TheBajan
Songster
Hello all,
We have mapped out a location and I've designed the coop but before we get too far along, I wanted to run my plans by more experienced chicken people. The coop and (indoor) yard will be located in the Northwest corner of our Pole Barn. I've attached a photo of the foundation. We are covering it with plywood and also vinyl flooring. It will be a total of 8' x 24'. The actual coop building will be 8'x 8' opening to the yard that is 8'x16'. The yard portion will also have a built in dust bath that is 3'x6'. Part two of this build will be to enclose an outside yard accessible form their inside yard. It will be 10'x20' on the north side of the barn and continue around the west side at 10'x25'. We will also be burying cage wire around the perimeter of the the entire coop and both the inside and outside yards.
A couple of questions regarding the coop itself...
We have mapped out a location and I've designed the coop but before we get too far along, I wanted to run my plans by more experienced chicken people. The coop and (indoor) yard will be located in the Northwest corner of our Pole Barn. I've attached a photo of the foundation. We are covering it with plywood and also vinyl flooring. It will be a total of 8' x 24'. The actual coop building will be 8'x 8' opening to the yard that is 8'x16'. The yard portion will also have a built in dust bath that is 3'x6'. Part two of this build will be to enclose an outside yard accessible form their inside yard. It will be 10'x20' on the north side of the barn and continue around the west side at 10'x25'. We will also be burying cage wire around the perimeter of the the entire coop and both the inside and outside yards.
A couple of questions regarding the coop itself...
- This will be a walk in hen-house. I'm planning to have the ceiling height at 10' on the west wall sloping down to 8' on the east wall. Is that too tall? Is there any advantage in making it shorter vs. taller?
- Space per bird- we will house 24 birds. We have 27 but 5 of them appear to be roosters and we won't be able to keep more than 2 roosters so three will be re-homed. Is this enough space for them? Total coop space of 64 square feet inside the building and the interior yard is twice that amount at 128 square feet.
- Ventilation- I have a window planned (24"w x 36"h) on the east wall that faces the inside of the barn. Higher up by the ceiling on the west wall (the exterior wall of the barn), I am planning to have a window that is 48"w x 12"h to bring in fresh air. This is the only wall that is an exterior wall. My question is should I also have ventilation holes or windows in the north and south walls as well? The south wall will have the nesting boxes and the north wall will be where the door to the coop is at. It's also where they enter the inside yard.
- Lighting- We are going to have a light in the ceiling of the 8'x8' hen-house portion. The barn already has enough lights to take care of the yard portion. I've noticed that often people use red light bulbs in the coop. Is there are particular advantage to this vs. normal light bulbs?
- Food n water- I'm planning to have a couple of water stations set up in the yard portion of the coop as well as a couple of food stations. Should I also have food and water located within the coop building itself?
- My last question (for now) is regarding painting the coop. Is it a good idea to paint the interior of the coop a lighter color such as white or should it be more muted tones line beige or gray? I want to be sensitive to colors because I know the chickens are responsive to color and I want them to feel peaceful. Thoughts? Does it matter or am I just over-thinking this?
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