Expanding the coop...

[Lesa]

I know - big surprise, I want to make my coop bigger. Right now, the coop is essentially a box. All one height. I would like to add on to the side of the coop- but not the same height. I see on the coop section quite a few people have the nesting boxes jutting out with a hinged roof section. What if I did something like that- making it about 3-4 feet high? Would the chickens use that floor space on cold days, when they don't want to go out?? Ideally, I would like to make it big enough for them to have an extra few feet of floor space and petition part of it off so I could have some outdoor storage for feed and shavings... Does anyone have an area of their coop with a lower ceiling and do the chickens use it? Thanks for your help. (I would love to show you a picture- but I am too stupid to post them....)

 

[Omran]

Good morning, I have an area in my coop under the nest boxes and my chicken are using it all the time, I think your addition will be a very great Idea, go for it.

best luck

Omran

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
If I can upload pics, you certainly can! Just click on uploads in the blue bar above, browse to find the pic in your files, doubleclick to upload it, click resize image and submit. It will appear like magic! Doubleclick the bar that says image, rightclick to copy, find your post, rightclick to paste and Voila!

The back area of my coop is much lower than the front, and that's where they hang out when it's cold. The nest boxes protrude from the wall there, and they prefer sitting on the roost just above at night. What if you built a "bump-out" on the side, and had storage underneath? That would keep the floor of the addition warmer, they would have extra floor if they needed it and you would have storage as a bonus.

It's hard to visualize without pics, give the upload a shot!