Designing with coop cleaning in mind

[My6Chicks]

Quote:
Don't know if these coop designs will work with a raised coop, but here goes...

o have a rubber mat on the floor to help keep the wood from getting wet. easy to sweep
o have a poop hammock made of plastic just below the roosts to keep the floor clean during the winter, very easy to clean cold frozen poop
- give the chicks more clean coop space in the winter time
o have a hinged door that fits our push broom for sweeping out the pine shavings
o in the summer, we have a large boot tray below the roost for catching the mess

You can see pics on my web page. Good luck...

 

[chickerdoodle]

Quote:
I just looked at your coop. It is gorgeous. Good job!! Is there anything that you would have done differently?

The only thing I'd do is make the last 8 feet (part without the hen house) wider. It would definitely defeat the ease of building and make many more wood cuts it but if you didn't mind that I'd bump it out to add another 2, maybe 4 feet in width. This way they'd have even more room in bad weather. The girls use the entire run now in bad weather and this would allow you to add another roost in the run. The roost they have now is under the hen house and they use it often.

 

[chickenshet]

Thank you all for the responses and help! I love this forum!

 

[eds500]

I built a side access door for cleaning without having to go into the run. The opening is 32" wide and the house floor is 30" above ground. I can get into the house easily if I need to.

 

[MsRiderUp]

Hi,

I really like this design for easy clean of the dropping board.

Wondering:

1) Any ideas for improving on it?

2) What is the exact mechanism for attaching the 'tray', so it both slides out, and tilts down without too much stress on the whole thing?

Thanks!

 

[CalgaryFarmer]

See our coop.https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/lair-of-the-layers It was designed for ease. Pull-out tray for cleaning, external boxes for easy egg collection and access door for easy water and food changes. It is raised so all of this can be done without bending down.