Coop design in barn

[Homestead Hackery]

Hi all,

We plan to have as many as 35 laying hens and 1-4 roosters. We have a 30x32 unheated half of an outbuilding with a gravel floor. We are planning on using it for chickens and eventually goats. Here is the design I've come up with so far. It is set in the North-West corner (West is up). To the North is an acre mowed grass field right now. Forgive the boards sticking out in the drawing. I use stock board lengths at first to get material counts for my shopping list. I was planning on going with chicken wire anyway because I don't know what our predator situation is like here yet (surrounded by farms, not woods). Hardware cloth more than doubles the cost!

Any thoughts on the layout, basic construction? The joists are 11' above the ground and I plan to attach all the vertical posts to the joists.

 

[Acre4Me]

Looks good. Looks like 2 roost bars, 15’ each. So, a little less than 12” per bird, but I know mine get tightly snuggled up on top roost, by choice, so you have enough room.

nest boxes, they will have favorites. They are floor level and one up, this is good bc their height is below all roosts . You may want to be ready to block off the nest boxes at night though. They can “hide “ in them and they poop all night, so the nest boxes can get pretty messy.

pop door: looks like it is between roosts and nest boxes. This is a good location.

enjoy your new chicks!

 

[Cattle dog Mom]

You might want to do a bit of research on "local" predators BEFORE you put up the chicken wire. While HC is more expensive, it is still cheaper than buying chicken wire, then loosing chickens to predators, THEN having to go ahead and do the fencing over with HC to prevent more losses.

 

[3KillerBs]

If you're in farmland in North America then you have raccoons (they're everywhere, even urban centers), which will tear right through chicken wire.

Putting chickens over gravel is a bad idea because the poop will sift down into the gravel to create a permanent stench.

 

[aart]

Looks like a good start.
That's a lot of birds!
What wire to use might depend on how secure the barn is.

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[Doug in NY]

Looks like a nice set up. I would suggest a floor, dirt or gravel makes cleaning up difficult. A plywood floor is pretty easy to build, pouring a concrete floor is more work and cost but would be even easier to maintain.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Love the space, but I understand you are only using 150 sq ft for almost 40 birds, including potentially four roosters? Even with an acre to free range, that's going to be tight during protracted periods of bad weather. I'd look to gain a few more square feet somewhere.

Also, have to recommend against a gravel floor. Its possibly the worst option for chickens. You just can't clean it, and the chicken shit gets in between the bits of gravel, makes it hard as a rock, and stinks like you would not believe. Doesn't drain well, and you can't wash it down with a hose either. Either cover it, or remove it down to bare dirt. At least on bare dirt, you can periodically shovel it out without felling like you are driving the shovel into a bed of concrete every time.

Number of nesting boxes and roost bar locations look fine.

 

[Alaskan]

We are planning on using it for chickens and eventually goats.

I know people that have tried to keep goats with chickens, and the goats are notorious for trying to get into the chicken feed... which can kill them.

It can be easier to house them together if you have full sized goats. But small goats can force themselves into chicken pop doors to reach the feed.

just some thoughts.

Also... I do know lots of people use the ladder perches... but I find that they increase picking issues. Everyone wants the tallest perch..... if the tallest perch is big enough to have everyone roost at once, then fine. But, if the number of birds means that they must use both the higher and lower perches that is what can use picking/bully issues.

I do have poop shelves that have 2 perches, one in the middle and one on the front edge. There is actually a 1 or 2 inch height difference, but thst is so small that I haven't found that to be an issue.

Personally, I have 1 plywood floor coop, and 4 dirt floored coops. Pros and cons to both.
.
Biggest con to putting in a plywood floor is the area under the plywood turns into an area you can no longer reach... and a potentially perfect rodent house.

I really like dirt floors.

I am not sure how the gravel will work out... I agree it is probably a bad choice... unless you have the space to build the floor up, and so use it as a drainage layer under a dirt floor... or use it sort of as filler for a concrete floor.

To the North is an acre mowed grass field right now.

your space is fine for a nice climate location... if you stop at 35 plus 1 or maybe 2 roosters (for more roosters you need more space).

If you live where there is lots of horrible weather (oodles of rain or snow) then you probably need more coop space, OR a covered run. A covered run is a fantastic thing. I highly recommend.

I find with my 9 months of winter I really need about 9 square feet per bird of inside space.

 

[Homestead Hackery]

If you're in farmland in North America then you have raccoons (they're everywhere, even urban centers), which will tear right through chicken wire.

Putting chickens over gravel is a bad idea because the poop will sift down into the gravel to create a permanent stench.

Never thought about the smell getting stuck. We were going to use sand as litter. i know that still needs to get replaced once in a while. How do i keep plywood from rotting underneath?

@aart we are in central Wisconsin nearest grocery store is about 7 miles away. All farm and forest between us and that.

 

[Homestead Hackery]

I know people that have tried to keep goats with chickens, and the goats are notorious for trying to get into the chicken feed... which can kill them.

It can be easier to house them together if you have full sized goats. But small goats can force themselves into chicken pop doors to reach the feed.

just some thoughts.

Also... I do know lots of people use the ladder perches... but I find that they increase picking issues. Everyone wants the tallest perch..... if the tallest perch is big enough to have everyone roost at once, then fine. But, if the number of birds means that they must use both the higher and lower perches that is what can use picking/bully issues.

I do have poop shelves that have 2 perches, one in the middle and one on the front edge. There is actually a 1 or 2 inch height difference, but thst is so small that I haven't found that to be an issue.

Personally, I have 1 plywood floor coop, and 4 dirt floored coops. Pros and cons to both.
.
Biggest con to putting in a plywood floor is the area under the plywood turns into an area you can no longer reach... and a potentially perfect rodent house.

I really like dirt floors.

I am not sure how the gravel will work out... I agree it is probably a bad choice... unless you have the space to build the floor up, and so use it as a drainage layer under a dirt floor... or use it sort of as filler for a concrete floor.



your space is fine for a nice climate location... if you stop at 35 plus 1 or maybe 2 roosters (for more roosters you need more space).

If you live where there is lots of horrible weather (oodles of rain or snow) then you probably need more coop space, OR a covered run. A covered run is a fantastic thing. I highly recommend.

I find with my 9 months of winter I really need about 9 square feet per bird of inside space.

Being in Wisconsin we can have long winters. I plan to build a run which they will have a door to. What is a pop door?? A few people mention it and i didn’t plan one. We are down to 21 birds and no roosters. ( furnace in garage failed this weekend). We just placed a new order for 13 Easter eggers and two dark Brahma roosters. If we don’t lose any we will have 36. If i did my chicken math right.

I can build it bigger, it is a blank slate right now.