Coop Design Questions!!!!

[joan1708]

Check out the sweet PDZ thread. It may help you in the short run. If your being knock over by the ammonia smell when you open the door, then I read it's not safe for your chickens. The good news is, you can fix it. You sure don't want the HOA president to smell anything.

 

[AJ Farms]

Minimum Space Requirements
Type of Bird

Sq ft/bird inside

Sq ft/bird outside runs
Bantam Chickens
Laying Hens
Large Chickens
Quail
Pheasant
Ducks
Geese

1
1.5
2
1
5
3
6

4
8
10
4
25
15
18​

*These are MINS, I recommend adding 3 FT extra. to each the bird inside and outside runs.


Visit our website for resources, chicken coop designs and more. Our Website: http://www.DomaniFarm.com/

Here is the link for the design: http://www.domanifarm.com/poultry-housing.html

Hope this helps you!

It's my first time with chickens so I still need tips on the best coop and run designs. Right now I have a 4 x 2 coop with two 1 x 1 nestboxes attached to the side that is raised a foot above the ground. It has a pull-out wooden "tray" filled with pine shaving on the bottom and pull-out nestboxes so I can clean the pine shavings out. There is an opening in the back of the coop and a ramp going out into a 6 x 6 run area. I actually used to use the coop for quail a few years ago so I just took out all the wire sides and floor and replaced it with wood. I was wondering if there is a more sanitary, easy-to-clean design for a chicken coop and run because the smell is sort of trapped in the coop. Even though the coop has a bunch of little cracks inbetween pieces of wood and the opening, the air doesn't really circulate. My local hatchery just keeps the chickens in a fenced run with a tin roof and nestboxes and covers it with plastic when it gets cold. They dont have a little shelter in there or anything. I was thinking about doing this becuase they get more fresh air and sunlight plus you don't get that blast of chicken smell that I get when I open the coop doors. It hardly smells at all. I was also wondering how many chickens I could fit in the run I have (36 sq. feet) if I move to my hatcheries design.

 

[PoultryQueen29]

Oh the smell is not that bad now. When I started this thread my chickens had worms (which I found out the next morning) and the diarrhea smelled horrible! I am going to work on airing the coop though. I dont know how I'm going to do that without completely remodeling though. I want to keep the building and banging to a minimum right now because of my neighbor. The good thing is they're moving this month and after that we have to worry about real estate agents walking around their backyard.

I cant make the coop that big because if it's too tall it will be noticable so when my neighbors move out and if we dont get land on the farm behind us I can make the coop a 6x4 at most. The run can't be extended though.

 

[ScottM]

Your thread sounds like some kind of like a sitcom. I imagine an episode of threes company where jack gets chickens and tries to not let mr roper find out.

 

[Chickgirl201040]

i you put rags at the bottom of the coop and then put the pine shaveing ontop and then do that a couple of times so you have several layers then all you have to do is once a week rool up one of the layers and you can fit about 18 birds in your run( standards) 20 if they are bantams

 

[Chickgirl201040]

silkies lay about an egg aday and they are very colorfulthey com in black splash,splash,bluesplash, red, ginger red, buff, blue, Dark blue,white,and I think they come in chocolate( a brown color )

 

[Daisy8s]

My Sumatran is bantam sized and an excellent layer. An egg a day. Smaller eggs, but I've noticed the yolks are almost the same size as the regular sized eggs only there's less white.

Maybe i'll just wait until they get bigger to figure out what I need to do. What are the smallest types of chickens that I can get that are good layers?

 

[DesigningLife]

Hi Poultry Queen, I realize this is an old thread but I have to disagree with those who say the coop and run are too small for four hens. I think that your advice from local resources was correct. I have four (could have 6) laying hens in a 2x4 coop with attached 1x4 nest box area (comprised of four, 1x1 boxes) that goes into a 4x8 run and they are perfectly fine. For easy clean up, I lined the floor of my coop and nest boxes with black pond liner - some people use linoleum - and use sawdust or wood shavings for bedding (easier to sift through with a cat box shovel to clean). This was my "first attempt" at building a coop and designed and built it by myself (see my page for pics and details here https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/one-woman-one-saw-one-week), so I have some "natural ventilation" (oopsy) between boards, etc that I hadn't exactly planned on. I live in Michigan so winters get really cold. The smaller coop allows the hens to remain warmer and the ventilation keeps the "steam" from building up moisture inside while they're sleeping.

Forgot to add, I currently have a Buff Orpington, Black Australorp, Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red in my coop.