diy coop dream is turning into a nightmare.

[lahessler]

I didn't want to spend 300 or more dollars on a prebuilt coop so I decided to build one myself. Why did I think I could do it? It's been a crazy ride putting this thing together. I only have two girls I don't want a bunch of chicks running around. There coop is more of a townhouse. Fenced yard on the bottom that goes up with a ramp to a little porch on the front of the chicken house. Roost to the left side, the back wall is the nesting boxes. I planned for 6 boxes 1 foot square cubes approx. More then enough nest spots but that way they have a choice.

HERE IS THE ISSUE.
By someone who has had chickens before I was asked...
If the nest boxes were big enough? And do I want them completely separated or am I going to have it where the chickens can hop on over to the other boxes.

I've not cut the back wall for the boxes yet. I'm afraid to if the size is to small, I'm planning on using the piece I cut out for some of the bracing so I don't want to have to recut and mess up that wood.

PLEASE SOMEONE HELP! I am am not wanting to have to start all over. So much for not spending a lot of money. I spent over 300 so far and I'm not finished yet.

Lahessler

 

[Eggcessive]

A 12 X 12 inch nest box is fine, 14 X12 is fine. Do you need 6 nest boxes for a small coop? For a few birds, 2 boxes are plenty--the books recommend 1 box for every 4-5 hens. There are threads on making nest boxes out of all sorts of things like rubbermaid and kitty litter containers, and they can be put in and taken out as needed.

 

[SobbaChickens]

But basically anything you do yourself will be better quality than the store bought coops, trust me, I have a store bought coop waiting to go back to the store. I had told my carpenter to forget it b/c he was taking too long, went and bought a 350 coop and within hours I asked him to come back and finish the shed/coop he had already started. Those store bought coops are junk and not set up in a way that is very user friendly (people or chickens)

And if you only have 2 chickens then you only need 1 nesting box

 

[Roxannemc]

I didn't want to spend 300 or more dollars on a prebuilt coop so I decided to build one myself.

Why did I think I could do it? It's been a crazy ride putting this thing together. I only have two girls I don't want a bunch of chicks running around. There coop is more of a townhouse. Fenced yard on the bottom that goes up with a ramp to a little porch on the front of the chicken house. Roost to the left side, the back wall is the nesting boxes. I planned for 6 boxes 1 foot square cubes approx. More then enough nest spots but that way they have a choice.

HERE IS THE ISSUE.
By someone who has had chickens before I was asked...
If the nest boxes were big enough? And do I want them completely separated or am I going to have it where the chickens can hop on over to the other boxes.

I've not cut the back wall for the boxes yet. I'm afraid to if the size is to small, I'm planning on using the piece I cut out for some of the bracing so I don't want to have to recut and mess up that wood.

PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!

I am am not wanting to have to start all over. So much for not spending a lot of money. I spent over 300 so far and I'm not finished yet.

Lahessler

The good thing is yours is built better & stronger I bet.
The $300 ones I hear are really flimsy.Im guessing some really light wood and stapled not nails or screws

2 chickens? I wouldnt give them 6 nest boxes All they need is 1-2 at most
Mine all like the same one .
I made my 2 boxes about 16 "by 14" each for 5 hens to be roomy and they all use the one nest NEVER the other.
They love their coop
Make sure lots of ventilation up higher Mine have long windows with hardware cloth that is 3 feet long and 3 inches high across from each other to get good circulation
Winter I put a piece of clear plastic in They LOVE to look out (Have other ventilation on other walls too not as big just in the triangle made on the sides by raising the roof in front .Mine are tractors pretty un complicated and basic no frills but the chicks don't care!Just need a place at night and for rain
If there is a next time you know how to do it now ..Will go faster
That said doing it yourself IS challenging but once its done its DONE and you'll be satisfied They will be happy!
Idont know about others but mine have a seperater they can look over if they want but they all use the one so doesnt matter!
How about a pic?

 

[RedneckGurl]

First, allow me to congratulate you on making the RIGHT choice..IMHO. Homemade and homebuilt are the best. Maybe it didn't used to be that way but today, with the shoddy materials being used, what you purchase pre-fab is crap and won't last. Now, as to your nest box question...Unless you plan to increase the size of your flock a lot over the next year or so, you only need 1-2 nest boxes. I'm only installing four in my coop and I'll have about 16 chickens once they all show up. LIke someone said above - hens usually all tend to use just one or two "favorites" and ignore the rest so even my four may not all get used. I bought heavy-duty plastic stacking bins at Wal-Mart and plan to use those. Plastic means they can be taken out, cleaned and sterilized from time to time. Most people do separate their nest boxes but not all do. Some have a communal nesting area and the chickens just pick a spot inside it to lay, sometimes lined up like they're sitting on a bus bench. Don't give up...you can do it. We have been working on building our coop since early April and we're almost done. As to money, I won't tell you how much we're into ours for since you're already in a bit of a panic. It's been a long, expensive, and at times, exasperating journey but when we're done we will have a secure, extremely well built coop and run that will last as long (or probably longer) than I will. The most amazing thing is we've both managed to stay alive through the whole thing and we're not in divorce court. Hubby is an aerospace engineer and I'm an artist. Basically, oil meets water. Good luck and happy chicken keeping!

 

[MelissaTXRn]

Pictures???

 

[grandpaof18]

We have 10 hens, and a rooster in our 8x6 'house'. We put in 4 nest areas/boxes, simple wood boxes with a lip/roost. All eggs are in one box, execept 1 on a daily basis. The one, can be found just about anywhere in the house, or their yard. So the number of boxes, 1 box per 5, is a pretty good number in our experience.

As for the DIY thing, we are working on our 4th coop and yard. The first one, we made all our mistakes on, and are currently 're-modeling'. The second was better, but by then we had the plan down. The third was for our turkeys. 8x18 barn/house and 1500 sq.ft. yard with roosts, and a couple of nests for the 3 hens and a tom we plan on maintaining. The 4th is for our large laying flock (30-40 hens) we just purchased as day-olds. We are just going to put in 6 boxes at first, in two tiers. If we need more, we will add. I'm sure that will be ok from what we've seen over the last couple of years. The 4th house has very much benefited from our previous 3. It will have a 2000 sq ft. 'yard' completely enclosed with top wire, and perches all throughout on our center poles (garden timbers). The total price for this house (after spending more than we should have on the first two), is about $800 which includes a tin roof on the coop, and chicken wire all around and over the top of the yard, and a built in fan on the shady side to pull in cool air in the hot Texas summer. It did help us out that our son got the ply-wood from work used, and free. We also reinforced the first 4 feet around the perimeter with 2x4 welded wire. We call it 'armor plating' to keep out the 4 legged raiders that have tore up the lighter chicken wire, and killed chickens we thought protected. The original two, will now serve as a breeding pen, and a grow-out pen. We have plans for 2 more smaller breeding pens so we can diversify breeds.

We have spent a total of about $2500 tuition at our home based Poultry University, and finally graduating. I wouldn't trade a minute of it.

 

[lahessler]

I was taking step by step pics but I kinda threw the cam and got covered with sawdust. Lol I'll see what pics I can come up with.

 

[lahessler]

The coop is bigger then what is needed for 2 that way I don't have to build another coop if I totally lose my mind and get some more. I figure it's the size for 4 - 5.

 

[lahessler]

I have changed my chicken townhouse. Instead of 6 boxes I made 3 boxes. The Louisiana weather, work, and life have gotten in the way of me finishing the house. Im getting it done though. Hopefully I will beable to post some pictures soon.