Coop-in-a-Coop - your pics needed

[Chicabee19]

I just open the hatch, rake right into my wheel borrow

Eggcellent idea!

We could put a hatch on the outside of the shed that will enclose our coop.

I think we'll raise our coop floor up a bit so I don't have to bend over to rake it out though.​

 

[vermontgal]

I'm building a coop on the second floor of my barn. Since posting some questions here a month ago, I have changed my design. The coop is going in the south-west corner of the barn, and will have two windows for light and outside ventilation. There will also be "inside" ventilation into the large barn space (approx 30x18). The coop has to go on the second floor because the first floor of the barn is full of cars in the winter. The coop will be two stories (4x4), for 32 sq ft for 4 birds, plus a "half story" - which is the roost in the peak of the roof.

I am going to make a very long chicken ladder (12' long!) for them to be able to head out of the coop on nice days to play in the snow.

I am not going to try to build an outdoor run because any 4-5' fence in my yard would be totally worthless in the winter -- the whole yard is that deep in snow. (I have a fenced-in yard for my dog in the summer, but I remove the fence before winter, and just have the dog on a tie for those quick pee breaks.)

Even though I live in the city, I am finding that it works ok for my chickens to free-range a bit. I often keep 2 chickens in the coop and let 2 out -- this seems to keep the ones that are out from wandering too far from the flock. If I let all 4 out, they tend to go adventuring.

I'm going to put down a linoleum floor for easy cleaning, and I appreciate the notes on the coop-in-a-garage page about adding a board across the lower door for the deep litter method. (Seems like you can add that later easily, but I will build this into my design.)

 

[La Banan]

LynneP built a coop in her barn - check it out -very nice and predator proof!
jan labanan