Critique my SketchUp Coop plan please!

[jbher]

Hi all!

I have been working on our coop plan and finally think I have it narrowed down to what I want. Would love to get input/suggestions/critiques on it though. This will be our first coop, first build of a "building" (we built our deck ha!). My brother in-law's cousin is an electrician and is going to run electric to the coop (yay!).

Notes:

• Because of our ordinance max. coop size can be 30sq ft and 8' tall - run size max is 6'6" tall and 50sq ft
• Coop front (door side) faces South
• Run will be placed on the East wall of the coop
• Roof will be Cor-ten (it is a "weathered" corrugated steel - my husband's company is an architectural sheet metal co. - so lucky me!)
• Siding will be Hardie Lap Siding
• Wood window sashes were purchased tonight off craigslist - they are old and beautiful!! Can't wait to strip and paint them. We will hinge all the windows so they can open. All windows in this drawing are to-size!
• Do you think my window placement is good?? Any suggestions or changes?
• Long vents on the East and West sides will have plexi or some kind of hinged panel so they can be open, or closed in the dead of winter.
• Should we do a roof ridge vent?
• How much should we insulate? We were thinking at least the roof and nest boxes.
• What kind of roof line should we give the run? Shed style? It will also have the Cor-ten roofing.
• We plan to make a screened (hardware cloth) door behind the solid door so we can open it in the summer for a breeze.
• Suggestions on framing the saltbox style roof without having rafters? We really want to keep as much interior height as we can!

Pictures should be able to be clicked to enlarge!

Front (south)

South & West shown

North & West side shown

East side

Inside view from front

Location of where coop is going:

 

[cstronks]

Very nice...eloquent design. I like the 3D sketch up...my brother is an architect, so I can appreciate this. Everything looks great! The only thing there really is to weigh in on is the insulation part. I see that you live in Wisconsin...it gets pretty cold there! Now, people will say insulation isn't necessary, some will say it doesn't matter, some will say it is better to have. I am one of the better to have people. My hens have laid very well throughout winter, and I am convinced it is because the coop stays a bit warmer. Also, for the animals comfort, it makes me feel better knowing that I tried to make it a little warmer. I'm in NJ, and it gets pretty cold here, but Wisconsin is definitely chilly haha! Insulation is cheap and easy to install, so I say go for it!

Also, if you don't want to insulate the walls, you can insulate the roof to keep the heat in! I've heard that suggestion too, but I went ahead and did walls.

Best of Luck!

 

[jbher]

Very nice...eloquent design. I like the 3D sketch up...my brother is an architect, so I can appreciate this. Everything looks great! The only thing there really is to weigh in on is the insulation part. I see that you live in Wisconsin...it gets pretty cold there! Now, people will say insulation isn't necessary, some will say it doesn't matter, some will say it is better to have. I am one of the better to have people. My hens have laid very well throughout winter, and I am convinced it is because the coop stays a bit warmer. Also, for the animals comfort, it makes me feel better knowing that I tried to make it a little warmer. I'm in NJ, and it gets pretty cold here, but Wisconsin is definitely chilly haha! Insulation is cheap and easy to install, so I say go for it!

Also, if you don't want to insulate the walls, you can insulate the roof to keep the heat in! I've heard that suggestion too, but I went ahead and did walls.

Best of Luck!

Thank you! I agree with you - I'm thinking we should insulate the whole coop. My husband can get the semi-rigid insulation... so then I suppose we would have to put up OSB or plywood walls then to cover it...

 

[Eyeshot]

You will want ventilation, but not so much that your chickens freeze in the winter. What I have are three 1'x6" vents on the long side of my coop and I have insulation that I can fold over it if it gets too cold. Btw, it looks quite fancy for a chicken coop, which is cool and all, but chickens are dirty animals so don't expect it too stay nice

 

[Primo]

You shouldn't need a ridge vent on something this small (those are small vents up top right?) And if this is 8' tall why are you worried about rafters taking up space? On something this size 2x4 rafters really wont get in the way.

 

[aart]

Gorgeous...nothing like a well built 3d model (I'm a design drafter).

For some reason I can't enlarge the pics....so can't read the dimensions.
Edited to add...can only enlarge the last 2 pics, not sure what's up with that.

But it looks like a pretty good layout to me.

Insulation can be good, not necessary really, better for keeping the sun from over heating the coop in the summer (especially with a metal roof) than 'holding heat' in the winter (with proper ventilation, there will be no 'holding of heat' in the winter).......and yes, you'll have to cover the rigid insulation with something so the birds can't peck the foam, ad they will probably try to peck the foam. Condensation on the inside of a metal roof can be a consideration in favor of insulating at least the roof

A ridge vent is never a bad idea, again especially in summer with a metal roof, I'd put one in if you can.

I notice your model does not account for insulated walls/roof, which will change your interior dimensions..so keep that in mind.

Nice design....can't wait to see it's fruition! Hope you do a build thread when it gets to that point!

 

[jbher]

You will want ventilation, but not so much that your chickens freeze in the winter. What I have are three 1'x6" vents on the long side of my coop and I have insulation that I can fold over it if it gets too cold. Btw, it looks quite fancy for a chicken coop, which is cool and all, but chickens are dirty animals so don't expect it too stay nice

Do you think the long vents I have on each side are too much ventilation? They can be covered too. I was kind of going with more is better because of summer. Although Wisconsin (I'm in the twin cities) gets freezing cold - we do get hot and humid too.

Yes unfortunately I totally realize it will only look pretty and clean before they move in haha!

 

[jbher]

You shouldn't need a ridge vent on something this small (those are small vents up top right?) And if this is 8' tall why are you worried about rafters taking up space? On something this size 2x4 rafters really wont get in the way.

Yup those are small vents on the North and South sides up top. This drawing I did has not been built out - I have no studs, etc... so my space will shrink once everything is added. I didn't want to go through all that until I had my general design idea completed. The 8' max height according to our ordinance is from the ground to the peak. Once the 4x4's, flooring and everything else is added we'll lose a lot of height :-(

 

[jbher]

Gorgeous...nothing like a well built 3d model (I'm a design drafter).

For some reason I can't enlarge the pics....so can't read the dimensions.
Edited to add...can only enlarge the last 2 pics, not sure what's up with that.

But it looks like a pretty good layout to me.

Insulation can be good, not necessary really, better for keeping the sun from over heating the coop in the summer (especially with a metal roof) than 'holding heat' in the winter (with proper ventilation, there will be no 'holding of heat' in the winter).......and yes, you'll have to cover the rigid insulation with something so the birds can't peck the foam, ad they will probably try to peck the foam. Condensation on the inside of a metal roof can be a consideration in favor of insulating at least the roof

A ridge vent is never a bad idea, again especially in summer with a metal roof, I'd put one in if you can.

I notice your model does not account for insulated walls/roof, which will change your interior dimensions..so keep that in mind.

Nice design....can't wait to see it's fruition! Hope you do a build thread when it gets to that point!

Thank you! I taught myself SketchUp - though was a graphic designer by trade before becoming a stay at home mom. My husband does a lot of work in AutoCAD but I really wanted to take this on myself since he's so busy. I have no clue why the first few pictures can't be enlarged. I realized the last couple can be clicked on and once they are enlarged you can click the back arrow (on the left) and view all pictures bigger. Goofy glitch or something.

I think I will have my husband do a ridge vent - I'd rather do it now then later regret not doing it.

Today I will begin the build out in SketchUp - I will definitely be posting pics and with that I will start my build thread too! We plan to start building in our garage over the winter

 

[jbher]

Hopefully these are bigger than the ones in the original post...