Coop building update!

[cp2894_]

I posted a thread asking about this built in box in my shed wondering if it would work for a coop. After getting some feedback, the last couple days we've been working hard on renovations and getting it ready for my five 4 week old chicks! I took some new pictures and wanted to get some more feedback. I also added the before pictures for reference. As you can see from the pictures, one side has been raised to make enough room for their roost. It's going to be surrounded with hardware cloth. Does the roost look ok? Size wise? Width, height, length, angle, amount of bars, etc. Each roosting bar is 21 inches long and there's 5 of them. Another vent was also added to the shed. It has hardware cloth one one side of it to keep things like snakes or large bugs from getting in. We have another vent exactly like that which can be added if needed. Besides that, there's another vent at the top of the shed wall. Does this seem like enough ventilation? I figured since the ventilation needs to be higher than the roost, our best bet with this particular set up was to put more ventilation in the shed itself and just put hardware cloth all around the taller part of the coop. I also added a picture of what the other side of the coop looks like. There will be two nesting boxes there. It needs to be cleaned out but that won't be hard. If anyone has questions, comments, or concerns, I'd love to hear them! We're still building and can make changes as needed. The smaller part is about 3 ft tall, the taller part is around 6 ft (I think. I need to check again), and the whole coop is around 6 ft by 3 ft. I hope that makes sense lol. I'm not great with explaining measurements.

 

[cp2894_]

Also, they have a good sized run that they'll spend most of their time in during the day so although the coop itself is just big enough, they won't be stuck inside it all day. I also plan to let them forage around in our fenced in backyard while being closely supervised for 30 min or so a couple days a week or everyday. Just depends on the week.

 

[DobieLover]

I'm confused...
You are just converting that tiny box into a coop? Do you have bantams? Full size? Right off the bat, no, there is not enough ventilation.

That very steep ladder will not serve as a roost. It is too steep, they won't be able to fly up or down from it and all the "rungs" are too close together horizontally. If any birds were able to get up on the higher rungs they would poop all over the birds on the lower rungs.

Are you keeping the rest of the shed as a shed? It is going to get full of dust. Why aren't you converting the whole thing into a coop? I didn't see the first thread you made.

 

[cp2894_]

I'm confused...
You are just converting that tiny box into a coop? Do you have bantams? Full size? Right off the bat, no, there is not enough ventilation.

That very steep ladder will not serve as a roost. It is too steep, they won't be able to fly up or down from it and all the "rungs" are too close together horizontally. If any birds were able to get up on the higher rungs they would poop all over the birds on the lower rungs.

Are you keeping the rest of the shed as a shed? It is going to get full of dust. Why aren't you converting the whole thing into a coop? I didn't see the first thread you made.

Thanks for the reply! Sorry for the confusion! We need to keep the rest of the shed a shed for storage reasons. Full size birds. Although one is starting to look like a cockerel so we may end up only having 4. I think the ladder might look steeper in the picture than in person (especially the 2nd picture) but if it really is too steep we could change it. I was a little worried also that the rungs might be too close together. Do you think the length of the rungs would be long enough to take away maybe like 2 of them and cut the ladder to make it less steep? That would be three 21 inch rungs. From what I've read the coop itself should be the correct square footage?

 

[DobieLover]

No you don't have the correct square footage. It should be closer to 4 sq ft at a minimum unless you have a completely predator proof run attached and that means something with a solid roof, well secured hardware cloth walls and a predator apron. Then you could get away with a little less square footage per hen.

Instead of messing around with that tiny little box, I would erect a full size wall the full length of the shed approximately 4 ft away from the exterior wall. That way they'll have four foot by the length of the shed for their coop. Then I would build a human entrance door so you can get into the coop for cleaning, etc.

On the sidewalls of the coop I would install as much ventilation as possible trying to get a total of 4 sq ft. If you put a solid roof on the run then the wall common to the coop could have a strip of ventilation along the top (secured with hardware cloth) to provide additional ventilation.

I wouldn't mess around with a ladder roost. I would install 2 roosts about 12"-14" from the wall and each other set over a poop board on either the left or right side and put the human door on the other end. This would provide 8 linear ft of roosting space.

You could build the nest boxes right up under the poop board with an access door inside the shed. This will keep the floor space under the nest boxes open.

 

[3KillerBs]

To reiterate,

5 adult birds need:

• 20 square feet in the coop
• 50 square feet in the run
• 5 linear feet of roost
• 2 nests
• 5 SQUARE FEET of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation

 

[saysfaa]

Ventilation from the chicken coop part into a larger building works if the larger building is also well ventilated. Sometimes it works anyway, if the larger building is really huge. Remember that the goal of the ventilation is get the moisture and ammonia away from the chickens and fresh air to them so it is a problem to add too many obstacles to the air flow - such as having the openings of the inside box not line up with the openings of shed. It is a cross ventilation thing - if you still open windows to cool the house down instead of just running air conditioning, you know how that matters.

The whole coop having higher walls will let you put the pop door high enough that your bedding doesn't fall out the pop door, have nests above the bedding, and roosts above the nests. The chickens won't care if it isn't higher but they will kick the bedding around and will sleep (and so poop) in the nests if they aren't higher than the roosts.

You are planning to put the nests outside the box? That lets the chickens use all of the floor space of the box.

I read the other thread. Having the roosts across the short sides of the coop does allow space for them to get down without hitting the wall. I think putting one roost the long way may also leave room for that as long as the roost is only a foot or so above the top of the bedding (just enough to be higher than the opening to the nests). They come down at about a 90 degree angle - so two feet up needs two feet of horizontal clearance (plus body space, maybe) - if you put the roost 1 foot from the wall, that allows three feet of horizontal clearance. That should work and still allow them to walk around on the floor under the roosts. I like 6 feet in a single run also - the math says two 3' spans equal one 6' span but half a foot or so against a wall is somewhat less usable than a half a foot not against a wall - clearance for wings to open for balance or stretching.

edit to add... if the coop is 4' wide instead of 3' wide, it matters less whether the roosts run across or lengthwise, especially with having 4 chickens. I'm assuming Edith is a cockerel and you don't keep him.

 

[3KillerBs]

Remember that the goal of the ventilation is get the moisture and ammonia away from the chickens and fresh air to them

And also to keep heat from building up.

Achieving this:

Rather than this:

 

[cp2894_]

No you don't have the correct square footage. It should be closer to 4 sq ft at a minimum unless you have a completely predator proof run attached and that means something with a solid roof, well secured hardware cloth walls and a predator apron. Then you could get away with a little less square footage per hen.

Instead of messing around with that tiny little box, I would erect a full size wall the full length of the shed approximately 4 ft away from the exterior wall. That way they'll have four foot by the length of the shed for their coop. Then I would build a human entrance door so you can get into the coop for cleaning, etc.

On the sidewalls of the coop I would install as much ventilation as possible trying to get a total of 4 sq ft. If you put a solid roof on the run then the wall common to the coop could have a strip of ventilation along the top (secured with hardware cloth) to provide additional ventilation.

I wouldn't mess around with a ladder roost. I would install 2 roosts about 12"-14" from the wall and each other set over a poop board on either the left or right side and put the human door on the other end. This would provide 8 linear ft of roosting space.

You could build the nest boxes right up under the poop board with an access door inside the shed. This will keep the floor space under the nest boxes open.

Thank you so much! That's a great idea to do a full sized wall. I also like the nesting box idea. This is why I needed feedback. It's my family's first time raising chickens so I need all the advice I can get. Thank you!

 

[cp2894_]

And also to keep heat from building up.

Achieving this:

Rather than this:

Thank you so much for all the help! To be honest, these chicks were a gift for my mother who's been wanting chickens for a long time. Unfortunately I've been the one to do most of the research. I'm also pretty young and not able to build the coop or buy materials myself so trying to explain things to my family about what needs to be done has been difficult. They insist there's going to be enough coop size and ventilation so trying to explain something that I'm still trying understand hasn't been easy. You and the rest of the BYC community have been making it a little simpler.