coop redesign - help needed

[Lins_BE]

I want to redesign my coop in order to have enough room for raising chicks. I am planning on staggered hatching so i was thinking of dividing the chick past in two for the smaller and bigger chicks.

The entire coop is 13 x 26 feet, divided in 2 halfs of 6,5 x 26 feet.

I want an area of 6,5 x 19,5 feet for raising the chicks, there’s also a run of 13 x 26 attached that can be used for the chicks.

I want to put in roosts with a poop board underneath with pdz or sand in it so i can scoop the poop out. I will put those roosts 12” away from the wall, but how wide would the poop board underneath have to be?

This is how it looks like now. The roosts are going out and the new ones will come in their place. Any other suggestions for remoddeling?

 

[aart]

I will put those roosts 12” away from the wall, but how wide would the poop board underneath have to be?

24" board with roost centered works best, IMO.


That's the only question I can answer offhand.
I would suggest sketching your space to scale on some graph paper to help you plan how to divide it up for waht you want to do.
I assume the tanks will be removed?
Do you have an existing flock, and where do they live in this scenario?

My coop is also 6' wide...and 16' long, I partition off 4' on one end for chicks with a temporary wall, there is a separate run for them.
Shown here without wall in place:

 

[Ridgerunner]

How many chicks at a time? Will you be brooding them from hatch out here or will you bring them out here after they are old enough to handle your weather? Will you be integrating them with each other or an older flock or maybe selling them? How old will they be when you are ready for them to leave this area? If you do integrate how big of a total area do you have and how many chickens, including adults?

Your goals and how you manage them has a lot to do with how you set it up. I brooder raise chicks and integrate the with my main flock. After they are integrated the chick area is part of the overall flock area. I could tell you how I do it but if your goals and such are different it probably wouldn't do you much good.

 

[Lins_BE]

Thank you both for your reply

@aart I will get you a coop plan by tomorrow so the setup is more clear.

@Ridgerunner
I will be hatching 8 eggs at a time, so i am counting on 6 chicks weekly.
I have a brooder set up for the first week, after that they will be transfering to their space in the coop with a heat plate. I have 3 heat plates that are meant for 50 chicks.
We are aiming on having a flock of around 100 hens, the roosters we eat. I will be selling chicks if we go over that number. We do have another coop available also, but that one isn't suited for chicks

Our adult chickens free range on the pastures and woods surrounding us, so they have plenty of outside space. At the time we have 33 adult chickens.
I usually start letting the chicks find their own way to the adult flock from when they're about 5 weeks old. I have holes in the wire that they can get trough, but the adults can't so they are safe.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's not that far from what I do except I don't do your conveyor belt system. I hatch about 20 chicks at a time and raise them in a brooder in the main coop. At 5 weeks I open the brooder door and walk away. That's it for my integration. The chicks return to the main coop to sleep. That's one aspect I'm struggling with for you, where will they sleep?

Some people are quite successful at integrating chicks a week apart in age. You might have problems with that, you might not. I had a two week old kill a hatchmate and attack another. No integration involved. About anything can happen with chickens.

My initial thoughts would be to divide that area into 5 sections and move the chicks each week. That's pretty big pens for them, maybe make the last one a bit bigger than the others. Use that last one for your hole in the fence method for integrating. Maybe they initially sleep in there or in that run that's available?

I'm sure I'm overthinking it and being much too safe. With what you have to work with you should come up with something workable.

Good luck!

 

[Lins_BE]

Well, agressive behaviour is a one way tocket to ‘coq ai vin’ at our place...

 

[Lins_BE]

Say I make the roost setup from @aart, but i want twoo roosts over one poop tray, one a little higher then the other. How far would I have to keep the two roosts apart for the chickens not to poop on each other? Again 12” or can it be shorter?

 

[aart]

Say I make the roost setup from @aart, but i want twoo roosts over one poop tray, one a little higher then the other. How far would I have to keep the two roosts apart for the chickens not to poop on each other? Again 12” or can it be shorter?

I'd go 18" apart in between roosts......or not worry about it.
Many of mine roost on the front edge or even right on the board,
being pooped on doesn't seem to be an issue.
Only once has one been hit with a juicy poop.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The typical recommendation is a minimum 12" from the wall and 12" horizontal from another roost, whether same height or on higher than the other. If you have one roost, the poop board should be 12" on either side. If you have two roosts 12" the poop board should be 36" total width. Both edges 12" from the roost.

 

[Alaskan]

Say I make the roost setup from @aart, but i want twoo roosts over one poop tray, one a little higher then the other. How far would I have to keep the two roosts apart for the chickens not to poop on each other? Again 12” or can it be shorter?

Like @aart Mine roost on the front edge.

So, my poop trays are 2feet deep, the one perch is over the middle of the tray, then I put a 1x4 on the front edge of the tray to form a second perch.

I really like putting up a wire wall so that the "under the poop shelf space" becomes a brooder.

In my set up though that means the brooder is only 2 feet by 8 feet. That is great for a broody, or a few chicks, or more chicks for a short time..... but I think not as big as you wanted.