A 10'x12' coop is a significant size and you have a lot of options to consider. It should be fun! My coop is a bit larger. Consider: How many birds do you eventually want to wind up with? Lots of posts here give good space-per-bird data. We designed for 30 hens total but currently only have seven. What type and size chicken? Large layers like a bit more nesting space. We have large birds, so 14"x14"x14" was our minimum and two of the boxes are actually 14x16x14 to give the larger hens a bit more width. Check out my BYC page.
We opted for a coop with a 'clean' area just inside the door and a 'tunneled' nesting box which allows collection access from the clean area. This was for wintertime convenience, but your winters are possibly milder than ours. Our nest boxes are off the floor to make collection easier. Storage underneath. Also we vacuum accumulated chicken dust from this area periodically, and a raised nest just seemed to make more sense. Don't let them roost on the nests.
Another area worth spending time on is a droppings pit under the perches. I can muck out the entire coop in about 30 minutes and do so every few months. Please keep us updated with photos.
We opted for a coop with a 'clean' area just inside the door and a 'tunneled' nesting box which allows collection access from the clean area. This was for wintertime convenience, but your winters are possibly milder than ours. Our nest boxes are off the floor to make collection easier. Storage underneath. Also we vacuum accumulated chicken dust from this area periodically, and a raised nest just seemed to make more sense. Don't let them roost on the nests.
Another area worth spending time on is a droppings pit under the perches. I can muck out the entire coop in about 30 minutes and do so every few months. Please keep us updated with photos.
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