Figure I should update this thread, even if just to remind myself of what I did when.
Couple weeks ago I beefed up the framing for the door/gate so it would not sag. Also unscrewed the hinges and raised the entire gate up about an inch. Did this because there is a giant root that is right up against the 4 by 4 post where the gate closes. It is actually perfectly positioned to act as a stopper to keep the gate from swinging inward, but also runs about an eighth of an inch below where I had the framing, causing any tiny rock or stick to jam the door so that it would not close or open easily. Raising the entire thing meant I had to add more bricks/pavers/gravel to close the gap on the lower end, but it was no big deal.
Decided that I wanted to frame in the "fan" of gravel you see in my last photo with some pavers to keep the gravel somewhat contained. Going to leave one paver missing from right in the center of the fan so that I can still easily run a wheelbarrow in and out. Also means I will be able to make the gravel deeper by a few inches without worrying that the "pile" would just slowly fan out into my yard. Some spillage will be expected from the missing paver, but should be minimal. And will create a nice slope hopefully.
Got a free solid wood bed-frame from someone on Facebook. Plan to make my roosting area, poop board, and probably nestboxes out of it. As often happens, it is hard to see how large or beefy something is when just looking at a photo. That was the case here. The bedframe is made from solid chunks of 2 by 8 and 2 by 10 lumber, with the slats that hold the mattress made from 2 by 6's. All held together by large nuts and bolts. All treated with some sort of dark wood stain. Weighs a ton......
It is yet to be seen if it will fit normally in my coop, or if I will need to slice out a few inches from the middle of it, mending afterwards to make it whole again. Hoping I don't need to do that. Going to be close...
My initial thought is to loft the frame a few feet higher, then use the mattress level for poop board. The side rails would have a natural lip to contain any poop board fillers that I add. Sand, Sweet PDZ, shavings, etc... Mount some roost bars from the top of the headboard to the footboard. Maybe two roost bars parallel to each other. Then construct nest boxes under it. Not married to the idea since that would make for some very "deep" nestboxes. A hassle to access unless I loft this really high and possibly loft the nests as well. Think of it like a triple deck. Top for roosting, middle for nesting, then maybe 2 feet that is open air above the floor of the coop.
My main concern with lofting this is that the higher I go, the longer the chicken ladder/ramp I will need to provide for access to the roosts. Don't want it to have an extreme angle, so need to keep the ramp fairly long. My coop will be wider than deep, and this will be going on the wide back wall. Not a lot of room "in front" of the bed for a ramp. I am toying with the idea of putting the ramp UNDER the bed running from head to foot (or foot to head), coming up sideways and entering the poop/roost zone from below. Does that makes sense to anyone? Like the coops you see that have a trapdoor in the floor for access to the run, but in this case the trapdoor is in the floor of the poop tray, already within the coop. Risk chickens roosting right above it and pooping all over the ramp though.....
I'm on the 'risk assessment' team, not the 'cheerleading' team. 
