Designing my first large coop, need some input.

[domromer]

I'm working on designing my first large chicken coop. It's 8ft x 8ft on the floor, so 64sqft the peak of the roof is 6 ft off the ground. I plan on giving each chicken 10sqft of room since winters here are harsh and they'd spend a lot of time indoors during the winter.

I'm looking for your thoughts on how it could be made better, or easier, ..

 

[lil'chickies]

I think it looks great! Roosts? Both sides open? Would make easier to clean.

 

[domromer]

haven't really thought much on the inside yet. Probably a singe 2x4 roost that goes the through the center. I need to make it low enough that the hens won't be directly in the cross breeze created by the ventilation. I was thinking 6" off the ground should be fine. I planned on attaching 3 nest boxes to the back wall and having a trap door so I could get the eggs from the outside. As you can see from the pic, the side wall will hinge open. I plan on going to the wrecking yard and taking the gas struts that open car trucks and using them on that panel. Then it will be nice and easy to open.

Also I wanted to add to windows on either side of the front door. One will be plexigalss and be fixed the other will have welders wire so it can be kept onpen in the summer for good ventilation.

Th house will also have a southern exposure to make use of passive heating in the winter.

 

[elliemay0305]

looks good! wish you were my neighbor i would have you build me one to! have you thought about nest boxes and a door to get the eggs out? i know you said you were putting windows in. maybe you could get the eggs from the window?

for some reason every time i type egg on here when i post it is saying roosters! im not crazy but it sure sounds it huh? i even had my husband read what i wrote?? anyway take out any where rooster is and put in eggs

 

[patandchickens]

Some things to ponder:

- at least 16 sq ft (1x8 on each of two sides) of the floor will be essentially unuseable by chickens, on account of the severe slope of the roof/wall. Not only can't you count this towards the available space for the chickens but you are paying to build it for basically no purpose, plus it will be harder to clean. I would strongly suggest extending the posts upwards at least a foot so that there are vertical side walls on all 4 sides, even if two are pretty short.

- how you going to clean this thing, or reach chickens standing on the far end? Most people can reach 3 1/2" comfortably, 5-6' with leaning in and getting poo all over your front, but certainly not more than that. Yet it is too short for you to actually get *in*. Problems afoot, there. I would suggest either reducing the width to 4', or making it big enough you can actually walk into. (Or, if it suits your flock plans, divide it down the center into 2 separate pens, each accessed from a different side).

- your existing roof design will leak like a sieve at the hinge. You'd need to build the fixed part (from the hinge to the ridge of roof) a few inches higher, so you can have an overhang and/or flexible rubber flashing... if you do that, though, mind that the overhang doesn't interfere with your opening it wide enough. Or rethink the whole 'roof hinges open' idea and build a different form of access, e.g. having cabinet-style doors in the rear vertical wall.

The slanty roof extensions over the (very small?) vents will be rather annoying to build, also, if you plan on shingling it. Be easier to have a 'normal' roof overhang there, which will keep the coop cooler in summer (as is, it'll be an OVEN unless there's a lot of ventilation intended for the back vertical wall) and minimize leaks and damage to the siding as compared to what you've drawn.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[domromer]

Quote:
ha ha, no roosters in my neighborhood! Even the hens aren't really allowed.

 

[domromer]

Quote:
This is excatly the kind of feed back i'm looking for. I'm not an experienced builder so I need all the help I can get.
My main concerns are that we have very cold snowy winters. So I need the girls to have a warm house and be able to handle large amounts of snow. Summers here are very mild. With highs rarely reaching 80f.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
ha ha, no roosters in my neighborhood! Even the hens aren't really allowed.

Given today's date, hint hint, I think you will find that the kind of 'roosters' being referrred to are the oval-shaped hard-shelled ones you would make an omelet out of

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Designing with 10 sq ft per hen is a VERY good idea in those circumstances. I'd suggest, if you haven't already, cruising the coop design pages (link on topmost banner at very top of this page) and check out what people usually do, especially those in snowy areas like around the Great Lakes and parts of the mts out west and parts of Canada.

There are existing designs that suit your needs pretty well, whereas trying to reinvent the wheel may not be the best (or at least not the most foolproof) strategy. (I wonder whether the next-to-last word there will get changed to 'memberproof'

) (e.t.a. -- hm, apparently it doesn't look at the rest of the word. I mean, problem -free". Today is a difficult day to try ot have a sensible discussion. Don't mention e.g.g.s!

)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[domromer]

I'm looking at them as we speak.