Coop Build Advice

[Folly's place]

Watch out for that nearly incurable disease called 'CHICKEN MATH'! If you can have twelve, plan for twelve. Just sayin'.
Mary

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!
Good you will spend the winter planning and learning, it can save you much trouble.

Build it as big as you can...what are the rules about that?
A walk-in coop will be much easier to deal with.

Go apron instead of pavers against dig ins, they can dig under the pavers.
Good examples of anti-dig apron installation, tho I'd not recommend 1/2" HC (unless you have small rodents like rats)...go with 14ga 1x2 or 1x1, will hold up much longer and is easier to lay flat.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1110498/wire-around-coop#post_17093528

Here's some tips on the height of things:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

 

[Folly's place]

One place where aart and I disagree; rats are actually everywhere, and will dig in , along with weasels, who are happy to use tunnels made by others, like ground squirrels. I'd use 1/2" hardware cloth for ground protection. We had rats here in the coop ONCE, and lost eggs, and three nice bantam pullets, before getting them all.
Mary

 

[BYCforlife]

I might take it up 24 inches. I don’t know if your planning commission had this but mine had 24 inch height minimum for coop. So I use space under the run too, attached to the run.

I live on a farm, so my coops are all on the ground. I just recommended a raised coop for more space.

 

[Melky]

Thanks everyone for all the input.
I definitely think I’ll use space underneath the coop as part of the run. We are repurposing a paved patio as the foundation to prevent predators digging under.(also thinking about curving the hardware cloth under instead of nailing it flush) I know there are raccoons in the area so i want to be as safe as possible.

In my area they seem to she very strict the square footage rule for number of chickens. With the size of my property I can have 12 chickens but the wife set a max of 6. (She’s a stay at home mom to our 18 month old twins)

I'd start with six but plan for space for more if your local laws and ordinances permit it then. If you don't increase later you will like the extra space. Six good laying hens would provide about 2 dozen eggs per week if standard fowl who lay about 4-5 eggs per week. That should be plenty for a small family. You also want to think that after a couple years say 2-3 or 3-5 their laying production reduces and you may find you need more and will need to add to the existing flock to keep the egg production going. If you get them all up front its feast or famine with the eggs and no room to add on when production drops. Also it gets some getting used to the care of them and you don't want to be overwhelmed right off the bat. Chickens make a lot of compost, great for the gardens

 

[Judoon_Platoon]

I plan using the Wichita plan as a base. If I have a 4x6 coop in an 8x8 space would it be better to have the remaking 2x4 space as part of the run just make the coop 8x4?

 

[aart]

I plan using the Wichita plan as a base. If I have a 4x6 coop in an 8x8 space would it be better to have the remaking 2x4 space as part of the run just make the coop 8x4?

Wichita is not a bad plan....but it is still a bit tight on space.
Look at many options before making a decision.
First off, are there restrictions on what/where you can build?

 

[Judoon_Platoon]

I have an 8x8 space available to build on. Other than that there aren’t any restrictions.

 

[aart]

I have an 8x8 space available to build on. Other than that there aren’t any restrictions.

I'd go with an 8x8 coop....or does that include run space?

 

[Judoon_Platoon]

That includes the run