Coop Design Questions

[venymae]

Thanks for the replies.

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.

A sloped roof for sure! Less math involved to get the pitch right. We built our own coop, and we have almost zero carpentry experience!

 

[Better Than Rubies]

Thanks a lot, venymae! I should ask my dad what he thought would be better, too, lol. He's definitely a handyman. But I think he'd go with 'whatever' I want. And really all I want is a roomy enough coop (where they won't be smushed together) with good ventilation, but where I can close most of their windows in the cold weather, and a coop that's easy to clean and easy to gather eggs; and nice to look at and not too hard to build. I'm probably being very picky, though.

 

[ScottandSam]

Why 8x3 plywood is sold in 8x4 sheets? I Also would recommend a min 40 sq ft for 10 birds.

Scott

 

[3riverschick]

Make the coop whatever height you want .you only need four square feet per bird if they're going to be locked in side for 3 or 4 weeks because of the snow.
3 square feet will be fine for your birds especially if you mount your nest boxes on the outside of the coop .okay so that would be a 5 by 6 coop.
as far as the Run goes, you want to be tall enough you can walk into it. there's nothing worse than having to crawl in a run after a bird through the poop. yuck, been there done. that don't go there .
it's not hard to put in a 6-foot High run I'll tell you how to do it in the next email.
Best Karen

 

[3riverschick]

How to make a nice tall run the easy way.
Use the panel system.
1. buy 6 ft. Tall and 8 ft tall untreated two-by-fours.
2.cut them off to a 6-foot height.
3. make a panel that is 5 ft wide by 6 foot tall.
4. cut the two foot pieces you cut off the end of your 8 foot board in half
5. Nail or screw them diagonally to all four corners of each panel to stabilize the panel.
6. Now take a 5-foot piece and run it horizontally across the center of the panel to stabilize it further.
6. Staple 3 ft. High chicken wire to each panel.
7. wrap the chicken wire around each vertical side of the panel about 1-inch so that when you mate the vertical panels together the ends of the chicken wire are hidden in the crease
8. Stand panels up and screw them together with three and a half inch coated decking screws.
9. When you get to the corners of the Run take a 6 foot high 4 x 4 and carriage Bolt the uprights into each side of the four by four .do not screw them, Carriage bolt them. it will give you the stability like you won't believe.
10. A fix some crossbars across the Run. then run chicken wire across the top of the run for a roof.
11. I like to cover my run .it keeps it nice and dry . I buy a nice blue or silver tarp that is longer and wider then the Run by about 4 inches on each side
go to Walmart and by those bungees with the red ball at one end.
screw some some screws into the uprights such that when the tarp is laid over the top of the run ...and the bungees run thru The Grommet holes... it's a nice snug fit to run the bungee down around the screws in the uprights. this works really well because if you get wind, the bungees will stretch and the tarp will not rip.
12. For the door to the Run ,make another chicken wire panel that is small enough to fit inside one of the upright panels . add a couple of hinges and a nice secure latch and a door wide enough you can get a wheelbarrow thru it . that's important when you're cleaning your run.
Best,
Karen
P.S. if you use 3 foot high chicken wire on the top half of the panels and 4 foot high chicken wire on the bottom half of the panel ...then you'll have one foot of chicken wire apron around the bottom of the panel that you can bury in the ground so that varmints can't dig into the Run.
now one nice thing about this style of chicken run is it is set " on " the ground not " in " the ground. in my Township that's very important . as long as it's not in the ground, I don't need a building permit because it's a temporary structure. my chicken pen stood through all kinds of weather until it took an 80-foot pine tree to smash it .
My dog runs are 21 years old built with same method ( treated wood and welded wire) instead of chicken wire. they're still standing strong.
Best success,
Karen

 

[PingoBags]

Why 3'x8' for the coop? The sheets come in 4x8, you may as well use the other foot since you paid for it. You'l be ripping a foot off the end of each sheet. .

A sloped roof is easier and faster to do. You only really need enough slope to allow rain to roll off. Over an 8' span, 6" would be plenty, 4' span, 3" would work. Just make sure you have the roof trusses to support snow if you get any.

You said 4' high and 8' long, just make the other end 3.5'.
Having it 4' high is going to be a pain to work in though, unless you're a shorty!

 

[Better Than Rubies]

Why 8x3 plywood is sold in 8x4 sheets? I Also would recommend a min 40 sq ft for 10 birds.

Scott

Haha, good question. But I was thinking, my legs aren't even 3 ft. long, and I'd need to reach in there comfortably to clean the coop, and stuff like that.. And four feet seemed to be too wide for comfort for me.

 

[Better Than Rubies]

Make the coop whatever height you want .you only need four square feet per bird if they're going to be locked in side for 3 or 4 weeks because of the snow.
3 square feet will be fine for your birds especially if you mount your nest boxes on the outside of the coop .okay so that would be a 5 by 6 coop.
as far as the Run goes, you want to be tall enough you can walk into it. there's nothing worse than having to crawl in a run after a bird through the poop. yuck, been there done. that don't go there .
it's not hard to put in a 6-foot High run I'll tell you how to do it in the next email.
Best Karen

Thank you very much, Karen. You've been very helpful. And yes, I do want and plan on having a six ft. high run, so I could walk in it (since I'm not even six ft., that works perfectly). Then I'd want to cover the top with chicken wire for more security, since their pen wouldn't have a cover.
And as far as locking 'my' chickens up because of snow, I don't think I would do that. I'm positive they'd be fine in snow. We hardly ever get real deep snow, anyways.
And I was planning on putting my nesting box inside the coop, but once I found a descriptive way to mount it outside, I may do that instead; honestly, I'd prefer to. But my dad already got it all cut out; now I just need to screw it together. And it's 2 ft. long, no divider, I think 1 ft. high, and 15 inches deep. And it's made out of OSB, I believe; so could that be out in the elements? I've heard it's not supposed to be, but I've seen a picture where somebody appeared to have made their coop out of OSB (which I don't plan on doing). ?

 

[Better Than Rubies]

Why 3'x8' for the coop? The sheets come in 4x8, you may as well use the other foot since you paid for it. You'l be ripping a foot off the end of each sheet. .

A sloped roof is easier and faster to do. You only really need enough slope to allow rain to roll off. Over an 8' span, 6" would be plenty, 4' span, 3" would work. Just make sure you have the roof trusses to support snow if you get any.

You said 4' high and 8' long, just make the other end 3.5'.
Having it 4' high is going to be a pain to work in though, unless you're a shorty!

That's true; I've been considering building a coop I could walk in; and yeah, I want as little leftover material as possible.

 

[PirateGirl]

Haha, good question. But I was thinking, my legs aren't even 3 ft. long, and I'd need to reach in there comfortably to clean the coop, and stuff like that.. And four feet seemed to be too wide for comfort for me.

@3riverschick plan works if you aren't burying the bottom of your run. You could keep things the full 8ft length, bury the panels 2ft (give or take) and still have 6ft tall coop to walk in.

I understand the reaching in to clean, or catch a chicken, or grab an egg dilemma. We changed our initial plan so that we have a "human door" that opens on both sides of the coop so all corners of the coop can easily be reached by me for cleaning etc. It has proven to be invaluable. Also, when the wind is blowing I can choose to open the side that will minimize me getting blasted in the face with pine shavings and chicken poop!

We opted to do a sloped roof, somewhat easier construction. The roost is situated under the highest part of the roof, giving them headroom while still being up off the floor as high as possible in a small coop. One wall of the coop is approximately 3ft. high, the other wall is approximately 2ft. high. If your coop is not tall enough for a human to walk in, it's nice for it to be raised off the ground so you don't have to be on your hands and knees to reach in for cleaning etc. Also my chickens love hanging out in the shelter under the coop when weather is bad.