Chicken Coop Do's and Don'ts

[Shadrach]

Thank you! We were thinking something like this.

I thought you might be.
That style is essentially a copy of many of the prefab/flatpack coops I see for sale.
For example:
https://coopsandhutches.co.uk/produ...MIvpuwrqXe_wIVAuTtCh09kARdEAQYAiABEgKIhfD_BwE

It's a very popular style. It does in my view have many problems and is built with cost in mind and to look as aesthetically pleasing as such coops can.
They work. I took a very similar flat pack coop to bits after ten years misuse and abuse.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/flat-pack-coop-takedown-and-appraisal.78406/

The long term problems become evident when one has to deal with hygine and parasite infestation. They are reasonably secure from foxes, rodents, weasels etc. I wouldn't want to test one out with a determined dog, or marsupials, or a bobcat.

The flatpack versions of these coops are very poorly viewed here on BYC and then people go and build one of almost exactly the same style, with all the same drawbacks, but larger and hopefully better construction.

An arrangement like this gives the best security in a yard. There are three barriers before a predator can access the coop; the yard fence, the run fence and the coop itself.
If one is building rather than buying then the coop in the middled can act as support for the mesh/roofing that covers the run. A very strong roof can be constructed in this manner.
The coop needs to be off the ground, 3 feet is a good starting height. Mesh the underside of the coop itself.

There are other options.
This is what I'm currently working with. It too has disadvantages, but with regard to coop hygine and coop security it's very hard to beat.

There is ample coop room for five which is the number of chickens you're thinking of.

Better still is the coop being offered in this competition.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/nestera-coop-giveaway-total-worth-1595.1584415/

It wouldn't take much imagination to build a secure run around such a coop and one might avoid after ten years use the terrible state of the flatpack coop I linked to in my article.

Extreme security solutions if one has the space. Should one build a coop and run in the style shown in the diagram above and have a non house pet dog, the dog with a kennel can be placed in the run surounding the coop overnight.

These are all suggestions which may not be suitable for the amount of room you have, the money you are prepared to put in, your aesthetic considerations etc.
What I've tried to do is to encourage you to think outside the box rather than copy more or less, what many others have done. Just because something is popular doesn't make it the best option.

Whatever you do I would urge you not to use either planks or tongue and groove in the build; use sheet material such as half inch plywood preferably marine ply given your environment and double skin any openings in the coop with a heavyweight weldmesh and then hardware cloth. The same for the run fence.

Good luck with your chicken journey.

 

[aart]

We are in Georgia

Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[Lala-chicken]

I thought you might be.
That style is essentially a copy of many of the prefab/flatpack coops I see for sale.
For example:
https://coopsandhutches.co.uk/produ...MIvpuwrqXe_wIVAuTtCh09kARdEAQYAiABEgKIhfD_BwE

It's a very popular style. It does in my view have many problems and is built with cost in mind and to look as aesthetically pleasing as such coops can.
They work. I took a very similar flat pack coop to bits after ten years misuse and abuse.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/flat-pack-coop-takedown-and-appraisal.78406/

The long term problems become evident when one has to deal with hygine and parasite infestation. They are reasonably secure from foxes, rodents, weasels etc. I wouldn't want to test one out with a determined dog, or marsupials, or a bobcat.

The flatpack versions of these coops are very poorly viewed here on BYC and then people go and build one of almost exactly the same style, with all the same drawbacks, but larger and hopefully better construction.

An arrangement like this gives the best security in a yard. There are three barriers before a predator can access the coop; the yard fence, the run fence and the coop itself.
If one is building rather than buying then the coop in the middled can act as support for the mesh/roofing that covers the run. A very strong roof can be constructed in this manner.
The coop needs to be off the ground, 3 feet is a good starting height. Mesh the underside of the coop itself.
View attachment 3554963

There are other options.
This is what I'm currently working with. It too has disadvantages, but with regard to coop hygine and coop security it's very hard to beat.
View attachment 3554965
View attachment 3554967
View attachment 3554968
View attachment 3554966
There is ample coop room for five which is the number of chickens you're thinking of.

Better still is the coop being offered in this competition.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/nestera-coop-giveaway-total-worth-1595.1584415/

It wouldn't take much imagination to build a secure run around such a coop and one might avoid after ten years use the terrible state of the flatpack coop I linked to in my article.

Extreme security solutions if one has the space. Should one build a coop and run in the style shown in the diagram above and have a non house pet dog, the dog with a kennel can be placed in the run surounding the coop overnight.

These are all suggestions which may not be suitable for the amount of room you have, the money you are prepared to put in, your aesthetic considerations etc.
What I've tried to do is to encourage you to think outside the box rather than copy more or less, what many others have done. Just because something is popular doesn't make it the best option.

Whatever you do I would urge you not to use either tongue and groove in the build; use sheet material such as half inch plywood preferably marine ply given your environment and double skin any openings in the coop with a heavyweight weldmesh and then hardware cloth. The same for the run fence.

Good luck with your chicken journey.

This is absolutely amazing!! Thank you SO much for all the insight and advice...it is truly appreciated. This is exactly the information and guidance I was looking for.

 

[Shadrach]

Welcome to BYC by the way.
One last thing. This is imo the best article on ventilation from a person who lives in a similar climate to yours.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

 

[TheLazyBFarm]

Make chicken feeders and waters out of 5 gallon buckets. Cheap, easy and hold a ton of food and water, making it easier to keep them fed and watered.

There was a guy here who posted a great thread on them, then had to leave when he had to give his chickens up. I don't recall his name, sorry.

 

[knurse1]

I am a new chicken owner and we are in the process of building our first coop. We don't have a ton of room for a large coop but are planning on a 6x10 run with the coop elevated. The coop would be 4x6 with 3 to 4 nesting boxes inside (we will only have 5 to 6 chicks). My question is - what are your must haves? Looking for things to include for the coop (flooring, nesting, perching, storage, etc.) and what type of flooring for the coop and run (sand, pinestraw, etc.). Do you hang your water feeders and food? I would greatly appreciate any and all advice so we can start off on the right track.

Thanks!!

 

[Sally PB]

about 4 sqft in the coop per bird, 1 linear foot of roost per bird and 10 sqft per bird in the run minimum. 1 sqft of ventilation in the coop per bird, but in locations so the coop isn't drafty in the cold weather.

Please keep in mind that these are considered minimums, in most cases. If your coop is just for egg laying and roosting at night, the chickens need less space than if they are spending a lot of their daytime in there too. Don't skimp on ventilation, especially in your climate.

If you have to separate a broody hen, or a sick bird, you will need space to do that. If you need to integrate chicks, you will need more space.

I live in Michigan, and there are times in the winter when the chickens rarely leave the coop, so they need more than 4 sf/bird. This time of year, they head for the run when I open the door in the morning.

If you have the vertical space and can put the nest boxes up off the floor (at least 15" or so), then they won't take away from the floor space. I had mine 18" up, with a strongly slanted top, so they wouldn't roost on them. The roost needs to be higher than the nest, as they will naturally roost on the highest surface.

I have a poop board under the roost. Chickens poop a lot at night, and all that poop ends up on the board, which has a 1/4" of "Sweet PDZ," often called stall refresher. It's granular zeolite, and helps get rid of ammonia. I scoop the poop every morning. 2 minutes, done. My coop does not smell. Not much poop ends up in the pine shavings I use as bedding.

And, welcome to BYC! The knowledge pool here is wide and deep, so feel free to ask any questions. Don't be afraid to ask the newbie questions; we were all new to this at one point.

 

[Lala-chicken]

Please keep in mind that these are considered minimums, in most cases. If your coop is just for egg laying and roosting at night, the chickens need less space than if they are spending a lot of their daytime in there too. Don't skimp on ventilation, especially in your climate.

If you have to separate a broody hen, or a sick bird, you will need space to do that. If you need to integrate chicks, you will need more space.

I live in Michigan, and there are times in the winter when the chickens rarely leave the coop, so they need more than 4 sf/bird. This time of year, they head for the run when I open the door in the morning.

If you have the vertical space and can put the nest boxes up off the floor (at least 15" or so), then they won't take away from the floor space. I had mine 18" up, with a strongly slanted top, so they wouldn't roost on them. The roost needs to be higher than the nest, as they will naturally roost on the highest surface.

I have a poop board under the roost. Chickens poop a lot at night, and all that poop ends up on the board, which has a 1/4" of "Sweet PDZ," often called stall refresher. It's granular zeolite, and helps get rid of ammonia. I scoop the poop every morning. 2 minutes, done. My coop does not smell. Not much poop ends up in the pine shavings I use as bedding.

And, welcome to BYC! The knowledge pool here is wide and deep, so feel free to ask any questions. Don't be afraid to ask the newbie questions; we were all new to this at one point.

Thank you!

 

[R Wind]

We've been at this since first of the year so I can only give the perspective of a few months. We quickly decided:

We love our girls!

Food and water dispensers on the coop floor are a mess. Soon as we finished our secure and covered wire run adjacent to the coop, we got all water and food out of the coop.
Refilling water and food daily is a chore we can avoid in favor of others. We have a 15gal / 4 cup water reservoir for 6 birds in a corner of the run. ( Had to learn it needs a relief vent at top, not to have lid sealed too tight, or it sucked a vacuum and went dry while totally full of water. ) We have two 4" pvc feeders now attached to the outside coop wall but inside the run.
We put a sort of interior foyer in our 8ft wide 6ft deep coop to allow us to step inside and stow a few feed bags while we were still building the run. The gate was a 42" tall dog gate. The roost was lower. Of course Queen Sheba, biggest dominant girl started roosting there, pooping into the foyer... We're just about to totally remove that foyer and gate.
We're also about to build a poop board. With pdz. Too much poop!
We put a centered horizontal window across behind the 8ft roost, on the back wall. I think we didn't put it as high as we should in the back wall which is about 5ft tall. The girls were able to jump on the roost to see out and visit with us while we were under the adjacent lean-to roof. ( It's an extension of their coop shed roof off the back wall. ) Being able to see out is good... but we found at night in Feb/March they huddled on each side of that window, at the far ends of the 8ft roost to get out of the draft. So we had to cover the lower half of the window with a piece of cardboard to cut the draft on the top of their heads, and will move the window up the wall before next winter. May leave the lower part of the window there for light and vision, but cover with plexiglas to above chicken heads Best of both.

The run is a 9x9 screen room. Covered. We can't yet let them out every day. Hawks. Need a bigger secure range. Wish the 9x9 were bigger for them. It's crowded with items including water and an old tire for a dust bath.

 

[Krugerrand]

I'm a huge fan of this article as it pertains to coop building:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/yakisugi-coop.76398/
@Yakisugi Coop did a great job of doing research prior to building. Much of that research is linked in the article. And, while you may come to different conclusions, the article does a good job getting you 'thinking the right way.'

If you read through @fuzzi 's chicken journal, you'll see a great example of how the community can help and guide you as you go. This ended up with a very nice hoop coop.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fuzzis-chicken-journal.1550586/

Have you considered an Open Air coop? @3KillerBs has good info on those.

PS, an Open Air coop -- a roofed wire box with a 3-sided shelter at one end -- is an excellent choice in a hot climate.

Open Air Coops

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/jens-hens-a-southern-texas-coop.75707/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-positive-local-action-coop.72804/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/california-living.68130/

To really know what you want from a coop, you'll also need to know what you want from your chickens. Are you in this just for eggs? Are you looking to harvest meat? Will you cull chickens after 2 years when their production slows down? Will you raise baby chicks? Do you want a broody hen to raise chicks for you? Do you have any interest in breeding chickens for show? Many people just want the chickens as pets. Some people on here don't care about eggs and the chicken manure for compost is their primary motivation. Those answers can impact decisions you make in how you construct your coop.

Oh, before all else, check your local laws and ordinances.