Chicken noob hoping for feedback on my coop design.

[DarthWombat]

Even though gutters for rain collection are planned, "I" would rather have the slope of the roof going to the back. I don't really have more that hasn't already been addressed by the others at this time.

Thanks for the response! If you don't mind me asking, why would you have the slope going back even with the gutter catch system?

 

[mowin]

My area often has -15, and sometimes -20 nights. I have no insulation or heat in my coops. A well ventilated and draft free coop is is what you're looking for. Permanent ventilation above the birds heads while on roost is critical.

 

[629864]

Stormcrow has (as always) great feedback here. I just wanted to add a few thoughts to that list:

Four 6' Roosting Bars at Equal Height
More than you need, but no harm done. Only concern would be interference with you ability to clean the coop periodically.

Your description says 4 roosting bars, but the drawing shows three. The bar closest to the wall looks too close: should be a foot out to avoid birds pooping down the wall and a foot spacing between bars. Even with 3 bars, you'd be left with only a 2-foot wide walkway. I would nix one bar. For the number of chickens you plan on getting, two 6' bars are MORE than enough.

Integrated Brooding/New Fowl Partition with Roost Bar and Individual Gate; easily opened to remaining coop when not in use.
YES - can't use it for quarantine, but better than having no option whatsoever.

This area looks to be about 1'x5' in your drawing. That's a bit narrow. Could you make it 2 feet wide, leaving your roosting bars 5' long? That would give you 10 feet of roosting space with the 2 bars I suggested. That's still plenty of room for your birds to roost and gives more elbow room all around.

Automatic PVC Tube Feeders
Maybe, depending upon feed choice. Works well with pellets. Poorly with crumble (unless in VERY dry environments), almost not at all with wet mash or fermented feed.

Cache Valley gets its fair share of rain/snow. Those tube feeders will only work if they are under cover and protected from ANY AND ALL precipitation. Otherwise you'll find yourself cleaning mucky wet slop out of those feeders. If you plan on putting the tube feeder under a wide awning type of cover, that would probably work. I'm in the Ozarks and we get a lot of rain here too. I got a large old table at a flea market, put it in my run, and placed my feeders on a brick platform under the table. Except for the rare sideways rain, the table completely protects the feeders from getting wet. You also don't want to make the mistake I made when I first started: putting feeders inside your coop. That just invites unwanted critters into the coop.

 

[Brooks_]

Thanks for the response! If you don't mind me asking, why would you have the slope going back even with the gutter catch system?

Mostly because I would want to keep all water (except drinking) away from chickens and a also because a Florida thunderstorm can make gutters overflow. So just me, I'm sure it would be fine in most cases.

 

[DarthWombat]

Stormcrow has (as always) great feedback here. I just wanted to add a few thoughts to that list:



Your description says 4 roosting bars, but the drawing shows three. The bar closest to the wall looks too close: should be a foot out to avoid birds pooping down the wall and a foot spacing between bars. Even with 3 bars, you'd be left with only a 2-foot wide walkway. I would nix one bar. For the number of chickens you plan on getting, two 6' bars are MORE than enough.

This area looks to be about 1'x5' in your drawing. That's a bit narrow. Could you make it 2 feet wide, leaving your roosting bars 5' long? That would give you 10 feet of roosting space with the 2 bars I suggested. That's still plenty of room for your birds to roost and gives more elbow room all around.

Cache Valley gets its fair share of rain/snow. Those tube feeders will only work if they are under cover and protected from ANY AND ALL precipitation. Otherwise you'll find yourself cleaning mucky wet slop out of those feeders. If you plan on putting the tube feeder under a wide awning type of cover, that would probably work. I'm in the Ozarks and we get a lot of rain here too. I got a large old table at a flea market, put it in my run, and placed my feeders on a brick platform under the table. Except for the rare sideways rain, the table completely protects the feeders from getting wet. You also don't want to make the mistake I made when I first started: putting feeders inside your coop. That just invites unwanted critters into the coop.

Thanks for building upon Stormcrow's great advice. I really appreciate your feedback.

The fourth bar is in the brooding area, but would also be too close to the wall according to your suggestion. I'll position that differently and make it 2' from side to side instead of running the length. That should give more room.

I wasn't sure how far from the walls to put the roosting bars, so this is helpful. I'll adjust them and remove the third bar in the main area.

Most of our precipitation comes in the form of snow in the winters (though we've been getting concerningly less lately.) Given the advice from you and others, I'll figure out a way to protect the feeders. The plan now is to position them under the roof in the run, but I may build them their own little wooden home in the run just to make sure they operate without issue.

 

[Coralista]

I'd consider a poop board, just knowing you are high desert/mountains. Also be thoughtful on your roof and paint colors. Will your coop be in the shade or direct sunlight? Thinking of those hot summers, if direct sunlight I'd go light on the colors all around to reflect as much light/heat as you can.

If you are going to have eletricity, they do make barn rated vans, some even can be temp regulated. You want to make sure you get something that is specifically for barns, as they are built to deal with the dust build up to avoid fire hazads.

 

[NatJ]

they do make barn rated vans, some even can be temp regulated.

Vans?
(I assume you mean fans.)

 

[Serenitylexington]

Thank you for taking the time to look at my plans and respond! I really appreciate it!

I'm located in Cache Valley Utah, USA, fairly close to the mountains.

Winter temps range between -15F to 32F, with outlier evenings going as low as -20 in the past. That's why I incorporated insulation. Do you think the chickens would be fine in that environment without it? Summer temps hover around 95F, so we have quite the range they'll experience. Would a foil blanket style insulation work better than the sandwich method?

As for DLM, do you think adding a layer of my soil or compost to the bottom of the litter when it's changed be sufficient to inoculate the litter for a more successful breakdown?

The other night in Va I had first freezing rain and windchill -15. The stupid lovely things still refused to go in the coop. We had to wait til dark and carry them in the coop. Some were molting and just had half the feathers. No insulation. 7 inch wide ventilation hardwire vent at top and no issues. If you free range a bird apparently adapts. I kep expecting frozen stiff birds but nope. Im in Va and summers can get up in the high 90's especially last year. Our humidty is horrendous. They suffer more then. I just have sex links at the moment.

 

[Badchickenpun]

I built my first coop and run last spring... this is what I have learned.
I would go 8' x 8', might as well since the boards are 4x8.
I would make your run as large as you can, covered.
If your run is built as a 100% secure run (1/2 hardware cloth) the auto doors are not crucial...
I bought I higher end door, but the wife insists that I go out every night to make sure they all got inside, and sometimes they do not...
Mine is a couple feet off the ground, but my doors are only 42" tall. I wish I would have made a full size door and steps to get inside, even thought my coop is only 6x6.
Since I had four days straight where they all had to stay inside, I plan to build an extension to my coop next fall, if we get more chickens in the spring.
If you summers are hot, you can never have too much ventilation. I have 12 sq ft or so on mine. Make sure the nesting bars are a good 2' min from the ventilation doors as to not have potential cross breezing in the winter. Tilt up/out vent doors work great, because they do need some even on the coldest days, you don't want your vents to allow cross breeze.
Mine did/do not like ramps. Steps/stairs, work better.
shade is important as is good ability for the ground to dry out, it is better to build on a higher ground, than in an area that is constantly wet.
I do not have electricity in my coop, and i think it can become a temptation to add things that can cause fire; from frayed cords to heaters going bad.
That's my two cents. My next project is to create a larger, short term run, ouside of their secure run to allow them to forage.... Their secure run is nothing but woodship and dirt right now. I plan to let them into the larger run for just a few hours a day, to supplement their activity and diet. Too expensive to make a 30'x30' run with hardware cloth.

 

[JoeCT]

Fwiw, on my first build the roost bar was 15" away from the wall to center of bar and I had poop on back wall. My current coop has the roost bar @ 18" and zero poop on wall.