Coop Design Questions

[Better Than Rubies]

Hi, guys.
For a sloped roof on a coop, and say the highest point is 4 ft. on it, how big of a slope would there need to be? Would just so-many inches be fine? Or would it need to be about a foot?
And would four times a year (I'm thinking spring, summer, fall, and winter) be good enough for a total cleaning of the coop?
And for ten chickens, would a 8 ft. long x 3 ft. wide coop be big enough and comfortable for them? Sorry for the many questions. I appreciate any honest answers.

 

[venymae]

We just tried to make the pitch similar to our garage roof, seemed to work well and it looked good as it complimented other buildings within the property

 

[nminusyplusm]

Where are you located? Do you get snow?
For 10 chickens you should have 40 sq ft in the coop minimum, of course the more room the better. 8'x3' is only 24 sq ft.

 

[3riverschick]

Hi better than rubies ,
what breed of and size of chicken do you have? that makes a difference.
I like the idea the other poster had about just make it making it match the incline of your other buildings for a nice symmetry.
Where are you located ? are your Birds going to need to be forted up in the coop for extended periods due to foul weather ? or are you in a warmer climate where it really doesn't freeze and they can be out all year if they want to?
Yes, 4 times a year Coop cleaning should work just fine.
Best,
Karen

 

[ChickNanny13]

Run is 10 sqft per bird & always figure out on CHICKEN MATH so go a HUGE as you can and the above advice is ALL GREAT! Just don't forget the "poop board" w/PDZ under the roost, easy cleaning & maintenance. You may want to consider DLM for the flooring, I just keep adding shavings, other use dried leaves, yard clippings, etc....

 

[Better Than Rubies]

Thanks for the replies.

We just tried to make the pitch similar to our garage roof, seemed to work well and it looked good as it complimented other buildings within the property

That's nice. What do you think is easier to build, an A-frame roof style, or a sloped one? My dad would probably be the one building it, and I hope to help him, but I am wanting the easiest one to build, mostly for his sake...don't want things complicated if they don't need to be. And he did say roofs can be a little tricky to do.

 

[Better Than Rubies]

Where are you located? Do you get snow?
For 10 chickens you should have 40 sq ft in the coop minimum, of course the more room the better. 8'x3' is only 24 sq ft.

Haha. Well, our weather can be crazy; yes, we do tend to get snow in the winter, but usually at a later time in it, and not generally a whole bunch. So, no telling if it'll be a nice winter, or a cold winter; it might be a little bit of both. In late October, currently it's fairly cool, but we're still getting some pretty nice days. And it hasn't reached 32 degrees yet, so, no frost. And we have a shed close by our neighbor's fence, and there's about a twelve-foot space between the fence and shed, and our shed is 24 ft. long, and my parents said that's where my chickens could be, in between the shed and fence; they get the whole shed length (but not inside the shed, to make things clear).
And that whole area would be their pen, and I'd hope to let them free-range, of course, too, at times. And then their run (under 4 ft. wide and over 4 ft. long, because of my horrible measuring abilities) and coop would be inside that space.... But they should get to go in and out of their coop and run into the pen as they please, and then out of the pen if I let them.

 

[Labradors]

I don't think that would even be big enough even for four chickens. We currently have a coop that is 4 x 4 and it's good for four, but we want to build something bigger because they will be cooped up in there during the winter when it's too cold to go out. Our run is at least double that area and it didn't take them long to reduce it to MUD. We have made a temp. run that is much bigger so that they can enjoy green grass.

I suggest that if you cannot go bigger, do think about getting less birds......

Linda

 

[Better Than Rubies]

Hi better than rubies ,
what breed of and size of chicken do you have? that makes a difference.
I like the idea the other poster had about just make it making it match the incline of your other buildings for a nice symmetry.
Where are you located ? are your Birds going to need to be forted up in the coop for extended periods due to foul weather ? or are you in a warmer climate where it really doesn't freeze and they can be out all year if they want to?
Yes, 4 times a year Coop cleaning should work just fine.
Best,
Karen

Hi. Sorry, should've clarified it; I don't have any yet, but the breeds I'm looking at getting would be large-fowl, only, one really big, like a Brahma, most likely, and possibly one bantam? Really want one, but not sure on that yet.
We do get bad weather, but I don't think that'd make me lock them up in the coop...most likely I'd hardly ever, except at night or unless we're going to be gone a few hours...only if one's prone to escaping, though, and if clipping its wings wouldn't help? (so hoping I'll get breeds that bear confinement well).. And I might be looking at a five ft. high fence, if I go with a roll of wire fencing, but unsure of that yet... Though I would prefer it five ft., at the shortest. But maybe shorter would be okay? And we gets days of rain sometimes, occasionally weeks of it (one month a couple of years ago, I believe, we got like, almost a whole month of rain; I think with an exception of six days). But we also get dry periods at times; we can get really sunny days, or cloudy days. Our temperatures hardly ever exceed 100 degrees in the summer, and rarely gets in the negatives in winter (although sometimes our weather site says it feels like we're in the -. So, except for hurricanes--and droughts, I'd say--and other bad natural disasters, I guess you could say, we have a bit of everything (we do every once in a while get hail, {or tornadoes?}, but it never seems to cause damage). But compared to some people's weather, we probably have mild weather/temps. So 'my' chickens would probably be out in their pen a huge majority of days; I don't think mud would really bother them.

 

[Better Than Rubies]

I don't think that would even be big enough even for four chickens. We currently have a coop that is 4 x 4 and it's good for four, but we want to build something bigger because they will be cooped up in there during the winter when it's too cold to go out. Our run is at least double that area and it didn't take them long to reduce it to MUD. We have made a temp. run that is much bigger so that they can enjoy green grass.

I suggest that if you cannot go bigger, do think about getting less birds......

Linda

That's okay. I seriously doubt I'd lock my chickens up in the winter; I don't see a need for it? And most likely they'd just be locked up at night, with access to their run, still.
I kinda' feel like their pen--with their coop and run inside it--would be too small, too. But maybe it'd be fine. I'm not sure my parents want me to use much more of the yard; my dad said that space is huge compared to my brother-in-law's chickens coop...and who knows how many chickens he has. But still, I would like it bigger, too. I might try again and see what my parents think of that, as we don't have the chickens yet, and shouldn't until next spring?, but I really need to respect their answers. They want eggs, and I want eggs and chickens for pets, as I like them (to be honest, I'm either starting not to like eggs that much anymore {but I still want the joy of collecting fresh eggs daily of various colors and sizes} or it's just my cooking that makes it not taste too appealing, lol).