Coop size for 14 Layers?

[oldchickenlady]

8x8 is a great size for that many hens (or fewer) because the plywood is already in 4x8 dimensions and you can buy 2x4's in 8 foot lengths...this means less cutting with a skill saw!! Less cutting is a good thing! Unless you have your very own professional carpenter building it for you. For your roof you can use 10 or 12 foot 2x4's so you will have some overhang for protection from rain...and...no cutting! Here is mine before the run was attached:

Here it is with the pvc hoop run attached:

I have a tarp over the top all the time for protection from the rain and in winter I also put plastic sheeting on the sides to block the cold winter winds and snow.

 

[Bleenie]

I needed to know the minimum just in case I had any arguments

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Our first coop came with a shed we got from our neighbor, it was built onto the side of it and was just really crappy. not fully enclosed, had a deck-like floor so there was gaps between the boards & it only had half walls. Our second(current) coop is an old playhouse that is approximately 5' x 8' but being a playhouse it's got a small door and is short, lol. The floor is also not very supported so it's a bit scary walking around in it when I have to clean.... one of the plus sides is that it has a "trap door" for easy cleaning.... Thats about the only thing i really like about it.

The foundation bricks on the current coop are also becoming unstable so I want the new coop to be MUCH closer to the ground. I know OSB/chip board would rot after a while, being that close to the moist dirt so what thickness of plywood would work best for the floor?

thanks for all the input everyone

 

[they'reHISchickens]

If I had to do it over again, my main coop would be 12 inches off the ground. That isn't too high for the chickens, but would give them lots of bare ground underneath for dusting during rainy/snowy days. it's currently only 6 inches off the ground which does allow some dusting ,but I always worry that they will start laying underneath and we won't see them!

 

[Bleenie]

I can easily crawl around on my hands & knees underneath the current coop & sometimes have to because there's a cozy nest spot the duck hens will lay in if they have to lay an egg while they're free ranging.

If the new coop is elevated enough for them to wiggle underneath I will just have to put up wire around the coop so they don't get under there. A couple years ago I had a duck hen nest under a building that was about 12" off the ground, I lost her to a raccoon when she was brooding her eggs

I don't need anymore secret broodies again.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I copied my coop from Judymae's coop because it was easier not having to cut large pieces of lumber. Only things I did different was take the walls all the way up to the roof and putt walls not just wire on the front. It's 8x8 6ft front 4ftback

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8315

I'm getting ready to re-do it and open it up more like Judymae's original design and use it as a supper-sized tractor.

ETA---pictures of my version. I admit it's ugly! but it was big and roomy and safe. Never lost a chicken in the coop, even when a big ol black snake got in. He was more intersted in eating the eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I understand about getting it off the ground enough if you build it off the ground. Putting it on the ground with a floor and rats and mice have a great place to nest. Put it off the ground enough to stop mice and rats and the chickens can and will go under there, so it needs to be high enough that you can go under there.

I don't know where Orting, Washington is, whether that is on the wet side or dry side. That may be a reason why you want it off the ground. Mine has a dirt floor so I cannot help with a raised coop based on experience. I'd probably go with treated plywood, but that is just me. I used treated timbers as sills and put an apron around the coop to stop digging animals and called that good. I also put it on a bit of a rise, formed a swale to keep rainwater runoff from getting inside, and hauled some dirt and raised the floor inside the coop a bit after it was built. My coop stays dry and my run pretty dry but I don't have that Pacific Northwest rainfall.

Now that I understand a bit more where you are coming from on your original question, let me give you a write-up I did a while back on space requirements. There is nothing magical that makes the 4 square foot per chicken recommendation and absolute law of nature. Some people get by with less, some get in trouble with more. There are a lot of different things that go into your results; the personality of your individual chickens, your management techniques, climate, and situation. The more space you have, the less you have to manage them. Anyway, hope you get something from this.

As long as you have enough height for the roosts to be noticeably higher than the nest boxes, height does not matter to chickens. They are basically ground dwelling birds, so the ground area is all that really matters space wise. I said it does not matter to the chickens. It does matter to me if I have to work in there. It matters quite a bit.

If the nest boxes are high enough off the ground that the chickens can easily get under them, then nest boxes do not take away from the space available. The tops of the nesting boxes does not add to the living space either although they may occasionally be up there. Ground level is what counts.

Some of the things that make up the space requirement are, in my opinion:

1. Personal space for the birds. They have different personalities and different individual requirements. Some are very possessive of personal space and some can share.

2. Access to feeder and waterer. The general recommendation is that they all be able to eat at one time, but access to the waterer is also important. Part of this is that they seem to like to all eat at once but not necessarily drink at the same time. Part of it is that a dominant bird may keep others from eating or drinking, especially with limited access.

3. Being able to put the feeder and waterer where they will not poop in it when they roost.

4. Roost space. They not only need to have enough room to roost, they need to have enough room for them to sort out who gets to sleep next to whom and who gets the prime spots. They also need enough room to get on the roosts and get off them. When they get on, they may jump from some midway support or fly directly to the roost, but either way, they like to spread their wings. And some chickens seem to enjoy blocking the entry points if there are limits. And when they get off, mine tend to want to fly down, not jump to a halfway point. They need room to fly down without bumping into feeders, waterers, nesting boxes, or a wall.

5. Poop load. The larger area they have the less often you have to actively manage the poop. They poop a lot while on the roost so you may have to give that area special consideration, but mucking out the entire coop can be backbreaking work plus you have to have some place to put all that bedding and poop. In my opinion, totally cleaning out the coop is something that needs to happen as seldom as possible.

6. How often are they able to get out of the coop. The more they are confined to the coop, the larger the personal space needs to be. The normal recommendation on this forum is 4 square feet per full sized chicken with a minimum of 10 square feet of run per bird. This additional requirement outside is sometimes not mentioned. How often they are allowed out of the coop may depend on a lot more than just weather. Your work schedule, when you are able to turn them loose, what time of day you open the pop door to let them out or lock them up at night, all this and more enters into the equation. The 4 square feet recommendation assumes they will spend extended time in the coop and not be able to get in the run. What that extended time can safely be depends on a lot of different factor so there is no one correct length of time for everyone.

7. Do you feed and water in the coop or outside. The more they are outside, the less pressure on the size of the coop.

8. The size of the chicken. Bantams require less room than full sized chickens. This has to be tempered by breed and the individual personalities. Some bantams can be more protective of personal space than others, but this is also true of full sized breeds.

9. The breed of the chicken. Some handle confinement better than others.

10. The number of chickens. The greater the number of chickens, the more personal space they can have if the square foot per chicken stays constant. Let me explain. Assume each chicken occupies 1 square foot of space. If you have two chickens and 4 square feet per chicken, the two chickens occupy 2 square feet, which leaves 6 square feet for them to explore. If you have ten chickens with 4 square feet per chicken, each chicken has 30 unoccupied square feet to explore. A greater number also can give more space to position the feeders and waterers properly in relation to the roosts and provide access. I’m not encouraging you to crowd your birds if you have a large number of them. I’m trying to say you are more likely to get in trouble with 4 square feet per chicken if you have very few chickens.

11. What is your flock make-up. A flock with more than one rooster may be more peaceful if it has more space. I don't want to start the argument about number or roosters here as I know more than one rooster can often peacefully coexist with a flock, but I firmly believe more space helps.

12. What is the maximum number of chickens you will have. Consider hatching chicks or bringing in replacements. Look down the road a bit.

I'm sure I am missing several components, but the point I'm trying to make is that we all have different conditions. There is no magic number that suits us all. The 4 square feet in a coop with 10 square feet in the run is a good rule of thumb for a minimum that most of the time will keep us out of trouble, but not always. I do believe that more is better both in the coop and in the run.

 

[chellejeff]

Someone mentioned a 2 x 4 laid flat as the roost. I have a 2 x 2 roost about 6 feet long. I screwed a 3 foot section of 2 x 4 flat on top of it based on what I read here. My hens would all squeeze onto the ends, where it was still 2 x 2, leaving the 2 x 4 section empty. I took the 2 x 4 off, and now they use the whole roost again. Their feathers still completely cover their toes when they're settled in. Just a thought.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Quote:
What kind of birds are they? How old are they?

 

[chellejeff]

2 year olds, RIR's, BO, Barred Rock, Silver Laced, Black Australorps, Americaunas and a couple orange ones.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
That's unusual. I suspect they were simply upset by the change. They will adjust to changes if you give them a little time. In really cold climates, the idea is that their whole lower body cover their feet, not just their feathers, to keep them warm with body contact.

The only other thing I'd add to all these wonderful comments is, I don't like to have roosts at different levels. I have 3, all the same height. They already squabble over position, I don't want them squabbling over who gets to be highest, too.