Critique my coop!!!

[Winston]

This is my first year with chickens. Non of mine are laying yet and they are in a temporary coop. I currently have 2 Buff Brahmas and 13 Dominiques (1 rooster), but I am planning on thinning them down to 10 for now. I want to raise more as I go. I am trying to design my coop to have 2 holding areas to handle 10 chickens each. I have already discovered the importance of being able to separate when needed.

I have the materials and my size is set, 8'x12'. I am building out of materials I have (old barn wood, windows, doors). I am wondering if I am trying to cram too much in it. I want an entry to store feed and supplies and 2 holding areas. The areas inside will be separated by regular poultry netting. I am planning on having a slide gate of netting to separate the two areas that can be removed to make one big area. You can see my slide gate under the storage shelf.

I have 2 chicken doors front and back for each area, with a run made of electric poultry netting that I move around as needed.

I dont not know what else to add so here are my conceptual drawings (my first time using google sketch up so be gentle about the presentation), but please ask questions about the layout because I need it.

 

[SamuelMcF]

Great job on the drawings! Especially for your first time! I think it looks nice and dimensions seem good. Maybe a little too small for 20 chickens though. But the concept is good. I think the entry way could be simplified a bit. If you made it square instead of angled like that it would probably be easier to build. At least that is if i'm understanding that correctly. Did you use set dimensions in your drawing? I'm not sure it looks like the right dimensions. But lets here what other people have to say.

 

[schmism]

i like to keep my extra chicken materials in the coupe

-bags of feed,
-bags of scratch,
-bags of sunflower seeds,
-grit,
-oyster shell
-bale or 2 of beding
-manure fork
-extra water/feeders

all these materials quickly suck up floor space. I added a small addition to my coupe to store all these materials not in the "central bird area"

 

[wava1vaughn]

Hi from Ga Looks good I think the bump in the middle might be taking away to much of your need space. The general rule of 4 square ft / chicken should influence the # of birds you have in each side.

 

[Ole rooster]

Super nice drawing. One thing I question is how or where is the entrance to to clean the roost poop? And I know you have to make the most of the available space but is it ok to have the hens walk under roost to get to the nest boxes? I don't know. It looks like you've got that covered. Looks good though.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Ideally you'd be able to have a service area inside, but with your set size of 8 x 12 and wanting to divide it further into 2 coops I think you'd be too crammed to also include a service area. You may need to keep some supplies in a container outside of the coop. You could still keep some items hung on the coop wall where the chickens can't get to them. If you only had one pop door on each side instead of two (eliminate the pop doors on the front), You could extend the front to incude a covered porch and keep stuff out on the porch. That would get rid of the service area inside the entry way in the coop. Here I've posted a picture of my service area and the door that goes into the coop, but you could do the same thing, just imagine that instead of a service area you have a pen with a door inside that leads to the adjoining pen.

My service area is a lot more crammed these days. This was taken when it was first built. Those are my nest boxes as I wanted the kids to have access without risking the dogs getting in. The door to the service area opens outward which helps gain space inside. The orange door opens inwards into the coop. I've since hung a cabinet high in the service area where I keep all the small items, I have hooks for brushes, scoopers, etc.. Then you'd only have to keep your feed, DE and shavings outside the coop. Hope it helps a little. It took me a long time to think it through. Like you, I asked a lot of questions and mulled it over in my head many, many times!! I think it's normal to want to try to fit it all in, but you also want it to be user friendly and easy to move around in. You'll be in there every day. BTW, here's a pic of my Winston.

 

[Winston]

Thanks for all the replies. Everything is drawn to scale. (I definately recomend Google Skethup if anyone wants to model something. I watched about 30 min worth of guides and started.) I do know I meet the minimum 4 sqft /chick. I also realize that is a minimum. I was really wanting to have an area I could get to, and store things, without stepping in litter. Good news is that I will not be building anything substantial for separation. If it is all too cramped I will just remove the entryway. I am more concerned with having 2 holding areas than an entry area.

I had made the entry not square for a conflict in design. That conflict is gone now so I need to think about reverting back, if I keep it.

The roost are above the nests for a reason. The sun will rise and shine in through the front windows. The roosts droppings 'catch' will keep the sun out of the nests.

Knock Kneed,

That is what I want. I might just have to go ahead and plan for a future expansion. I like your Winston, no little dogs for me. It seems that I meet more dogs than people named Winston.

 

[cupman]

Hey, Winston, thanks for sharing google sketchup. I've been meaning to sketch plans for my new coop for a couple weeks now and I think you just made my life a whole lot easier.

 

[Winston]

Quote:
For full disclosure I do have some CAD background. Also it was many hours making the 3d drawing. It can be tedious. Mostly it was me changing my design. Well worth it to me to see it before hand. Even though it is more tedious, the more detail the more value