COMMUNITY PROJECT: Let's Design The Perfect Coop!!!

[Nifty-Chicken]

------------------ UPDATE ------------------

Okay kids, I've got some GREAT news!

Our very own member, ChrystalGail has experience with CAD and has volunteered to help us build some basic / easy plans for our perfect coop.

We'll be posting pics in this thread as she does the plans. Please provide her with feedback (and praise) so we can get something that we can all use.

Remember, our goal is to have a design that is:
• Easy to understand and build
• Applicable to most people in most moderate climates (modifications for hot / cold can be made later)
• Should be room for about 5 chickens.

I've asked her to build around a coop that is similar to the ones with the raised coop and attached run.

Thanks Crystal for taking on this task, and thanks to everyone for feedback and support!

------------------ UPDATE ------------------



Okay everyone. I keep seeing posts where members are looking for really easy to follow coop plans. This got me to thinking: "What if we could all pool our collective ideas, experience and resources and make this happen? What if we could design the PERFECT CHICKEN COOP!?"

So, here is my idea: Let's all pitch in and come up with a design for the perfect coop and then we can find / pay for a draftsman / architect to create super easy to understand designs and post them for the world to use.

Suggested Requirements:
1) Keep this as inexpensive as possible (materials)
2) Accommodate as many climates and as much predator proofing as possible
3) Build it for 5 hens. I'm picking this number because:

A) It seems to be a good average number of chickens (some people have 20 while others have 2)
B) Most urban cities allow people to have only 5 chickens
C) It would easily work for less chickens and could be modified for more.
D) If members have over 20 chickens then they are building something custom anyway

So, what do you think? Wouldn't this be TONS of fun???

Okay, I'll start:

First we should think of a general design.

• Should it be on the ground or a "raised coop"?
• Should it have an attached run?
• Should the nest boxes be inside the coop or outside?

Some designs I like:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/coops/monica.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/coops/playhouse-coop.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/coops/edlup.html

Okay, now it's your turn!!! Use your experience and tell us what you'd like to see in the perfect 5 hen coop!

 

[redneck]

I am currently building this coop. I thought that it would be movable, like a chicken tractor. It has turned out to be heavy.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/coops/monica.html

 

[aran]

that is a really pretty coop...would make a great tractor if it was light enough.

 

[MarkR]

Hmm, maybe with wheels, and nice handles it might be more mobile. Still heavy, but easier to move. I like that design a lot.

Mark

 

[TreyClark281]

well the design i posted had the auto wata(sp) that is on your other sight nifty and it had a auto feeder on it.
link to post
oh and make it so the elderly people can use it too. idk maybe making it closer so they can reach. feeder and waterererer close to the door.

should it be a tractor?

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Quote:
My thought is that it shouldn't be built to be a tractor, but maybe there could be a second set of plans to make it tractor compatible?

 

[Judymae]

For city folks a tractor may be more feasible. That way they could move it around as needed. I don't know why I think that--I haven't been a city person in over 10yrs! I never had chickens in the city either.

I do think for people up north (colder climates) it should be easily wired for electricity. Winter can be unbearable on chickens. I also think it should be up off the ground like Monica's.

 

[Fancy Feather Poultry]

Well, who ready to give up the fortune of 15$ and buy some plans on ebay?!

I would but I dont got paypal or a account

 

[Frozen Feathers]

I really like the 2nd coop that Nifty-Chicken posted. I like the idea of a raised coop, and the possibility of person being able to go into the run. It also looks light enough to be able to be moved, it is quite tall to be a tractor, though.

 

[justusnak]

Im not sure if this would work in a chicken tractor. My dh is in the process of designing our 5th coop. Yes, we will have 5 now. LOL In this new coop, ( it will be stationary) we will have a 55 gallon drum...with a nozzle towards the bottom. This drum will be fed by rain water from a downspout off of the roof. There will be a smaller tube near the top, leading outside, for an overflow. Under the nozzle, there will be a trough running through 4 seperate pens inside the coop. This will make watering time MUCH easier for me. At the far end of the trough(made from 6 in PVC pipe cut in half) there will be another tube with a valve, leading outside...so I will be able to rinse and clean the trough. The feeders will be made from 6 inch PVC attached to the outside of each pen, then through the fenced wall into the pen...and about 12 inches of PVC cut in half, for a feeder. This will minimise my haveing to bend over in each pen to feed. I will pour feed into each feeder from the top, outside the pen. Just trying to make life easier for me...with so many coops.