aersland

In the Brooder
May 4, 2018
11
5
14
ok- thanks to all of your advice, i poked around my yard for scraps and found some materials (cedar boards... just thrown away into a swamp!) and have started building a chicken coop similar to the Garden Ark but with an additional detachable run for more space. i needed a more compact setup because want to be able to pick up the coop section to place it on my garden bed. In the future, I may upgrade to a shed/fenced in area, but the smaller style coop is what I have to do for now.
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So similar to the picture, I am building a base and a “box” for the coop. the footprint of my mobile coop is roughly 5.75 ft by 2.75, with a little over 2 feet underneath the house. the hen house section will go on top and is a roughly 4 ft by 2.5 ft footprint (so, bigger than the coop in the picture)... and to be clear, I will have 3 chickens. i’m in Northern MN and will be using the deep litter method... I will not be heating the coop. this is what things look like so far, minus the center prop board:
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So with all of that information, I have some questions about design.

1. indoor height: how tall should the interior of the coop be? right now, i’ve planned for roughly 3 feet tall with a slight 2 inch slope for the roof. this makes the structure about 5 ft tall in total.
2. vents: what side(s) should the window/vents be on? I will have a drop-down door for egg collection/cleaning on the west side.
3. entry/exit: see in the garden ark picture how they just have a roost bar to access the door? is that ok, or do i need a ladder?? or because there is room underneath, would it be better to have the opening from underneath the coop, or on the side (as shown)? how big of a door do they need?
4. nest boxes: i haven’t decided on placement yet, but i’m wondering if anyone mounts these up off the floor of the coop (maybe in the top foot) for extra floor space. i could mount them externally, but truthfully i’m a bit worried about the extra weight it will create (remember this needs to be mobile).
5. roost bars: parallel or perpendicular to the door? vents? does it matter? i’m assuming they would roost on the bar farthest away from the door opening, but maybe not. should they be above or below the nest box?

thank you all, you've been so helpful!
 
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The way I determine the vertical spacing is first determine where the top of the coop floor will be, including bedding. Then I position the nests. Some people have them on the coop floor, some people have them a lot higher. Usually in those little elevated coops they are fairly low to the floor but you want the opening high enough that the chickens will not scratch nasty bedding into the nests.

Then I position the roosts higher than the nests. Chickens usually like to sleep as high as they can so if your roosts are not higher than the nests they might sleep in the nests. Finally I have the vents high enough so any cross breeze is over the top of the chickens when they are on the roost. In a small coop like that I want the roosts as low as they can be and still be higher than the nests. The higher the roosts the more clear floor space they need to be able to get down from the roosts. That might be a good reason to have external nests.

2" is not much of a slope, especially if the top gets wavy. That should be strong enough you are not worried about snow or ice load, but you do not want water to stay up there. If the roof is too flat it will stay wet and rot or is likely to leak. And slope it so the water does not run into the run.

I'd put overhang on all sides of that coop roof and leave the top few inches of the walls open (cover with hardware cloth for predator protection) for great ventilation. That should keep rain and snow out. As long as any breezes are over the backs of the chickens on the roost they can handle your winters fine. I have my vents on all four sides. If you have a predominant wind direction you can leave that side solid if you wish.

Unless you have silkies that can't fly they don't even need that roost bar if you have a plank at the bottom of that door so they have something an inch or more thick to land on, though a roost bar in the door or a few inches in front of it will not hurt. They certainly do not need a ladder or ramp. Even at just a few weeks old they can easily fly up there if they want to. The trick is getting them to want to. But you get that with ladders or ramps too.

If you put the door on the floor you need to build the sides up enough to hold the bedding plus you take away floor space. You don't have much floor space to start with. I don't like doors int he floor. The bottom of that door needs to be high enough so they do not scratch bedding out.

I made my pop door 12" x 12". Even a Midget White tom turkey could use it.

I'd probably put the roost on the opposite side of the clean-out door so it is not as much in the way when you clean.

I assume you have a raised bed garden with some type of relatively flat level top. Definitely give some thought to how it will fit, you might need some pretty tight dimensional controls. I'd consider having the bottom of that flat to sit on top, but maybe have a piece extended down to either fit inside or capture the outside of that raised bed to give a snug fit. In case of high winds maybe think of a way to strap it down so ti doesn't blow off. But think of it when it is not on that raised bed also.

Hope this helps some, good luck.
 

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