Coop construction HELP

[Yakisugi Coop]

When thinking about space, you should take into consideration the general guidelines and also think about your particular situation, asking question such as:
- Are you taking up floor space in the coop with food and water, or will it be in the run?
- Are you free ranging your chickens? If so you might be able to get away with less space in coop/run.
- (As I mentioned earlier) Where are you located? Will chickens be "cooped up" in the coop a lot during bad weather? How humid is your climate?
- (As also mentioned earlier) How large are your chickens?

There's no one size fits all and you should figure out what works for you.

One other thing: Are you planning on having a flat roof? Looks like it in the photos. If you get a lot of snow you might want to switch to sloping.

 

[GingerAndHerChicks]

When thinking about space, you should take into consideration the general guidelines and also think about your particular situation, asking question such as:
- Are you taking up floor space in the coop with food and water, or will it be in the run?
- Are you free ranging your chickens? If so you might be able to get away with less space in coop/run.
- (As I mentioned earlier) Where are you located? Will chickens be "cooped up" in the coop a lot during bad weather? How humid is your climate?
- (As also mentioned earlier) How large are your chickens?

There's no one size fits all and you should figure out what works for you.

One other thing: Are you planning on having a flat roof? Looks like it in the photos. If you get a lot of snow you might want to switch to sloping.

Hi! We are in Colorado, but not in the mountains, so it’s actually fairly beautiful weather here year round. We don’t get much rain, and it’s pretty dry air here. The roof is actually on an angle but not very apparent from the photos. We are going to be free ranging them mostly unless we are expecting snow or below freezing temperatures. In addition to free ranging, we will have a run that will have a roof over it so it’s protected against the elements and Kees it nice and dry for them. I’ve seen some cool DIY feeders in the runs so that’s the plan.

 

[3KillerBs]

I’ve seen some cool DIY feeders in the runs so that’s the plan.

I always like having the feeder and waterer in the run -- it keeps down the mess and the moisture.

If your roofed run is predator-hardened so that you can always leave the pop door open it can compensate for lack of space in the coop.

 

[Yakisugi Coop]

Hi! We are in Colorado, but not in the mountains, so it’s actually fairly beautiful weather here year round. We don’t get much rain, and it’s pretty dry air here. The roof is actually on an angle but not very apparent from the photos. We are going to be free ranging them mostly unless we are expecting snow or below freezing temperatures. In addition to free ranging, we will have a run that will have a roof over it so it’s protected against the elements and Kees it nice and dry for them. I’ve seen some cool DIY feeders in the runs so that’s the plan.

That’s exactly our situation. We‘re located in Colorado’s front range and we free range our birds. They very rarely spend all day in coop (even in bad weather) and we have water and a PVC feeder in the run and some covered space there. I think you can get away with less than 4 square feet per bird, personally.