Designing my coop

[Migolito]

Coop Design:
Please feel free to 'pick apart' my Coop design idea. 4-6 chickens (Black Australorps)
I live in Southern California east of Los Angeles, so the weather here is generally mild. I really don't have concerns about the cold as the Hens will only be subjected to below freezing on rare occasions for hours (not Days). However, the heat(even here) does get above 100 degs for weeks at a time. With that in mind:
I'm planning on making my Coop using DIY SIP panel construction. That means I'll sandwich a rigid foam insulation panel between two panels of plywood. I'll probably use 1/2 of 3/4" foam. So, the finished panel will be from 1" to 1 1/4" thick. I will use these panel to construct the entire roof/sides/ends of the Coop. This will give an R value of 4-6 compared to .62 for 1/2" ply alone.
Coop: Will be 4' tall x 40" wide by 5' long with a corrugated fiberglass tilted roof. 1/4" mesh vents on 3 sides 6" t all the way around that can be closed.
I'll have an brood box w/two boxes.
The Run: I'm changing my vegi garden a little: The Run will be 13' x 9' of ground that will be exclusively thiers. Also, I'll have a garden gate that will allow the 'herd' to enter my regular Vegi garden for a treat on occasion. I'll be planting Chicken safe vegi's, and things like onions/tomatos will be fenced off. The Run will also have a shade fabric 'roof' covering all of it. So, only early AM and evening direct sun will hit the Hens.

Coop: bottom. I'll be lining the Coop botton 8" deep with HDPE plastic and using the 'deep' method. I'll probably use Wood chips as bedding, however, I'm looking at Hemp pulp also.
I'll be using matts in the two brood boxes.

I'm looking at ordering the Chickens as Pullets from McMurray Hatchery for September delivery unless I can find them locally.

Thank you,

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. It's great to see someone thinking so carefully before getting chickens.

Don't waste your time and money on insulation -- adequate ventilation renders insulation moot. In fact, in your climate you should consider an Open Air coop -- which is, essentially, a roofed run with a 3-sided shelter at the windward end.

This coop in Texas was the inspiration for my own open air build.

The Usual Guidelines are that each, adult, standard-sized hen needs:

4 square feet in the coop,
10 square feet in the run,
1 linear foot of roost,
1/4 of a nestbox,
And 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation -- preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

My Little Monitor Coop was designed for 4 hens in a hot climate: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-little-monitor-coop.76275/

Your 40"x5'= 16.6 square feet, so that's on target for 4 hens, but unless you're trying to fit a coop into a specific space where you have to use those odd dimensions you'd be better off trying to build in multiples of 4' since that's the size building materials come in.

13x9 is a generous amount of space for 4-6 hens. You won't regret that because it makes sanitation so much easier to deal with when you have an over-sized run.

I'm a great fan of Deep Bedding in my coop.

 

[Migolito]

Great advice! I'm likin the ventilation(and simplicity) on both those Coops. I do tend to over engineer... On the vents, should I have a way of closing them when the cold wind kicks in?Now, I'm also considering adding a hard roof to at least half(if not all) of my run...maybe 8' tall. This will also assist in diverting rain directly into a drain. I plan on keeping the food and water in the run and not in the Coop also. The only predators I need to worry about are Hawks/owls. It's one the the reason for Black Hens.

 

[3KillerBs]

Great advice! I'm likin the ventilation(and simplicity) on both those Coops. I do tend to over engineer... On the vents, should I have a way of closing them when the cold wind kicks in?Now, I'm also considering adding a hard roof to at least half(if not all) of my run...maybe 8' tall. This will also assist in diverting rain directly into a drain. I plan on keeping the food and water in the run and not in the Coop also. The only predators I need to worry about are Hawks/owls. It's one the the reason for Black Hens.

They still need ventilation in the winter. I'm not certain, but I think that your climate is even warmer than mine so unless you have wind strong enough to ruffle their feathers blowing directly on the roosts you won't ever need to close anything up.

Chickens have built-in down parkas and most are fine down to 0F as long as they are dry and can get out of the wind.

 

[Alaskan]

For your climate, you just want oodles of shade, YES a breeze at perch level.

So... an open air coop.

I really like this one from etsy (they sell plans,not the coop)

And then 2 random Google grabs

The one below, and the one above would need a big screened window on that solid back wall for summer time. Then close the back wall in winter to keep wind off the perch.