Coop question

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I am a newby a tthis. Just picked up four baby chicks yesterday (all hens). Just wondering. i have an old salt box style shed that i do not use. It is about 6' long by 3' wide by 7' tall. Would this be an acceptable size to house four birds or should I build one bigger? Also wha tare must haves in it. Do I need a nesting box for every bird? Also wha tis the best thing to use as a roost in your opinion? Sorry for al lthe questions but I just want to get this right because it seems like a nice hobby me and my two young boys can enjoy together. Thanks for al lthe information you guys and gals can share with me.
 
Yes I believe the max is 4 birds and one nesting box should do for just four hens. TwoXfours work great with the 3 1/2" side facing up. I hope this helps.
 
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Part of the answer depends on your climate and part depends on how you manage them. In most places a 3' x 6' coop will work fine for four hens, but they need additional outdoor space to go with that. Some people can free range their chickens, but most of us worry about predators or the chickens getting into gardens, visiting neighbors, or playing in the road and getting run over. Some have legal restrictions. If you need to contain them outside, I would suggest a minimum run of say 6' x 8' with bigger being better. The more space you can provide them, the happier they are, the less likely they are to become bored and turn to cannibalism, and the easier it is for you to manage them. One possible problem as far as your time and effort is that if the space is too small, you may have to put some serious effort into managing their poop. Many people get by with the minimum space and it is nice to have "chores" for your young boys to do, but if you provide a bit more space than the minimum, your life is easier.

If you live in an area where they cannot get outside for long periods of time due to climate, you might want to cover part of the run to keep snow out of it and to block the wind. Some of mine will go wading through 9" of snow to check out my compost heap in case I've thrown something interesting there and some will go out and forage in three or four inches of snow if the weeds and grass is sticking up through the snow, but most do not like the snow at all and they really hate wind. But if they can get out most days, your 3'x6' should be OK for 4 hens. Mine wander around in single digits weather, so cold doesn't bother them very much, but wind and snow does.

The rule of thumb is one nest box for every 4 hens, but I suggest you provide two. They will all probably lay in one anyway, but I find that an extra one can come in handy, say if you have a broody. Yesterday I had three crowded into one nest box while another one was open, but sometimes a hen can be very protective of that nest box. Nest boxes are easy anyway. Here is a thread that gives you an idea of the wide variety of things that people do for nest boxes.

Nesting Boxes
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=41108

2 x 4's work great for roosts. Just round off the corners so their feet are more comfortable when they wrap around, but mainly to remove any splinters. It does not take much sanding to take care of that. For 4 hens you can get by with one three foot roost, but I would be tempted to add a second roost. They will probably all crowd together on the end of one roost to sleep, but I like to give them a bit more room to get up there. Also, sometimes you get a real bully that does not like to be crowded on the roosts. I like to provide a bit more space so the other one(s) can get away from the bully if they want to. I find it keeps them from roosting in nest boxes or other strange places.

You'll notice I use "like" a lot. That indicates a lot of this is personal preference.

Another issue for you is how high to make the roosts. I suggest as low as possible but to make them so they are noticeably higher than anything you do not want them to roost on. I base it on the nest boxes. You can put your nest boxes on the ground or put them up higher. Again, pure personal preference. Some of the things to consider with that. On the ground is real easy to do, but some people find that the nest boxes on the ground tend to get dirtier. If you have a bad back, you may not want to bend over to gather the eggs. If you raise them, raise them enough over the bedding that you can get under there. Chickens tend to scratch a lot, so they tend to scratch bedding where it builds up under nest boxes. You may need to rake it out occasionally. If there is not enough space for a chicken to get under there, it becomes a great place for Mommy Mouse to raise a family. It can become a place a hen thinks is a great place to lay an egg, so you need to be able to see under there and get under there. As you can see by that thread above, there are many different ways we do it. Don't obsess over what you decide.

Back to height. I find that I need about a 5" to 6" lip at the bottom of the nest box to keep the hens from scratching out the nesting material or eggs that are in there. They often like to scratch and rearrange the nesting material before they lay. Above that lip, I suggest about an 8" high hole for them to get into the nest. I've used a 6" high hole and that works, but again I like a bit more room. That personal preference thing again. Then depending on how you build it, you might need some room for the frame. If you use a bucket or cat little box, something like that, you might want to tilt it back some to help keep them from scratching nesting material or eggs out of the nest. Whatever you do, make the roost noticeably higher than the top of the nesting box since chickens tend to like to roost on the highest thing available.

I suggest making the roost as low as reasonable because chickens have been known to hurt themselves coming down from the roost, especially the larger breeds. It is not that they jam their joints every time they hop down. They spread their wings to come down fairly slowly and all that, and it does not really happen that often, but it is something that can happen. I just think it is good practice to keep the roosts as low as practical.

Another consideration, especially in your coop since it is 3 feet wide. Try to keep the area in front of the roosts clear to give them some room to land. Some chickens can fly reasonably well, but they are not really the most graceful things with wings. They can injure themselves coming down by hitting nest boxes, feeders, waterers, whatever, so try to give them room to land when they come down. That is another reason to keep the roost fairly low. The higher it is, the more room they need to land.

Another reason to keep your roost reasonably low. Regardless of your climate, you need ventilation in the coop, both in the winter and the summer. In the winter you need to get rid of moisture, in the summer heat, and in both seasons ammonia from their droppings. The easiest way to provide a lot of this ventilation is to have vents at the top of your coop. But you do not want the chickens roosting in drafts, especially in winter. So if the roosts are low enough so they are not in cross breezes from those vents, you are in good shape.

I'll give you links to some articles by a lady that lives in Ontario that really knows her stuff. I think they should be required reading for anyone that is starting out.

Pat’s Big Ol' Ventilation Page
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

Pat’s
Cold Coop (winter design) page:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-winter-coop-temperatures

Pat’s
Big Ol' Mud Page (fixing muddy runs):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-fix-a-muddy-run

I
know I have probably made it sound more complicated than it really is. With your existing building, you should do great. Welcome to the adventure.
 
Because your space is smallish, I would elevate your nest boxes about 18 inches. This leaves all of your floor space usable by your birds. Of course you have time for that, since your birds are chicks. And I would put 2 in, for the reasons RR covered. Is the people door on the long side or short side of the shed?? You'll probably need to place the nest box and roost at the end of one of the 3ft walls, since it'd be easier for the chickens to get up there that way. If you use a dropping board, you could place your roost above your nest box. And yes, you will still need a fenced area for a run, unless you plan on free ranging daily.
 
Reading Teach1rusl's comments, I'd like to revise mine. I'd probably try only one roost, not the two I mentioned. It should work out OK and it does give you more flexibility in laying out the coop.
 
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Thank you so much guys for taking the time to answer my questions. I thought maybe it was a bit smaller than it should be, but I wanted to make it work for this year since this was a spur of the moment thing, and we've decided if it works out we will get a few more birds next spring, and I will build a bigger coop. I plan on letting them free range in the yard every day. My only concern is I have an acre fenced in with a 4' high chain link fence and I worry about them going over the fence al lthe time. Is that a pretty common occurance or if so can you cli[p the wing feathers like on other birds to keep them from flying over the fence? I was planning on building two nesting boxes, figured two was better than one. I live in Michigan so it gets pretty cold and crappy for about 5 months a year, and plan on maybe using a few heat lamps at one end of the coop i nthe winter, or is that a no no? Thanks again guys, I really appreciate it, I really know nothing about this new hobby and Iwant to do right by the little girls.
 
With that much space I kind of doubt they'll go over the fence. Our fence (half field fence/half horse fence w/wire strung through) is four foot, and my birds never go over it. Could they? Sure. And some breeds are more prone to fence hopping than others. The wing clipping will help if needed.

As for the heat lamp issue, that's personal choice. I do provide a little heat in my coop on cold winter nights to at least keep it near the freezing mark. But the majority of folks with chickens don't. As long as there are no drafts, most breeds do fine down to zero degrees, according to those who don't supplement.
 

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