Chicken Coop Plan

[HRoseC95]

Hi I'm new to this forum and we aren't due to get are chicks until April 15th so it's still quite a wait. We have started planning the girls coop and drew it on sketch it! I would love your opinion on anything we should change. Right know the plan is to make the house 6' by 8' and the run 16' by 8'. We ordered 12 day old chicks, 2 rhode island reds, 1 buff orpington, 1 white plymouth rock, 1 partridge plymouth rock, 2 australorp, 1 golden laced wyandotte male, 2 speckled sussexs, 1 easter egger, and 1 ancona. All but the golden laced wyandotte are female. What is your idea on having a rooster? I have heard so many horror stories about them turning mean. But I love the idea of him helping protect the girls. We are going to let them out as much as we can. But we can't have them out when were not watching because of predator problems. Is 1/2 in or 1/4 in hardware cloth better? Thanks in advance!

 

[Ramblin Rooster]

Hi I'm new to this forum and we aren't due to get are chicks until April 15th so it's still quite a wait. We have started planning the girls coop and drew it on sketch it! I would love your opinion on anything we should change. Right know the plan is to make the house 6' by 8' and the run 16' by 8'. We ordered 12 day old chicks, 2 rhode island reds, 1 buff orpington, 1 white plymouth rock, 1 partridge plymouth rock, 2 australorp, 1 golden laced wyandotte male, 2 speckled sussexs, 1 easter egger, and 1 ancona. All but the golden laced wyandotte are female. What is your idea on having a rooster? I have heard so many horror stories about them turning mean. But I love the idea of him helping protect the girls. We are going to let them out as much as we can. But we can't have them out when were not watching because of predator problems. Is 1/2 in or 1/4 in hardware cloth better? Thanks in advance!

Can't read your measurements because it's too small font but I fear its not enough space. You should have 3 square feet per chicken or more. Also, you may want the outer nest box to be hanging on the opposite wall of the run so you can get eggs out without having to go into the run and letting out all the chickens. All else is AMAZING

, and looks fantastic. Keep up the good work and

 

[Ramblin Rooster]

Can't read your measurements because it's too small font but I fear its not enough space. You should have 3 square feet per chicken or more. Also, you may want the outer nest box to be hanging on the opposite wall of the run so you can get eggs out without having to go into the run and letting out all the chickens. All else is AMAZING

, and looks fantastic. Keep up the good work and

 

[Ramblin Rooster]

Can't read your measurements because it's too small font but I fear its not enough space. You should have 3 square feet per chicken or more. Also, you may want the outer nest box to be hanging on the opposite wall of the run so you can get eggs out without having to go into the run and letting out all the chickens. All else is AMAZING

, and looks fantastic. Keep up the good work and

Oh I forgot to mention... You should definitely get the smallest hardware cloth you can get, 1/4 is what we have and our chickens are super safe like that! Not even a mouse can get into their run!

 

[puglady]

That is actually 4 sq feet per chicken so it should be good for 12 if chicken math doesn't strike. I definitely agree, access to the eggs without going into the run would be a big plus. The outside sq footage per bird is just over 10 feet which is typically the "rule" however more on this is always better if you have the room in the yard.

 

[handyman42]

Hi I'm new to this forum and we aren't due to get are chicks until April 15th so it's still quite a wait. We have started planning the girls coop and drew it on sketch it! I would love your opinion on anything we should change. Right know the plan is to make the house 6' by 8' and the run 16' by 8'. We ordered 12 day old chicks, 2 rhode island reds, 1 buff orpington, 1 white plymouth rock, 1 partridge plymouth rock, 2 australorp, 1 golden laced wyandotte male, 2 speckled sussexs, 1 easter egger, and 1 ancona. All but the golden laced wyandotte are female. What is your idea on having a rooster? I have heard so many horror stories about them turning mean. But I love the idea of him helping protect the girls. We are going to let them out as much as we can. But we can't have them out when were not watching because of predator problems. Is 1/2 in or 1/4 in hardware cloth better? Thanks in advance!

Just a reminder chickens need 4 square feet in the coop and 10 square feet in the run per bird. If you've factored that in wonderful.

Now that we've gotten the formals out of the way, lol, I think it's an Awesome design personally. And as far as 1/4" hardware cloth, to do an area that big, you would literally spend a fortune. I'm going to use 2"x4" welded wire horse fence for mine and just reinforce the bottom 2-4 ft with 1" poultry netting. That will keep anything that will actually hurt you're chickens out I'm sure. And if you wanna go crazy to be safe run and electric wire about 6" off the ground and 3" of the top of the run for any thing that digs or climbs and that'll stop a full grown man so you're pretty safe for anything else.

All in all, splendid design and good luck building it!!

P.s. Just did the math on measurements... You're perfect for 12.

Best Of Luck!! Enjoy the young'ns while they're still young. And happy farming!! Also

from Sardis Arkansas!!

 

[HRoseC95]

Can't read your measurements because it's too small font but I fear its not enough space. You should have 3 square feet per chicken or more. Also, you may want the outer nest box to be hanging on the opposite wall of the run so you can get eggs out without having to go into the run and letting out all the chickens. All else is AMAZING

, and looks fantastic. Keep up the good work and

The coop is 6ft by 8ft and so thats so thats 48 ft squared, so 4 ft per bird. the run is so that 128 ft square and 10.6 ft per chicken. We live on 7 acres so they have plenty of room to free range when we can watch them. But I'm worried that a something when eat them if I'm not. We lost a whole flock of 6 to a bear a few years back. We have almost all the predators up here. fox, bears, coyotes, raccoons, skunks, hawks, bobcats, and mountain lions.The coop wasn't that well built though. Were thinking about maybe using some electric fencing. Does anyone use it?. We were going to have the nest box access in the run since that would make it more secure. We have a window facing into the run too. We live up in Evergreen colorado. We almost always have low humidity and can get cold in the winter. the last week we got a cold front and got down to -23 but thats about as low as it gets. How much ventilation should we have? Thanks everyone for your help! you guys are great!

 

[HRoseC95]

Just a reminder chickens need 4 square feet in the coop and 10 square feet in the run per bird. If you've factored that in wonderful.

Now that we've gotten the formals out of the way, lol, I think it's an Awesome design personally. And as far as 1/4" hardware cloth, to do an area that big, you would literally spend a fortune. I'm going to use 2"x4" welded wire horse fence for mine and just reinforce the bottom 2-4 ft with 1" poultry netting. That will keep anything that will actually hurt you're chickens out I'm sure. And if you wanna go crazy to be safe run and electric wire about 6" off the ground and 3" of the top of the run for any thing that digs or climbs and that'll stop a full grown man so you're pretty safe for anything else.

All in all, splendid design and good luck building it!!

P.s. Just did the math on measurements... You're perfect for 12.

Best Of Luck!! Enjoy the young'ns while they're still young. And happy farming!! Also

from Sardis Arkansas!!

Thanks for the tips mesh is quite expensive! What kind of electric wire should I get? Would it be safe if one of are dogs or cats touched it? It wouldn't hurt them too much? We don't want are dog to touch it and be afraid of the coop. He is a border collie great Pyrenees mix and is an excellent guard dog. Were do you get welded horse fence? We have some old fencing left over from the dogs fence that would probably work well for the top.

 

[HRoseC95]

Bump

 

[petrel]

Here is a link to an excellent article on ventilation: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

I got my 2" X 4" welded wire at Tractor supply, but I would imagine that any farm center would carry it. I covered the bottom three feet of the run with 1/2" welded wire, and used 1/4" hardware cloth on the windows and the soffit. In your area, you may want to back up all the small gauge wire with very well secured 2" X 4" welded wire. Remember that the wire is only as good as how it is secured.

The electric fence should not injure a dog or cat, but you can be pretty certain that they will only touch it once.

Other: Be absolutely sure you leave enough headroom in the run and, if possible, the coop for the tallest person who may enter. I darned near have to wear a hardhat in mine, because I did not plan the interior height right.

Unless you are going to keep "poop shoes" next to the back door, try to engineer your coop and run to minimize the need to walk in them. That is going to be integral in my next plan.

If you plan on 12 birds , build for 20!

Consider installing an automatic door on your coop. Anything you can do to make caring for your flock easier and more consistent is good.

Install enough permanent wiring for coop and run lighting, heated water in the coop and in the run, and for your electric fence energizer. I find myself doing most of my "chicken work" before or after dark this time of year. It would be nice not to use a flashlight.