Do you have favorite coop plans?

[CoopsNPoops]

Have you checked out the BYC Coop page? It may give you some ideas. There are a lot of different ones that may give you ideas for your coop. Good luck and have fun...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/chicken-coops.12/

I haven't looked through to many articles on here yet, aside from the one i seen about the hoop coops. I've only broused through other threads about coop construction. Ill get on the articles here. Thx!

 

[CinnaBun]

Woods Coop is popular on here, good for harsh winters. Lots of threads if you do a search.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-kd-knock-down-10-by-16-coop-pictorial.75421/

 

[cmom]

I have a lot of coops that were built over many years. Each one is different. I like a coop I can stand up in too. Also as you mentioned the poop. I have poop pits under my roosts with wire over them so the birds can't get into them that I can clean out from the outside but I do have a lot of birds so get a lot of poop.

 

[CoopsNPoops]

I know you plan on free ranging. Just remember it is a risk you are willing to take and eventually your birds will be discovered and you will loose a bird or birds. Lessons learned the hard way. Again, good luck and have fun...

We've free ranged for a year and a half now and haven't had a issue yet, but i know it's always risk. Thankfully the pastures surrounding our house are full of cattle and horses and they do a great job of keeping coyotes and other preditors at bay. They can't get close to the coop at night without going through their line of defense first. With the spring and fall calves, they are always on high alert. Last year one coyote was spotted in the far field in the day time, but a bullet found it before it found the chickens

 

[CoopsNPoops]

Ideally I'd just like to find a descent used utility shed for sell to convert, to keep from the stess and headache of a build (im not a patient person), but those are almost impossible to find around here.

 

[CoopsNPoops]

Come to think about it, i do have a large utility shed at our old place. It would be perfect and it was actually going to be the coop once my husband purched a new one for here. Once we got moved and got the new one however, we couldnt get the other one moved so we abandoned it and called it a loss. Since it cant be moved, do you think it could possibly be cut into sections and moved, then put back together here? I dont know why i didnt think of that before!

 

[CoopsNPoops]

Yesterday marked the 1 year anniversary of my fathers death. He was a carpenter and built houses for a living and he would've had all the answers. He was my go to guy! I've been so lost and clueless without him, so i appreciate everyone's help and advice here

 

[3KillerBs]

Before deciding that you don't need that 4 square feet per adult, standard-sized hen in the coop and can get away with less, you might want to check out this thread about when and why you might actually need MORE space than that: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ave-more-than-the-minimums-for-space.1462570/

 

[saysfaa]

My favorite is the Woods' open air coop. It isn't the easiest to build, though.

 

[Tankueray]

This site has a lot of good plans. https://www.construct101.com/

I personally did an 8x12 hoop coop and covered the roof and back wall in metal. Like any other open structure, as long as you can anchor it or prevent wind from scooping up into it, they're pretty bulletproof. (I even had a small tornado pass over two weekends ago!)