Can someone double-check my work?

[bwasb]

I have drawn up my coop plans, but want someone else who knows what they're doing to take a look at these. The plan is 4 chickens, coop will be 4'x4' with a 6x10 run and supervised free range time. I'd love hear thoughts or advice. Do I need to add any joists or corner supports? Also, very dumb question, what kind of screws do I need?

 

[DobieLover]

No food and water in the coop that small. It should be in the covered run when you have so little space.
No nest boxes higher than roosts. They will sleep/poop in the nest boxes.
Yes, you need a fully framed floor with joist, walls with studs and roof with rafters.
I would run one roost down the center and a 'T' off the middle if you need more roost space.
You can either put a nest box in the corner near the door you will access the coop to clean out or you can build a bump out for it.
You need exterior grade wood screws. To attach plywood to studs, I use 2" minimum. I shoot 3" pneumatic framing nails to frame out.
OSB will degrade quickly without weatherproof siding over it.
You could use exterior grade painted or waterproofed T1-11 or some other plywood type siding.

 

[bwasb]

No food and water in the coop that small. It should be in the covered run when you have so little space.
No nest boxes higher than roosts. They will sleep/poop in the nest boxes.
Yes, you need a fully framed floor with joist, walls with studs and roof with rafters.
I would run one roost down the center and a 'T' off the middle if you need more roost space.
You can either put a nest box in the corner near the door you will access the coop to clean out or you can build a bump out for it.
You need exterior grade wood screws. To attach plywood to studs, I use 2" minimum. I shoot 3" pneumatic framing nails to frame out.
OSB will degrade quickly without weatherproof siding over it.
You could use exterior grade painted or waterproofed T1-11 or some other plywood type siding.

Fabulous. If I got a wall mounted waterer, would that be ok? I'm just concerned about them not having water overnight.

That's what I thought about the nest box, I'll move it.
Thank you, I will add joists. Good to know about the OSB, I will find something else!

Thank you!

 

[Sefirothe]

Fabulous. If I got a wall mounted waterer, would that be ok? I'm just concerned about them not having water overnight.

That's what I thought about the nest box, I'll move it.
Thank you, I will add joists. Good to know about the OSB, I will find something else!

Thank you!

They won't get off the roost to eat or drink once it gets dark. No need to worry about overnight access to food or water.

Coated deck screws in the lengths DobieLover said will be your best bet. We found the torx/star drive kind to work best. We went thru a ton of these when building our run.

 

[Appalachickens]

This looks a lot like my initial coop plan. Except your drawings are better than mine. Then I asked my carpenter son to help put it up and he changed it to be fully framed, using nails, and then we used deck screws to attach the plywood walls. It was more work and more lumber, but it is very sturdy.

 

[DobieLover]

Fabulous. If I got a wall mounted waterer, would that be ok? I'm just concerned about them not having water overnight.

They don't need water in the coop at night. They don't eat or drink in the dark.

 

[bwasb]

They don't need water in the coop at night. They don't eat or drink in the dark.

Ah. That makes sense. I have rats and dogs, so I'm used to animals that need access to those things at all times. Thanks!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Are you limited to 4 chickens? Because if not, you might want to go bigger. Chickens are addictive and chicken math is real! (That's when you think 4 chickens will be plenty but then you get to looking at a chicken catalog and decide you want a speckled hen or a striped one, or one that lays a blue egg, or, or, or and before you know it you need ten chickens and suddenly you've sold your house and bought ten acres in the country ....) Ask me how I know.

 

[Rand0]

Are you limited to 4 chickens? Because if not, you might want to go bigger. Chickens are addictive and chicken math is real! (That's when you think 4 chickens will be plenty but then you get to looking at a chicken catalog and decide you want a speckled hen or a striped one, or one that lays a blue egg, or, or, or and before you know it you need ten chickens and suddenly you've sold your house and bought ten acres in the country ....) Ask me how I know.

yeah chicken math is sure real lol. you think you'll need four then you end up with 12!

 

[bwasb]

Are you limited to 4 chickens? Because if not, you might want to go bigger. Chickens are addictive and chicken math is real! (That's when you think 4 chickens will be plenty but then you get to looking at a chicken catalog and decide you want a speckled hen or a striped one, or one that lays a blue egg, or, or, or and before you know it you need ten chickens and suddenly you've sold your house and bought ten acres in the country ....) Ask me how I know.

Ha! I do know about chicken maths (ask me about rat maths!). We have a small yard, so I think 4 is the most we can comfortably house. I figure if I build that size, it'll keep me from 'accidentally' bringing home more chicks.