Critique my coop design please.

[vehve]

Great suggestion, CC. While on the subject of water flow, I'm not sure if this was mentioned yet, but also removing water is going to be important, so be sure to build proper drainage to the base.

 

[detz]

Even though you're not building till spring, I recommend you build a mockup of your water system now to see how it works this winter. Then you won't have to modify next year after it's already installed.

Great idea! I'll build that this weekend!

Nice CAD drawings! Here are my suggestions:

1. For the watering pipe inside the coop, flip the wye connection, so water flows downward to the horizontal pipe.
2. Lower the height of the filling pipes so that they will be at your chest level instead of over your head, easier for access. If you are concern with the storage volume, increase the pipe size, but be careful that the diameter of the food feeder is not so big that a chicken can crawl into it and get stuck.
3. Consider a feeder design that multiple chickens can eat at the same time without resort to the pecking order.
4. Make sure that there is enough headroom underneath the coop for the chickens to stand up straight (at least 24").
5. Have a way to access the area beneath the coop so you can clean and service the feeders, turn the bedding. I personally preferred to put the feeders inside the run and put the dirt bath tray beneath the coop, leaving more free floor space inside the coop.
6. Add another 12" of perimeter on the bottom to hold back the deep litter bedding and block the snow on the ground.
7. Carefully assess the coop and run framing relative to where you can nail the roosting bars.
8. Extend the roof overhang to cover the hinges of the nest box cover so that water will not flow into the next box. Increase the slope of the nest box cover for snow removal. Extend the roof to cover the front/top vent so that rain and snow won't drift into it.
9. Design a removable poop tray beneath the roosting bar.
10. Maybe consider reversing the coop door opening so that it is easier get to the poop tray.
11. If possible, make one long roosting bar for all six hens instead of 2 levels so they don't have to fight over the pecking order as much.
12. Check the window location that is next to the roosting bar to minimize draft. If the window can be closed tightly, then it is fine for them to look out to the run.
13. Size your run as big as possible, and think about how you would attach the 1/2" hardware cloth. The hardware cloth comes in certain width and length, and need to be attached to the framing but minimize waste. That could dictate how you want to frame the run.
14. Depending on your neighborhood, the coop and the run do not need a lock, but you should think about how to close the run door from inside and how to get out of the run should you get locked-in.
15. If you were to use rainwater to replenish the water feeder, pre-filter the water first, add an overflow, and incorporate a way to clean out the sediment on the bottom of the water pipe.

Look forward seeing the progression of your chicken coop design!

5. I wanted to put the feeders in the run but if I'm having it in the coop it just made sense to have it under those. Maybe I can move stuff around so it's on the run wall and thus accomplish both things.
8. More than it is now. It's like 10 inches in the front and 6 on the sides.
9. Poop tray even with DLM?
10. Done. good idea.
11. Trying to figure out how much space I need. someone else commented on this too, I'll see what I can work in.
12. So in the winter I should close this one down?
13. ****, that stuff is expensive! Okay, I guess I'll move my framing around so I don't waste any.
14. Adding a sling door.

Thanks for the great feedback!

Your design looks pretty similar to the coop that I built. You can find a link to it under my avatar or in my signature. Here are the things that bother me in my own design.

The run is too small. You should make your run bigger than what you've been planning. This is the biggest flaw in my coop.

For my climate, the amount of ventilation I've got seems to be sufficient, but depending on your climate, you might need some more.

Parts of the inside of the coop are a bit hard to reach. This is mainly a problem because our two Sussexes have taken to sleeping on the floor, next to the pop door.

I've insulated mine, I don't see any adverse effects, but I'm also not sure how necessary it really was. We haven't had colder weather than about 30F yet though, but the chickens have been sleeping out in the run still (I've covered it with corrugated plastic to protect from the elements during winter.) The insulation did keep the coop cooler in the summer though. We had pretty hot weather, and it stayed almost 10F cooler than the outside air.

Otherwise, the layout I've got has been pretty functional. The amount of roosts you've planned is overkill in my opinion. My coop holds about 6-8 chickens, but that is the absolute maximum. The next time I'm building a coop, I'm going to make it a walk in version and a lot larger.

You can read through my coop article, I've written down some thoughts on it's function and tried to motivate why I went with certain solutions, I'm sure I've forgotten to mention many points here.

Yeah, the run is planned around the roof panel sizes...so if I add another panel that's another 3' which would be better. Would add another $100 but that's not bad I guess. I'm making everything in the coop attached by french cleats so I can remove everything to do deep cleanings. It's 15 degrees here right now and we're just getting started. I know I need vents but I'm trying to figure out the best way to keep air circulating while keeping the drafts out during the winter months.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Another good point.
I build all my systems with a drain at the lowest point.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I think yellowchicks had great suggestions and very comprehensive.

A lot of people use a poop board even with DLM. It does help a lot, I just haven't used one yet.

The only disagreement I might have is with closing windows tight except if a huge storm is coming to keep rain and snow out toward the prevailing wind.

 

[aart]

DLM is a tricky thing...and the term can mean several different things.

DLM often implies composting within the coop to generate heat...but...not really a good idea because a true active compost takes more moisture than you want in a chicken coop.

I use coarse kiln dried pine shavings about 6-8 inches thick(to me that's deep, because in summer they are only about 1-2 inches thick)
in winter for floor insulation and a place to nestle down on cold days and they dry out any poops there,
but I have a roost board with PDZ that I sift clear of poops every other day to reduce moisture and ammonia in the coop.
Those poops go into a closed bucket then out to a real compost pile.

 

[JanetS]

This is the latch we use.

 

[detz]

Go big or go home. Since we don't plan on culling our hens we'll have to have space for the jerryatric bids and new ones so we can keep egg production up. New plan is to have room for 10 but plan for 8 on a 2-3 year chick cycle so new ones come in every 2-3 years depending on when the older ones decide to kick the bucket. :-/

Anyway, I made some changes so things are bigger and fit better with lumber/hardware cloth sizes. I also got worried since it gets cold here that the roosts would get breeze so I removed the windows and lowered them.

Do I have enough ventilation with the big open window at the top and the roof channel?

 

[vehve]

I would suggest flipping the pop door and roost placing, and making both ends of the coop openable. That way you can expand the coop by building a mirrored addition to it if needed. How about adding some low air intake vents?

 

[barnaclebob]

I personally would put the main door to the coop on the inside of the fenced area so that you can toss the poop down into the run. This assumes the coop isn't being placed in a larger unsecured run.

 

[detz]

The big panel that is removed in the second picture is a big door for cleaning I just haven't designed it yet. The idea being I can swing that open to get access to the poop board. The back wall (Across from the roost) will have food/water for winter months.