft per bird you will have a third of what you need. It will get muddy and stinky in a short period of time. I have a larger run for usually between 8 and 15 birds....BUT, I free range most of the time and they have acres to roam. It would be great as a temporary lock up for times of intense predator pressure. I would use hard wire verses the chicken wire. Looks to have plenty of ventilation and egg boxes. Obviously needs paint or stain. Like the poop deck under the roost.


"3. Anyone have any other suggested (detailed) plans we can get online that you think might be better?"

I would consider a much larger run off to one side or just cut them loose most of the time to turn bugs into eggs. I can see the coop itself being very expensive but I personally like the way it looks. You can always consult this site, it is full of beautiful coop examples.

Thanks for your input.

I agree - run is way too small for as many birds as the coop is designed for! Right now we have a 10 x 10 dog run that we will be using for a run, and plan on putting hard wire around it to make it more predator proof. Our dog run can easily be added onto and the plan was to do just that in the coming years if we see the need. That being said, we also have a pretty large fenced in yard for the middle of the city and the chickens will free range when we are home during the day, which is most of the time since we homeschool.

I have seen lots of beautiful coop examples on here, I also know that hubbie and son need detailed in instructions on how to make a concept a reality. They are both very detail oriented! However ideas for modifications will definitely come from things we see on here.

 

[flyladyrocks]

Hi! I just wanted to pop and and suggest you visit and subscribe to the Indiana thread. We are a great group and you will learn a lot! Plus it is a great resource for local birds.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730582/indiana-bycers-here/27810#post_13529881

Also, my suggestion would be to get a standard shed and do a makeover. It usually ends up being nicer, cheaper and less of a headache! Here is mine as an example. I have it divided into three different areas, two for my breeders and one larger area for general egg layers.

 

[ChickCrazed]

I'm glad I saw you! The Indiana thread really is great! You are more than welcome to come up and take a look at my setup. It is still a work in progress (I have only had chickens for a year). You can probably find a great deal on a shed on Craigslist, or finance on through Lowes or Home Depot with interest free financing. The shed really wasn't hard to modify it. I added some windows (which was the hardest part). The rest was pretty easy. I added an auto door to my run since it is not a secure run (not made out of hardware cloth). I wish I would have just gone with a secure run - I am getting ready to add another run on the back and it will be secure this time.

I have around 30 chickens in the shed. It was already on my property so I lucked out there, but re-purposing it meant I lost a lot of storage. My shed is 17 feet long and 12 feet wide. I have it divided into quarters and am using three of the four quarters for my chickens with the last part used for storage. I have one area with 10 chickens that is 4 x 10, and two areas that are 6 x 6 (will have 7 or 8 chickens each) It is a great setup. I can go inside the shed to feed and water when the weather is bad and it is comfortable to hang out in. I will say that when I started to price material it is amazing how over budget you go. Things you don't consider like the various hinges and latches you need REALLY add up in the end. Keeping it as simple as possible is my recommendation, and that is a shed.

Like I said you are more than welcome to come up and take a look! I'm about 17 minutes north of 465, right off Michigan Rd.

 

[Nocila]

Personally, I don't like the wood floor in the bottom of the coop design. We used to have a wood floor, and it ended up rotting, so in our new coop, we put a concrete floor in. It's fairly expensive, but it will make your coop last a lot longer (our old coop lasted about 5 years, and that was a stretch). Our old coop was like a raised shed, but our new one matches our house (it even has a bay window and siding), it really depends on what you want, but the way I see it, the nicer the coop, the longer it will last... Just a thought.

 

[SilveradoCanMan]

If you like the aesthetics of that structure for your coop, I say go for it. Adding more run length (either to one side, both sides, or the back) seems fairly straight forward and customizable. If space is a concern, why not start with just half of your flock in there and see how it goes, then expand your flock accordingly.

Plus, your son and husband building it from scratch, what an awesome bonding experience for them. At the end of the day they can stand back and admire what they built from the ground up. That's priceless in my opinion.