Coop Design Questions

[jimla]

I am planning a coop and attached run. The coop portion will be about a 4 foot cube with a gable roof that extends out another 6 feet. The coop will sit off the ground for a total run footprint of 4 x 10 feet. One side of the coop will provide access for cleaning and the other will have an external nest box for egg removal. Some call it a Playhouse style.

1. How high should I built it? At first I though six feet to allow me to enter the run. I read here that the chickens will not use all that vertical space plus wind driven rain will make for a muddy run. If I make it lower for more shade and less rain, then how do I access the run for maintenance, cleaning etc?

2. Does one put the food and water in the coop or run or both? Some say outside to prevent vermin in the coop. If so then what about winter?

3. I'd like to use the DLM and if I put a door and ramp on the front side of the coop do I need to mke it one foot off the bottm of the coop to keep the litter in?

4. If I place the coop one foot off the ground, will that 1 foot give the chicken enough head room under the coop?

You answers will help me fine tune the design. Thanks!

 

[AtomicChicken]

Not saying my coop is any good, but take a look at my page for some possible ideas. I just built (am building) a coop of very similar size. The house portion is 4x5 by 4 foot tall. But the nesting box and storage takes up 1 foot of the 5 foot wall. So the hen house is actually 4x4. The total run is 4x10 feet. The house sits 18" above the ground on a portion of the run. The run is only 3 feet tall.

While attaching the hardware cloth today, I sure wished I had made the house 2 feet off the ground. And I'm going to have to use a long handled rake to be able to retrieve chickens and clean the space under the house. So if I could, I'd probably make it 2 feet up.

As for entering the run, I solved it by attaching a "top gate" that hinges toward the house and can rest against the fascia (soon to be gutter) while I clean.