Coop help!

[RaulandJeanette]

Hello all, my wife and I have taken over a flock of five chickens from our neighbor. We converted our kids treehouse into a coop/treehouse about three months ago. We are new to chicken keeping and have absolutely loved getting into it. We live in central Virginia and have been getting very humid and wet weather this summer. We are looking for some advice on our coop. I would like to get more chickens so I'm looking to add more roosts and ventilation but am unsure of what would be best. So here is a rundown of the coop. The coop is 8'x8' with three nesting boxes and stick on flooring for easy clean out. We have one shorter roost that is between the highest roost and nesting box. The chickens seem to jump onto this shorter roost and use it to get to the higher one. We cut out the corners of each side of the coop for ventilation and the windows can swing closed. The run is 15'x15' with an 8'x8' area under the coop that has sand for dust bathing and shade. We are going to change the wire under the coop from chicken wire to hardware cloth. I am not happy that the roost is roughly the same height as the windows but I don't know a good solution. I feel like if we drop the height of the roost then they will start roosting in nesting box. I'm also questioning the amount of ventilation we have. I have notice with all this humidity and rain we have had that there is a little fungus/mold on inside walls. The coop is situated in a mostly wooded area and gets way more shade than sun. I have included pics of all sides along with inside. I appreciate any suggestions as we are eager to learn and make things better for the chickens.

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[chickenlittle21]

You could build a latter roost. This is the latter roost I built:

 

[RaulandJeanette]

I like the idea of a ladder but do they all fight for top position?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yes you could probably do with more ventilation but it might be tough to add more, as there's not a lot of height inside the unit nor any roof overhangs to help shelter vent openings from rain.

Having roosts at vent height isn't instantly a bad thing, the important thing is keeping the roost area from getting drafty in cooler weather. If drafts aren't really a problem there's no particular need to move the roosts. I have my top roost sandwiched by 2 windows.

 

[littledog]

Wow, that is really nice coop and run for 5 chickens! Is the top storey still a treehouse? What a cool idea.
You could move the high roost more towards the middle of the coop so It's not in the direct path between two windows, but it looks like that might get in the way of the big doors. You could attach some sort of awnings to the outside, above each window - this would cut down on drafts while still letting air through, plus it might cut down on the moisture problem, since rain couldn't blow directly in.

 

[littledog]

Yes you could probably do with more ventilation but it might be tough to add more, as there's not a lot of height inside the unit nor any roof overhangs to help shelter vent openings from rain.

Hmmm, what about adding a hardware cloth trap door between the coop and the upper storey treehouse? Since the treehouse has its own roof. This would really let the hot, moist air out. Don't know if something like that would get in the way of stuff your kids play with in the treehouse, but maybe they might enjoy being able to look through and see the chickens.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hmmm, what about adding a hardware cloth trap door between the coop and the upper storey treehouse? Since the treehouse has its own roof. This would really let the hot, moist air out. Don't know if something like that would get in the way of stuff your kids play with in the treehouse, but maybe they might enjoy being able to look through and see the chickens.

Big problem would be keeping rain out of something like that... if the ceiling/2nd story is currently water tight, best to not mess with it.

Vents with louvered covers (like gable vents) or some sort of awnings to provide cover, with vents underneath, are probably both doable for adding more ventilation while still keeping weather out.

 

[RaulandJeanette]

Hmmm, what about adding a hardware cloth trap door between the coop and the upper storey treehouse? Since the treehouse has its own roof. This would really let the hot, moist air out. Don't know if something like that would get in the way of stuff your kids play with in the treehouse, but maybe they might enjoy being able to look through and see the chickens.

I thought about doing something like this. I however am hesitant to put a hole there due to blowing rain and such that get in there. My plan is to put a better wider metal roof on but still think blowing rain could dampen the floor/roof from time to time. I may try to add some sides to the top playhouse that my kids could open when playing but would block sideways rain. Also thinking about cutting top of run side siding and putting hardware cloth over opening. Then angle siding like a awning to block rain. I'm just worried about drafts during winter. Thanks for the replies by the way!

 

[RaulandJeanette]

Wow, that is really nice coop and run for 5 chickens! Is the top storey still a treehouse? What a cool idea.
You could move the high roost more towards the middle of the coop so It's not in the direct path between two windows, but it looks like that might get in the way of the big doors. You could attach some sort of awnings to the outside, above each window - this would cut down on drafts while still letting air through, plus it might cut down on the moisture problem, since rain couldn't blow directly in.

Yeah it was a fun project that the whole family helped build. Chickens seem to be happy and healthy. We wanted to make sure they weren't crowded, lol! We are looking to add 10 more chickens as we have liked them so much! So were trying to do whatever possible to give them a good home. In the spring we will extend the run to 30'x30'.

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

Wow. I love your coop! Pretty nice digs for the girls.