Does anyone have anything like this?

[Rare Feathers Farm]

This is LONG & sort of rambling...sorry!

So--we all know I have it pretty bad...bad enough that I wake up at 2am with a "vision" of my second coop and cannot go back to sleep because I'm doing calculations in my head of how many eggs & equine portraits I need to sell before I can build it!

Anyway...my current coop is 8 x 8' x 8' and I have two runs & two indoor sections. I'm was hoping to make it into SIX sections with SIX runs but we moved my Muscovies behind it which eliminated the space for the last two runs. So I am now limited to just FOUR runs & FOUR sections. This may be my future bantam coop since they do not need quite as much room as my Brahmas or Cochins.

As for my second coop, I'm thinking of two different options:

Option one is to add onto the existing coop--taking it further north and keeping the width the same, but extending it out and making it maybe 24' long? I would lose TWO runs on the existing coop which could present a problem...but with some reconfigurations, I may be able to make it work...

My other idea is to build a long building, about 8' w x 24' L like the one above, but to make it up against the existing runs but not attached to the building, itself. This would make watering, cleaning & heating more difficult and time consuming, but that way, I'd be able to put runs on 4 sides of the coop, rather than only 3. So one side of the 8' w part would be a hallway of sorts--about 4' w for me to walk into. The other 4' or so would be pens, constructed 4 x 4 with a height of about 8' so I could have multiple layers of perches and a nest box per trio. Each trio would also have a little run to the outside.

As of right now, I think I have 12 different breeds, so I'd want 12 separate areas for them. I may be able to include one of the "empty spaces" into a brooder space.

My hubby thought of doing stacked "cages" within the existing coop with two tiered runs (with dropping boards below the upper tiers). This sounded like an okay idea at first, but then I realized that would be A LOT of cleaning with 30+ chickens in an 8 x 8 area! Not to mention that my coop would look like Swiss cheese with all of those runs all over it.

I hope some of that made sense? So it would basically be a long, narrow coop with 1/2 of it dedicated to chickens & the other 1/2 to my ability to walk down, feed/water & gather eggs.

 

[patandchickens]

An 8x24 separate building sounds like a good idea to me if you can swing it. In fact it might be Real Useful to build it a little distance away (upwind) from your existing coop, b/c then you would have some ability to quarantine, either new birds or anything that sprouts a potentially contagious disease (i.e. put 'em in the older small coop).

You shouldn't need a 4' wide aisle in it, though - that is a big waste of square footage that you COULD be devoting to more chicken-space

I would suggest either giving yourself a minimal aisle of like 2 1/2', or just making a little "entrance alcove" that would serve pairs of pens, like:

__________________________________________________
| | | | | |
pen| pen | pen | pen d | pen e | pen f | pen g
a | b ....|..... c | ....|...... | ....|....
| | | | | | | | |
___|____|......... |_____|_____|..........|_____|______|........|_

where the dotted lines are doors (along the bottom wall, they are 'real' doors to the outside of the bldg; the ones into the pens can be just chickenwire-on-wood-frame doors)

If you build sufficient roof overhang, it will not be obnoxious to have to go outdoors between pairs of pens; and you might even be able to make it so that you could close in the walkway under the overhang with panels for wintertime use to keep weather out.

That would nearly DOUBLE the amount of Actual Chicken Space you have.

Just a thought,

Pat

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

I see....I didn't even think of that...the only "bad thing" would be that I'd need to get three doors, instead of only one....hmmm....

I wonder if a "shed-row-style" mini-barn would work?

Like instead of having an actual indoor walkway, I'd build an overhang on the roof to one side & then I would only have to make the building 4' wide so the entire thing would be a series of pens for the chickens? If that makes sense? That would eliminate wasted space & allow me more room for different breeds and best of all, for less money!

Hmmm....the wheels are a spinnin' now!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Oops, I meant shed-row, not breezeway....

 

[patandchickens]

Unfortunately a 4' wide building (especially if 24' long) with a 2-3' roof overhang is going to be pretty unstable. I sure wouldn't build one, unless maybe I used a large number of VERY well anchored 6' posts (like, using those 'big foot' plastic footings for each).

Wider is stabler.

If you're making it wider, it seems to me you could STILL make it pretty much shedrow style if you wanted, and then your chickens would have a lot more room, which is a Good Thing. I hadn't suggested that originally b/c it might be a bit risky having all your pen doors open directly to the outside - but if you're comfortable with that, then it would give you even more space.

Have fun,

Pat

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

What if it was 6' wide with overhangs on both ends? So part of their pens would be covered as well?

 

[skyfires]

Wow chicken obsessed,,, I truly understand your pain.

Do you also pass by peoples homes, staring at unused sheds and covered buildings, and wonder if,,, you asked very nicely,,,that they would let you come and tear it down and move it away( for free of course) for them?? I also have dreams of coop building,,, awake in the middle of the night, stare out my window at my two little coops, and wonder if my girls are up,,and would love my company at 2:00 a.m. Also staring at my coop and thinking of adding that much 'needed' addition. That extra large run,,,more wire,,,more posts,,,is Yeagers having a sale,,,the feedstore maybe,,, yeah,,, life is hard with a chicken addiction,,,, we just can't stop,,,,must have more,,,,

yes,,, I'm happily married,,,,

 

[Pullet Pimp]

I was thinking about this yesterday when I read this and I have a couple ideas in mind, but let me get this straight first.... You are looking for one building with six different areas and runs if you use your existing 8'x8' or twelve (for the 12 different breeds) as stated in the bottom of your post if you don't use the existing 8'x8'.

Are there going to be just trios in each of the areas? Which would require 12 sq feet per area. Or are there more birds?

Are you set on the 8'x24' dimensions or do you have room for other configurations? Sounds like you prefer, or what works best is narrower and longer, right?

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
I know!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Nope—the existing coop has potential for 6 runs, total, that is the 8’x8’ coop. But more than likely, I’ll make it into four runs. So that would take care of some or perhaps ½ of my breeds. The new coop would either be 6 different pens or perhaps 8-10? I did neglect to mention that I have three bantam breeds & some light breeds that would not require that much sq footage per bird, I don’t think?. Although I’m on the lookout for some silkies, too…which would make it four bantam breeds. They would all have generous runs (the current ones are 8’ wide & 24’ long). And they would be able to come & go in/out of the coop as they pleased, so it’s not like they would have to be confined in 4 x 4 spaces. The newer coop would have the trios of light breeds and probably my bantams, as well. The existing coop would have the large breeds. I would also be able to use vertical space to incorporate more room for the birds. Especially the flightly ones or bantams.
As far as the dimensions—I’m not 100% set on that size—especially if I’d like to expand that in the near future. However, I just thought that rather than make another big walk-in coop, that it would more economical to make it smaller and it would take me less time to go down a row of them, feed/water/gather eggs than it would if I had to into a building & do it. The nest boxes would also be external, which would free up that much more space per area & allow me to rather eggs that way…