Coop sketch up plans, looking for suggestions (pics)

[joe_p]

I am about to start building my first coop in Kenucky. To get ready I tried to do some renderings of it so I can work out how much material I will need and get a visual idea of what I want it to look like. Anyone see any problems with my plans up to this point or any suggestions?

I will be getting 4 hens. 2 standard (Wyandotte/EE) and 2 bantams (Cochin/silky)
Live in Kentucky and will be putting insulation in.
Will add 1 or 2 windows not shown for ventilation.





Can I use a smaller board in the middle of the roof? the scrip I was using to make it is for laying out houses and it will not let me make it smaller.

Edit: opps I forgot to say that with my work I will not be able to let them out every day to play in the yard so I want something they will be ok in most of the time.
Edit again: thank you for the suggestions updating images
Old plans:

 

[illegal avian]

Chickens are great, but Cardinals may be a better fit... If you are 7 feet tall living in Louisville give Rick Pitino a call!

... and maybe rethink that 3' Human door.

 

[Prospector]

Joe, Where is "here" Hot/colc/rain/snow may affect our input.

I used a 2X6 for my ridge board with a 1:1 slope on the roof, adn it is strong. Don't get excited about teh human door sizing. Go to re-store, see what is available and frame the coop to fit.

Whenever possible use even numbers for your dimensions to minimize waste. A 4'X5' floor will result in a 3' offcut from a sheet of plywood.. Thats good for one of your side walls, but what are your plans for the other 3? No matter what you do you waste 2' of plywood.


i think a steeper slope on your roof would be beneficial to give teh birds more headroom. I don't know how much of a difference it would make to your plywood budget.

Where are your nesting boxes?

How do you plan to incorporate water/food in teh plan? (Indoors or out?)

 

[JanetSmithery]

I'm building a coop with a similar plan and was lucky enough to visit a friend who also has a similar set-up with similar dimensions to yours. My friend is maybe 4'10" on a good day, and her 5' tall coop was just fine for her. However, I'm a good foot taller and I wanted to die about two seconds after entering her coop. I would not want to do any serious cleaning/poop raking/water changing/whatever half-hunched over...and I'm the type of person who would put off that chore to avoid that minor discomfort.

Utilizing different lengths of lumber, I was able to re-configure her base plans into 7' tall walls, and I only end up spending maybe $10 more in lumber costs. If you're taller, it might be worth looking into making a coop/run like this taller, too.

Also, I found it much, much, much cheaper to make my coop/run 4'x10' instead of the 5'x8' that my friend's is precisely because of what Prospector said: That 5' makes an awful lot of plywood waste. Same square footage, $120 less to build.

 

[BankerJohn]

Joe,

From experience, the one thing I would change in my run is that there would be enough head room to walk around. You may want to revise the height of the coop to allow for you to walk around in. This will make cleaning the run MUCH easier later on!

You could use 2X10's sunk in the ground for corner posts and still get your 7" height before adding the truss.

 

[joe_p]

Thank you all for the replies. I have changed things around a little on the suggestions. I am 5'11" so I think I have it at a good height. I also made it thinner to keep from waisting money lumber.

 

[JanetSmithery]

Nice modifications! I bet you just saw your costs drop a good bit.

You might want to look into building an exterior nest box. My aforementioned friend has exterior access to hers, which is wonderfully convenient, but the birds still climb up onto the roof of the nest box and make a mess. (Not unlike that seen in this video .) If the nest box itself is outside (like the one here ), they can't make such a mess...and you get more usable square footage inside your coop.

Is the wire floor you mentioned just a small cut out under the food/water, or is it the whole floor?