Coop Questions

[AccentOnHakes]

I need some help on building a coop:

Oh yeah, we're talking LF here.

How high should the coop be? My fence is about 5 feet, and I'm hoping for something a bit lower so people walking by won't know.

How high should the roosts be? I'm thinking about 2 feet up?

Should the roosts be round or rectangular? What size?

The nesting boxes can be on the ground, right?

 

[anthonyjames]

You can make your coop like a tractor. Chickens don't really need to roost. They will roost on the ground but you get them something 8" off the ground they will be happy. In the summer all of my hens are in movable tractors. I have 25 to a tractor that is now 8 x 12 x 3 tall. I have roosts in a couple but not all. In the winter they are in my covered run which you can see here:

http://gallery.me.com/anthonyjames420/100298

They have about 16" of straw beneath them and they will hunker down right in the straw every night for bedtime.

 

[mikecnorthwest]

I started out thinking I didn't want my coop to be visible above the fence line also. Then I decided it was more important to be able to walk into the coop and be able to stand up, so mine ended up having the roof line about a couple of feet over the fence line. Take a look at my BYC page and you'll see what I mean. As for the roost bars, mine are 2x4's laying flat in some brackets with the edges rounded over.

 

[nsanywhere]

You will get many opinions of this subject - here's my $.02

The outside run fence should be at least 6 feet high. Covering the pen depends on where you are and what predators you have. I leave mine open on top and haven't had any problems, other than a chicken or two flying out to free range before I open the door to the bigger grazing pen (about 1/2 acre with my sheep). I do clip the wings in an attempt to keep some order!

Burry the wire about 6 inches down to deter digging animals and because chickens do a lot of scratching. I weight my wire with a trench of rocks and also bend it into the coop about 6 inches. The rats still find a way in, but its manageable.

The run itself is a dirt ground. In the spring and fall I add layers of mulched leaves, wood chips from any tree work we've had done, and grass clippings (not too much or it just gets spongy and smelly). I also turn the dirt now and then to bring up the worms as a treat. I dig down a few inches and use the dirt for my flower boxes in the spring, but be careful with this since chicken poo can burn plants easily if its not aged.

My coop is raised off the ground about 18 inches, made of very thick, sturdy wood (not pressure treated). This sucker was built in 1925 and is still going strong! I did put a fresh coat of paint on it 2 years ago. I have 3 windows for ventilation, closed in the winter, open with screens in the spring/summer.

The actual indoor coop doesn't have to be high (mine is about 4 feet), but keep in mind the cleaning. I WISH mine were high enough to stand up in - its a pain (literally) to muck out. I put all the shavings and poo on my garden in the fall so it can age over the winter and be ready for May planting. The rest of the year I make mulch piles to use later.

General guidelines are 2 sq ft minimum per chicken inside coop, 8 sq ft per chicken for the outside run. Overcrowding leads to disease, pecking, overly messy pen, etc.

Roosts 1-2 feet up is fine. Use rectangular wood (2x4s are good) so they can have their feet flat and sit on them to keep warm in cold weather. Rounded roosts leave toes exposed to frostbite, etc. You can also make a ladder system for them to roost as different heights. Just make sure there is plenty of room for all the chickens.

Nesting boxes should be up off the ground to encourage them to use the boxes rather than lay on the coop floor. I use straw in mine and have to clean them regularly since some chickens also sleep and mess in them. I tried pine shavings but they just kick it out. Not sure how many boxes you need - I have 6 for 18 hens and they mostly use 2-3 of the boxes.

I do use pine shavings on the floor of the coop - it makes the mucking out so much easier. Chicken poo is like glue!

Try googling "chicken coops" "chicken nesting box" "chicken roosts" "chicken pens" choosing Web and Images in the upper left. There is a ton of great info out there. Good luck!

 

[AccentOnHakes]

How high off the ground should the nesting boxes be? Can I use bricks underneath them for that?

 

[chookchick]

Quote:
Totally agree with that! I started out with a 4 by 8 playhouse style coop/run and quickly decided I did not like it! LOVE having an 8 by 8 walk-in coop. If you make it properly, it will just look like another shed, now if the hens start doing the egg song--that is another matter! You can see my coop on my BYC pages--the layouts on the second page might answer some of your questions.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Quote:
Another question: for a 3-bird coop, how much ventilation?( in terms of square feet)

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
I would suggest either "on the ground" (some people have problems with this, in encouraging floor eggs, although I haven't had problems myself; plus obviously it decreases available floorspace for the birds to walk around in) or "raised up at least 14" or so off the floor", so that they CAN walk around under the nestboxes. If you're going to elevate the nestbox, screw it securely to the coop wall/frame, don't just put it up on bricks, for several reasons.

Another question: for a 3-bird coop, how much ventilation?( in terms of square feet)

See Big Ol' Ventilation page linked in my .sig below. It is not realistic to try to predict it exactly for particular situations, there are too many variables and unknowns; therefore I would highly suggest building LOTS of ventilation and you don't have to actually have it all *open* all the time

As a ballpark figure, I would say you are likely to have ample capacity to play with if you build something on the order of 1 sq ft per chicken, or at least 1 sq ft per 10 sq ft of coop floor. Unless you're in a climate where summer heat is a big problem, and then you should also have one or several walls mostly or completely mesh for summertime, so the coop at least doesn't get any *hotter than* the outdoor air.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Quote:
I would suggest either "on the ground" (some people have problems with this, in encouraging floor eggs, although I haven't had problems myself; plus obviously it decreases available floorspace for the birds to walk around in) or "raised up at least 14" or so off the floor", so that they CAN walk around under the nestboxes. If you're going to elevate the nestbox, screw it securely to the coop wall/frame, don't just put it up on bricks, for several reasons.

Another question: for a 3-bird coop, how much ventilation?( in terms of square feet)

See Big Ol' Ventilation page linked in my .sig below. It is not realistic to try to predict it exactly for particular situations, there are too many variables and unknowns; therefore I would highly suggest building LOTS of ventilation and you don't have to actually have it all *open* all the time

As a ballpark figure, I would say you are likely to have ample capacity to play with if you build something on the order of 1 sq ft per chicken, or at least 1 sq ft per 10 sq ft of coop floor. Unless you're in a climate where summer heat is a big problem, and then you should also have one or several walls mostly or completely mesh for summertime, so the coop at least doesn't get any *hotter than* the outdoor air.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

Thanks!

 

[AccentOnHakes]

I'm now looking at a 4 inch opening a little less than 4 feet on 3 sides...That will give me over 1 foot of ventilation per chicken.