Drew up design, all suggestions welcome!

[Campnellis]

Y'all might get tired of me over the next couple days
I have been working on an idea, attempting to keep costs as low as possible. I remembered we had this old metal grill cover that has 7'x5' useable space under the roof. Since the chickens will have an open air coop (loc in central Alabama) I'm thinking this might work for a roof. It definitely has the ventilation and will be sealed up with HC. Their run will be huge and they will primarily be free ranging. I will make some shutters for bad weather and in that tiny illustration you'll see an idea I have for large doors that I can close if the weather is going to be really bad. Gotta love Alabama
I was also thinking of running the water inside under the huge poo shelf (24"×7' across the back wall) and putting their food under there too.
Am I missing anything on this? Assuming you can understand my chicken scratch.
Already using chicken puns ‍

Two other questions:
1. Ideally, how high should their roost be above the poo shelf if I'd like that to be about waist high (I'm 5'4 lol)?

2. Can their roost be open to the HC or does it need to be more sheltered, even in summer?

Thanks again! ♡

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

The roost should probably be 1 1/2 feet Above the poop shelf.
And it could be open in good weather (to HW cloth), as long as you can cover it in bad weather, which you talked about.

 

[deidreg]

Welcome and thanks for sharing your coop building adventure! I love the white board. And the repurposed roof. Lots of folks will be happy to share feedback...you'll probably get tired of us before the reverse!

Two thoughts:
It's best to keep coops as dry as possible, so I'm curious what you mean by "running water".
My instinct is to not place food/water under a poop board. I'd be concerned about droppings getting mixed in.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I think a foot and a half would be enough to put the roost above the poop tryatray

 

[Campnellis]

Welcome and thanks for sharing your coop building adventure! I love the white board. And the repurposed roof. Lots of folks will be happy to share feedback...you'll probably get tired of us before the reverse!

Two thoughts:
It's best to keep coops as dry as possible, so I'm curious what you mean by "running water".
My instinct is to not place food/water under a poop board. I'd be concerned about droppings getting mixed in.

I should have specified that we are planning on using gravity fed water line with the little watering cups that regulate what's in there lol. Should I put the nesting boxes under and water or feed along the wall?

 

[deidreg]

Ahh, thanks for helping me better understand. I think putting food and water along the wall could be a better option. Seems like you'll be able to access the feeder more easily.

 

[aart]

That roof is pretty cool, gonna need some strong framing to hold it up.

1. Ideally, how high should their roost be above the poo shelf if I'd like that to be about waist high (I'm 5'4 lol)?

2. Can their roost be open to the HC or does it need to be more sheltered, even in summer?

1. My roost is centered and 8" above the 2' board.

2. As long as rain doesn't hit them, it's fine.
Might want to block from winter winds.

Here's some tips about heights, shows my poop boards in there too:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

 

[Campnellis]

That roof is pretty cool, gonna need some strong framing to hold it up.


1. My roost is centered and 8" above the 2' board.

2. As long as rain doesn't hit them, it's fine.
Might want to block from winter winds.

Here's some tips about heights, shows my poop boards in there too:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

Excellent post, thank you!!