Feedback wanted for coop plans

[LadyBug7]

We are planning to get chickens for the first time next spring. I'm so excited about it and have been doing a lot of reading both on BYC and other sites as well as good old fashioned books. I have also had the chance to view a guy's set up and talk with him briefly when I noticed he had chickens while we were at his garage sale. I finally sat down and drew up what I want my coop/run to look like and I am hoping to get some feedback from all you lovely BYC folks as to what you think is good/bad/needs to change. Since we will be getting six chicks, I drew in two nest boxes, three roosts and what I think is enough space for them. There are vents across the top of the coop at minimum, though I am thinking about putting in some more. There's a storage area above the coop and the run continues under it. Please let me know, honestly, what you think. I'm new and need all the help I can get!

 

[AkChris]

Looks like you have a good start. I'm in the process of building my coop right now...it's lots of fun to plan and design isn't it.

The coop might be just a tad on the small side for 6 chickens. It looks like the coop area is 6'x3' so that gives you 18 sq ft. Most folks on here will recommend 4 sq ft per bird. Other sources say as little as 2 sq ft per bird is acceptable, I think it does depend on the breed you'll be keeping, how you manage your flock, and you local weather conditions. Looks like you're in an area the does get cold and snow in the winter so you'll have to expect your chickens will spend a good deal of their time in the coop during the winter. This would be a good reason to make the coop part a bit larger. Will the run portion be covered? Keep out the snow? Will it be protected from wind and cold? If so then the chickens will likely use the run year-round so you could then possibly get away with a bit less space in the coop itself.


I'd also give a little more room between the roosting bars. They look a little close together to me. I think 2 bars across the 3 foot length, giving you 6 ft of roosting space would be plenty. So take out the 3rd bar and space the other two 12-18" away from the wall and from each other.

 

[RJSorensen]

I would comment, but the above post covers what you need to work on and or change. Good advice.

Best to you and your birds,

RJ

 

[LadyBug7]

Thank you both!

 

[vehve]

One thing I would add, is a lot of service doors, as I don't see any in the picture. Under the roosts is where most of the poop will land, so I'd make that hole wall into a giant door that can be opened for cleaning. In the opposite end you might want some sort of service door too. If you're going to have a feeder and waterer in the coop, near that door would be good. I have a pretty similar sized coop and flock as you're planning, and one thing that I regret is that I should have made the run a bit bigger. They do all right in it for now, but I'm a bit worried what's going to happen in winter when we have loads of snow on the ground, and they won't be able to free range. Take a look at my coop (link under my avatar), hopefully you can draw some inspiration from it.

 

[David1998]

As drawn, your roost look a little close to the ceiling, ~1ft. The recommendation I found here was 18 inch minimum between the roost and the ceiling/roof for large chickens. I see you're trying to keep it well above the nest (good), so you may want to consider adjusting somehow other than just moving the roosts lower.

By the way, I like you're design and I'm planning something very similar without the overhead storage.

 

[LadyBug7]

One thing I would add, is a lot of service doors, as I don't see any in the picture. Under the roosts is where most of the poop will land, so I'd make that hole wall into a giant door that can be opened for cleaning. In the opposite end you might want some sort of service door too. If you're going to have a feeder and waterer in the coop, near that door would be good. I have a pretty similar sized coop and flock as you're planning, and one thing that I regret is that I should have made the run a bit bigger. They do all right in it for now, but I'm a bit worried what's going to happen in winter when we have loads of snow on the ground, and they won't be able to free range. Take a look at my coop (link under my avatar), hopefully you can draw some inspiration from it.

The whole back of the coop I'm going to make a door. There will be a door-in-door to collect eggs and then the whole back will open for cleaning.

As drawn, your roost look a little close to the ceiling, ~1ft. The recommendation I found here was 18 inch minimum between the roost and the ceiling/roof for large chickens. I see you're trying to keep it well above the nest (good), so you may want to consider adjusting somehow other than just moving the roosts lower.

By the way, I like you're design and I'm planning something very similar without the overhead storage.

I was already thing of taking a bit more of the under run to be coop, so that would work to lower the roosts and still be above the nests, yeah? And thanks, I like my design too.

 

[FireTigeris]

Is that run going to have a roof?

What's your climate?

I have a 3*5 coop attached to an enclosed area of the run that's 8*16 that just switches to hardware cloth for the rest of the 20 feet (so 12 more feet).

As I am in FL there's no snow but the heat is a killer (literally) so they use the entire 20*16 in the day and the two areas the 3*5 and the 8*16 at night.

There are no internal doors and mine is haphazard.

Good luck

 

[CHIKENROOKIE]

Ditto on above, and in my short time keeping chickens I built my first coop......then immediately started my 2nd for a larger replacement. My pic shows coop 2. My wife keeps asking me if I will ever be done? Of course not!

Oh yea, 2nd coop total dollars invested is 140. All salvaged wood!