Criticize My Coop!

[Roach]

I like the idea of doing a double triangle, anyone else wanna chime in on that one? Will it be enough vertical space for the birds? Any other concerns, or will it be good in my VERY sunny and snowy state?

I know it's "Wasted Space", but it also requires almost half as much in regards to materials.

 

[pm]

If you're planning on moving your coop around or opening it up much, I would not use solid core doors. Hollow core doors are much lighter and will provide all the structural strength you need. Damaged doors can usually be found at home centers quite reasonably.

Paul

 

[Kikiriki]

I have three hens and a very large backyard. Last year I had a lawn, this year I have naked soil. I confined them to half the yard: the entire area is covered with holes about four to six inches deep which are broad enough for my foot to rest in them. They have also dug around the concrete pavers that surround the run to keep other animals from digging in. What used to be level ground is now a mess. I really recommend that you start with fewer chickens: you can always get more later...

You may find the height of the coop irritates you as you need to get in there for maintenance because the height you have might lead to having to be hunched over if you are taller than the peak.

Think about the necessity to clean poop as this is going to be required for you very frequently:
the roost area will be very poopy, including the roost itself: my girls manage to poop on the roost bar almost every day. If they are enclosed with that poop, then ventilation is going to be a big necessity: my coop is small, but has hardware cloth on two sides of the bottom half, plus a window of hardware cloth on the nestbox, and it has a hardware cloth window up top by the roost, plus two small vents for cross ventilation up top. Even with all that, in the morning it can be quite odorous. And they only spend the night in there: they range about the yard all day.

You are also going to want to think about how you will handle the waste, especially if you have neighbors. Establish a compost pile now, if you have not already, before you get the chickens and make sure it is actively composting. If you just dump the fresh poo under your plants it will kill them. It has too much salt and uric acid and each little poo bomb is concentrated with ammonia. When it gets wet it is really stinky and the 'juice' that comes out will burn roots. I just accidentally killed a bunch of my worms with chicken poo I thought was old enough to feed to them.

Are you really sure you need six chickens? With just three I have more eggs than I can use, and I cannot sell them due to state laws and local ordinances. Fifteen eggs per week minimum is really too much! Plus consider feed costs...especially if you cannot recoup money from selling eggs...I do give away at least half of ours.

 

[Roach]

Thanks for your concern Kikiriki, but The yard already has no grass, and has holes dug by dogs all about. (From the previous renters).

Thanks for the advice on the compost pile, but I'm hoping with additions, I'll be able to use their run as the initial compost by amending the soil as I go. Then moving it to a hot compost bin I'll be building. If I can't accomplish this, I'll just be putting the waste in sealed containers and possibly bringing it to a local community garden. Maybe I'll even trade for some veggies!

As far as egg production goes, my partner and I each eat 2 eggs for breakfast, as well as 5 (Large, who knows how many mediums) eggs a week for bread. That's 33 eggs a week, and if you consider my flatmate and his partner, not to mention, buying off neighbors... I'm not worried about an excess of eggs.

Is there a good composting thread on here?

 

[Roach]

Alright, here's my next rendition of a potential coop and run. Thanks to suggestions from ChickensRDinos.

My new design doesn't have stilts, roosts or boxes yet, but I wanted to run these new measurements by all of you folks.

I know most people suggest .5" hardware cloth for runs. Could I get away with doing poultry wire on the top half of the run to save some money?

What do you all think of these dimensions and such!

 

[Mikedero]

Very well done and a perfect fit for the chickens. I think peoples math might be off even with 10sq ft per bird hen he has room for 2 more wthi his run being 78+sq ft

and his coops being at least 18 sq ft more then enough for 6. I like the triangle as it will hold the heat in the winter time better

 

[Mikedero]

I would go back to the first drawing. I have 10 Chickens in a coop 4X8 and a run 8X15

I like you thinking for the first drawing. Some great adivce here but some of these people have farms and going bigger to them is not a issue. With others liek us we need to use every inch the besy we can.


Trust me you will eat all the eggs they taste so good

 

[Chick Charm]

Arks like this are great for your needs.

80 sf of run space is good. If you build it light enough moving it around is good for the ground and your chickens. Plenty of space for 6 full sized chickens. And free ranging them when you can is not only entertaining and enjoyable, it is beneficial for removing bugs.

You can even attach a feeder and drinker so that you never have to enter inside the ark.

Best of wishes to ya.

 

[stake]

Hey there everyone, just working on my coop design that I'll be building next month. It's based off of using two solid core doors as the upper coop panels, one side will open for egg access, and the other will open with wire underneath for summer ventilation. I've included measurements so people can see how large everything is going to be, and if it will appropriately fit [COLOR=0000FF]6 chickens[/COLOR]. I've yet to add roosting bars or a droppings try to the coop section. I'm in a urban setting, so it needs to be dog secure, and keep the egg song fairly muffled. Feel free to point out issues, improvements, good design elements. All is welcome. I've read many threads on BYC as well as the fantastic book, A Chicken in Every Yard, so I'm decently versed in chicken raising, but this is my first time!

Hi Roach: Was going to do something similar to you then decided to buy a coop-with-run after doing some costing...I am a newbie and was going low cost until I found more about raising chickens...My first thoughts(I'm real lazy) I would scale up your measurements to 8'er(make all sides of the triangle equal ) and use 4'x8' plywood...(less sawing, all angles=60 ) my two cents....

 

[Hokum Coco]

You can not please everybody when it comes to a build. I personally thought your first drawing was good to go. If you decided at a later date chickens are not for you; Your first design on Craig List would be an attractive acquisition to some one else for any number of reasons and pets.