Crazy chicken lady in the making :)

[chrissynemetz]

Welcome to BYC! We're happy to have you with us!

 

[janiedoe]

Welcome to BYC. I would go with a walking coop over a raised, even considering the run space. It will be much easier to clean, and easier to access your hens, when needed. Good luck with your flock.

 

[cmom]

All of my coops but one are walk-in coops. I prefer the walk-ins. I agree with sourland. The bigger the coops and pens the better. You will find a lot of good information here Good luck and have fun...

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[Poshlissa]

Thank you all!! Looks like we are building a walk in coop. I had an idea in my head and then got confused by all the variables and my hubbys opinions. Lol But in my research I have come full circle back to my main idea. One question is have…

I think I want a small foyer in my hen house so that when I walk in I don’t walk directly into the coop. I’ve seen a few of these where there is a wall and door made of pine and chicken wire. I really like that idea. I feel like it would give me space to keep feed and supplies readily available and I could check on my girls without going into the coop area if I don’t need to. Also a second barrier should someone (a child) open the coop door and accidentally let my chickens out when it’s not safe.
Anyone with experience want to help me think through the pros and cons of this set up? The only con I can think of is less actual coop space, but the coop floor would still be 25-30sq feet and I’m wanting only 4-6 hens at most since it’s just hubby and I.

 

[DobieLover]

Thank you all!! Looks like we are building a walk in coop. I had an idea in my head and then got confused by all the variables and my hubbys opinions. Lol But in my research I have come full circle back to my main idea. One question is have…

I think I want a small foyer in my hen house so that when I walk in I don’t walk directly into the coop. I’ve seen a few of these where there is a wall and door made of pine and chicken wire. I really like that idea. I feel like it would give me space to keep feed and supplies readily available and I could check on my girls without going into the coop area if I don’t need to. Also a second barrier should someone (a child) open the coop door and accidentally let my chickens out when it’s not safe.
Anyone with experience want to help me think through the pros and cons of this set up? The only con I can think of is less actual coop space, but the coop floor would still be 25-30sq feet and I’m wanting only 4-6 hens at most since it’s just hubby and I.

I converted a shed into my coop.
1/4 of the building is "the brooder room" that contains the brooder, nest boxes and some storage. I like it quite a lot.

 

[RockinFlock]

I can see the appeal of a walk in coop, but we built a raised one. I had good reasons for it when we were planning it. We have vinyl "hardwood" floors on ours that we brought halfway up the wall. Before we put them in, I waterproofed the whole place.

We use the deep bedding (or is it litter) method. I bought some sweet pdz but have not had to use it yet. We don't have any smell, it's been the same bedding for three months. I don't know if that's too short to tell. I turn the bedding about once a week or two. The door on the coop is extra wide so I don't have to work about reach or leaning. We use hemp bedding which I like. In the run we have tried wood shavings and corn cobs. I prefer the wood shavings so far. But know that I don't have anywhere NEAR the amount of experience that these folks do.... and we live in totally different climates

 

[Poshlissa]

I can see the appeal of a walk in coop, but we built a raised one. I had good reasons for it when we were planning it. We have vinyl "hardwood" floors on ours that we brought halfway up the wall. Before we put them in, I waterproofed the whole place.

We use the deep bedding (or is it litter) method. I bought some sweet pdz but have not had to use it yet. We don't have any smell, it's been the same bedding for three months. I don't know if that's too short to tell. I turn the bedding about once a week or two. The door on the coop is extra wide so I don't have to work about reach or leaning. We use hemp bedding which I like. In the run we have tried wood shavings and corn cobs. I prefer the wood shavings so far. But know that I don't have anywhere NEAR the amount of experience that these folks do.... and we live in totally different climates

I definitely see the perks to a raised coop too, there is a reason so many people use them. I can go back and forth quite a bit in my mind. I feel like a full sized coop is actually easier to build tho and since my hubby used to build houses for a living, it’s totally in his wheelhouse. Tho he could easily build a raised one too.

Despite building a full size walk in coop, my hubby still plans to put in a floor and not just build on dirt. He wants linoleum for ease of cleaning and we may do the deep litter method too so he will build the pop door about 5 inches above the floor just in case as well as take the linoleum up the wall a bit. I will also have a larger clean-out door that goes out into the run so that I can easily push the litter out of the coop and into the run for disposal or just spreading in the run. I don’t have it all worked out in my mind yet or if the clean out door is even a good plan. I never thought a chicken coop would take so much thought. Lol

 

[Poshlissa]

I converted a shed into my coop.
1/4 of the building is "the brooder room" that contains the brooder, nest boxes and some storage. I like it quite a lot.

I won’t have a lot of room for my “foyer” but I was thinking of putting the nesting boxes inside the coop but accessible from the “foyer” wall via doors that open into the foyer. So when we are on vacation our neighbors can get the eggs without having to enter the coop area. But the building can only be 6’ wide x 8’ deep so I’m not sure how that will work out just yet. So we may change the design to have them accessible on the outside.

 

[DobieLover]

I won’t have a lot of room for my “foyer” but I was thinking of putting the nesting boxes inside the coop but accessible from the “foyer” wall via doors that open into the foyer. So when we are on vacation our neighbors can get the eggs without having to enter the coop area. But the building can only be 6’ wide x 8’ deep so I’m not sure how that will work out just yet. So we may change the design to have them accessible on the outside.

Put a large overhang on your roof on that side. I have a 2' overhang all the way around my coop and can stand under it during downpours and not get wet.