Check out my coop and tell how many chickens I can house

[abChicken]

I have just found out what Chicken Math seems to be. You get one and then another and so on........ I am learning, I think.

You are It don't take long

 

[JohnPeel]

Well fancychooklady, its funny, because that's all I can see now it's built, it really does look ready to float away. And with the worst summer weather ever recorded here, it might just do that. I will have to put a couple of life rings on the sides and throw a few floatation armbands in for them.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Your limited by the size of the run for how many chickens you can have comfortably. If you plan to let them free range most of the time then your limited by the number of chickens you've roosting pole space for in the coop.

The only things about the coop that may need correcting is the slope of ramp to coop. Seems too steep to me but the chickens may navigate it without problem. Also if you don't have a door for the coop access then you'll want to add hardware cloth around the edge of run. A foot of wire laid flat to allow grass to grow through or dig up sod then replace once the wire is laid down. Digging animals will try to get in right at the fenced area and wont back up much to try digging again. The wire along ground prevents weasels, skunks, fox and any digger predator from getting in.

 

[capow21]

Nice coop. I was new to chickens in the spring. I picked up 10 chicks and then started researching like crazy on coop sizes, living space, materials, etc. I went with the 4 sq ft per bird rule. So, I made my coop 40 sq ft, 4x10 and put the run (same size) below it. They seem to be a very happy bunch. I let them out to free range at least 2-3 hours a day unless it's really storming.

If I were you, that's how I would figure out how many birds to get. If your run is smaller than the coop, then go by that.

I noticed your ramp is steep as well, but that's about how steep mine is. I was thinking I might have to re-do it, but most of mine hop up it about half way and then walk up just fine.

 

[JohnPeel]

You should have seen my ladder before, it was even steeper until I attached it off the floor to the side of the run. I am just scared of them bumping their little feathered heads on the way into the coop at the top of the ladder, I will keep my eye on it and see how they do.

I have put hardware cloth all the way around by two feet. The hardware cloth was three feet wide, so a foot of it is inside the run and nailed to the inside of the wood in the run, nothing will get through that Im sure.

If a skunk gets in I will be amazed, as we don't have any in this country Lucky us hey?

 

[JohnPeel]

My coop is 8x4 and the run is the same underneath. The only extra in the coop is the nest boxes and the extra pitch in the roof. I plan on letting my chooks out everyday too. Maybe all day if they look like they are not getting picked off by the critters. We have been working on names already, and we haven't even got them yet.

Here are some of them: (chicken)Fried Rice, Korma, N Chips, Little, KFC, Tenders, Drumstick, Kiev, Pox, Soup, Chow Mein, and we just keep thinking of them, it's funny really.

With regard to how many chickens, I could always do what the farms do, I could work out how many chickens would fit in it with room to move, then time it by ten. No I wouldn't do that, I would rather have a few happy chickens than a truck load of really unhappy chickens with all their funny faces pushed up against their new double glazed coop windows.

 

[JohnPeel]

To save anyone using my link, here a few pictures.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Good work. Like to see projects come together.

Just a couple of things. Yes, the ramp is too steep an incline. Right now, in one of our layer pens, 13 hens use two nests, that's it. 6 to 1 is a good ratio. As mentioned earlier, the coop itself, with proper roost, could likely house 6 birds comfortably. The "run", however, is very small and the birds will quickly become bored. It is really a cage and little else. As you go along, you might consider whether you can safely allow them abundant free ranging time, or you'll likely face the need to build a large, enclose run.

Always be aware of how you are going to clean everything, as in asking yourself, "How am I going to access this or that for proper cleaning?"

Again, great job.

 

[nova022]

Very nice coop and run. Your chooks will love it!

 

[JohnPeel]

Thanks Fred's Hens, I will take everyone advice on the ladder and change it. Maybe add another ladder to attach to it half way up and along the ground.