Coop design (input appreciated)

[tdmopar67]

Hey all,

Got some great feedback last night on here when I asked a few questions. Someone reccomended that i post the design i came up with for some outside opinions as this will be my first coop.

I am a carpenter by trade and confident that I can build something decent. Here are my drawings and yes they are sloppy I am clearly not an architect Haha. Anything needing clarification feel free to ask! Also, it's not drawn but I have decided that I'm going to do a basic gable roof across the whole coop and run.

 

[tdmopar67]

A little additional info. This coop is for 8 chicken and I plan on doing the sides of the run with Hardware cloth (1/2") and I was going to do the bottom as well. If I do the floor of the coop do I need to do the perimeter as well? Is there a downside to the chicks running around on hardware cloth?

 

[perkolator]

If you do the floor in HC you won’t really need the skirt. I did both only because I did the skirt first and then saw a mole tunneling into my run a few days later, so I did the floor too.

Bare HC floor isn’t ideal for chickens as they can potentially get a laceration which can lead to infections like “bumble foot” - simply put down some wood shavings, mulch, hay, etc.

Overall design looks fine. Personally I’d do a sloped roof vs gable, for simplicity and no need for buying other materials like ridge caps for example.

 

[The_Flock]

My hubby and I built almost the exact same coop. It did NOT hold our 6 girls when they got older than 8 months. We had to move them to an actual coop. They'll get after eachother in such a small space, especially with 8 of them. And the winter will be tough when they can't really get out.
On that note...personally I would put a HC apron around the coop at the bottom and let them walk and scratch the ground.
Sorry for seeming like a negative ninny...I hope you can find something that works.

 

[aart]

In the first pic, the roost(perch) is 2' from wall...and 'tray' is 4'?
Is that a roost with poop board below it?
Might want to sketch in pencil(for ease of changes) on graph paper for some scale.

Here some tips on heights.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

 

[tdmopar67]

Sorry my drawings aren't overly clear. The roosts were planned to be 1 foot off of each side wall. The 2 foot sections are the slide out poop trays.

32 square foot not enough for 8 chicken? There is an additional space for the nesting boxes and an 80 square foot run. That was the sizing I found multiple times was 4 square foot per chicken.

I'm thinking that I'll do the hardware cloth on the bottom then cover it up so they dont have to walk on it. Doing the apron as well seems like overkill.

 

[The_Flock]

Sorry my drawings aren't overly clear. The roosts were planned to be 1 foot off of each side wall. The 2 foot sections are the slide out poop trays.

32 square foot not enough for 8 chicken? There is an additional space for the nesting boxes and an 80 square foot run. That was the sizing I found multiple times was 4 square foot per chicken.

I'm thinking that I'll do the hardware cloth on the bottom then cover it up so they dont have to walk on it. Doing the apron as well seems like overkill.

Sorry...I see it now. All of the pics didn't load and only a portion of the middle pic loaded. Lol. It looked like it was a 4'×8' coop and run. Ya that should work. The only thing I'm not crazy about is HC idea, unless they get to free range a bit too. But that's because we did that with our mobile coop and it really limited their ability to scratch. And they LOVE to scratch. So we changed it up and put the apron around it. It worked well. In fact, it worked so well that we are planning on doing the same thing with our entire 1/4 acre run with 7.5' deer fencing.

 

[aart]

The 2 foot sections are the slide out poop trays.

Slide out poop trays usually are not very effective.
Unless you use a thin layer of sand/PDZ instead of shavings.

32 square foot not enough for 8 chicken?

Minimally.....could be rough in winter if they get stuck inside the coop.

Agrees apron is way better than mesh on the ground where they scratch.

 

[tdmopar67]

I can easily be sold on the apron idea. Basically just lay the hardware cloth 2 feet around the whole perimeter? I will let them free range as well but I'm not going to rely on that.

Poop trays aren't effective? Why do so many people do them and so many coops come with them? What is the best way to keep coop maintenance manageable?

 

[aart]

Good examples of anti-dig apron installation.
If rodents are prolific, burying the apron ~12" would be good.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wire-around-coop.1110498/#post-17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

Poop boards/trays are great, the ones that slide not so much...depends on how you use them.
Prefab coops come with a lot of stuff that looks great, especially to the inexperienced,
until they are put to the test. Someone calls those slide out trays 'poop scrapers'.
They are so shallow that when pulled out the wall slot scrapes the contents out of the tray.