External nesting box and door

[lazy gardener]

Be sure you build big enough: MINIMUM of 4 s.f. open floor space in coop/bird, 10 s.f. in run per bird, 1 s.f. ventilation per bird, perch at least 2' above floor, and above nest boxes, at least 18" above perch, and 12 - 15" between perch and back wall. Nest boxes at least 12 x 12 x 12 - 15". Did you know that chickens stand up to lay their egg??? The pictured coop is lacking in a number of these areas.

OP, hope I did not rain on your parade too severely. You are wise to talk it out before committing to saw and hammer! Welcome to BYC!!!

 

[TomZilla43]

That design is a disaster in the making.

1. Extra weight of the boxes places more stress on the hinges.
2. Swinging those nest boxes out with birds in them = even more weight. And any hen who is in the box when it swings out is going to be totally freaked out. She's gonna be looking for a safer place to put her eggs.
3. When you close that door, you just might catch a chicken between the nest box and the coop floor.
4. You can't access the coop without moving the nest boxes.

Who ever designed that coop does not know chickens.

You can use a different wall, and still have an outside access door to your nest boxes. It can be a side car affair, where the nest boxes hang on the outside of the coop, or the boxes can be inside the footprint of the coop, with a door that opens at the back of the nests on the outside wall of the coop.



Roll out nests are fine if you don't live in a climate where the temps are below freezing for half of the year. The only thing that keeps my eggs from freezing is a nice thick bed of hay in each nest box (and I also use the community nest option for at least part of the nest space) and having the nests contained inside the footprint of the coop.

With the exception of the nest boxes on the door(what we're actually discussing here LOL) I do actually like that coop design if you're going for a smaller mobile coop. The big door would make clean out manageable which is a big deal in small mobile coops. My 1st coop that I built was a mobile unit similar to the one pictured, I built it w/ a slide out tray for easy cleaning(or so I thought). After having it all last yr I would definitely opt for a design more like the one pictured just because the cleaning part would be less back breaking. In retrospect if I had to do it all over again I'd certainly build a stationary coop with easy walk in access because maybe I'm just lazy but dealing even just once or twice a week gets old fast when it's not convenient and easy. Just IMHO

 

[lazy gardener]

In retrospect if I had to do it all over again I'd certainly build a stationary coop with easy walk in access because maybe I'm just lazy but dealing even just once or twice a week gets old fast when it's not convenient and easy. Just IMHO

Agreed. My first coop was a raised loft affair, with nice big clean out door. But, after living through 2 Maine winters with that coop, I quickly realized that the lack of vertical space was a huge detriment to the welfare of the flock. IMO, making a coop easy to manage is not being lazy, it is being smart. Every chance I get, I will attempt to educate, especially if the new person has not yet committed time, and money to a coop that will prove unsatisfactory in the long term. Walk in coops are so much easier for the flock owner, and more beneficial to the flock as well b/c they allow more cu. ft. of air space for improved air quality. Hind sight is 20/20.

 

[pkgal21]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll change where my cleaning door will be. It limits my design but I didn't think about freaking them out. Obviously I would check the boxes before opening the door, but trapping toes is scary too.

 

[pkgal21]

I'm definitely taking my time in design because I want to make the best space I can for what I have. I have a frame already in the ground because I built a garage for my kids power wheels and they're no longer needing it. So my coop design is limited around that frame.

We live in Texas and it's way too hot for 4 sides. I'll have a wall that I latch on in the cold days/weeks (since here it's 75 one day then could be 30 the next in our "winter").

I'm doing an L shape coop for the open side and front with a tiny door for them to run circles if they so please. Lol. Then half the front can be a door for me and right side have the nesting box. The right side is accessible to the the porch which is best for the kids to help collect eggs for breakfast. The back will have to be a wall since it backs up to the house.

 

[lazy gardener]

What is the size of your frame? With you being in Texas, your building options are much more flexible. You could get away with a 3 sided coop, the front being entirely open (covered with hardware cloth) If you put a nice overhang on the front, and oriented it so prevailing winds wouldn't blow in rain and snow (if you even know what that is!) You could then put up polycarbonate or some such during the winter if you felt the need. If you want to gain more floor space, you could do a cantilevered floor off the existing frame. Look at the Wood's open air style coops and see if there is something there that will strike your fancy.

 

[pkgal21]

I'd say this is pretty close to my shape. Mine will be a little shorter and backed up close to a wall. I'll have gutters and drainage for rain.

The right side would be open and a small door on the left side of the front. L shape run (extending far out on both sides to accommodate 10sqft per bird). So the right side of the front can be my door and the actual right side can have my boxes.

So now my question is... I want to make the PVC autofeeder and waterer. I know they can't be close to each other, so where the heck do I put them?!? I really wanted the waterer in the back right corner because the water hose is right there. I guess the boxes could be closer to the front corner to accommodate that. Would they mind having the water near the nests? The sides are about 64 inches.

 

[lazy gardener]

30 is not too cold to leave that wall entirely open. I'd not worry about closing it up unless the temp got down below 20, and even then, if it gets above 40 during the day, you could give them a curtained sleeping area that would allow good ventilation, but not overheat during the heat of the day. Chickens are much more uncomfortable when it gets too warm than they are when it gets cold.

 

[pkgal21]

My frame is 107 long, 64 deep, and 42 high. I'll be extending that with the front pitch sloping down to the back. The front is facing the sun, so that will be one of my more covered walls. I'll be roofing with radiant barrier and probably some wire up top to keep them from trying to go after the shiny. Lol

 

[pkgal21]

This year it's gotten down to 18ish at night. You don't think that's too cold for them? It's absolutely disgustingly freezing to me.