First Coop Build

[Urbanwiscochickens]

Well today I started on my wifes chicken coop. I didnt have any plans that I went off of, she just gave me a bunch of pictures of coops she liked online and i made a crude sketch and material list one night at work. The coop is 4'x4', with 3'x4' being living space. The other 1'x4' is a built in nest box and storage area. The run is 8'x4' and will be covered. This is a far as I have gotten, just waiting on a nice day to move it out of the garage and finish it up once its in place. If anyone has any recommendations or tips so far into this project let me know.



$300 later we are home from Menards with all supplies

The walls staring to come together.

Coop house and nest box framing coming together.

Everything that may be exposed to weather thats not treated lumber, gotva coat of green paint thatcmy wife pickec out.

 

[Melky]

How many chickens do you plan to put in the coop?

 

[Melky]

 

[Urbanwiscochickens]

She bought 3 chickens, eveything i read online recommended 4sq feet of coop and 10sq feet of run per bird. Mine ended up being 12sq feet of coop and 32sq feet of run with the possibility of free ranging. Do you think this is adequate?

 

[Melky]

It looks like you will have space for about 4 hens which should be enough for the two of you if standard size as three will lay about a dozen per week if 5+ eggs per week layers meaning best layers. You could squeeze couple more in but would be tight. It is recommended about 4 sq ft per bird in the coop and 10 sq ft per bird in the run. Need about 1 nesting box for every two hens.

I hope you checked with laws and ordinances in your area through your local planning commission to see if you need to do anything special to own chickens. I would recommend no Roos so not a victim of chicken math as limited space. Also need to check to see if roosters allowed, many times they are not. Don’t need them to lay eggs.

The structure looks great!

 

[Melky]

She bought 3 chickens, eveything i read online recommended 4sq feet of coop and 10sq feet of run per bird. Mine ended up being 12sq feet of coop and 32sq feet of run with the possibility of free ranging. Do you think this is adequate?

Three is great! Super. What breeds? and pics would be wonderful. Love the color.

 

[Melky]

I might recommend that you continue pictures of your progress and put an article in the small coop section discussing your build. Use trendy title, pics, instructions for how to, and recommendations or anything you would do differently when done. I would put it in Small coop section of the Learning Center. Nice work!

 

[Sue S]

Nice work, like the green my only suggestion is using hardware cloth instead of chicken wire to keep the predators out

 

[aart]

I might recommend that you continue pictures of your progress and put an article in the small coop section discussing your build.

Progress pics and suggestions/advice are better in a thread like this one.
Best to wait until coop is done and in use for awhile before making an article,
then all the tweaks can be included.

 

[HenHouse4Life]

Chicken math hasn't struck you yet has it ....1+1+1= 10 chickens!
Nice coop build! I would definitely use hardware cloth and not chicken wire, you'll be so glad you did. A predator attack isn't a pretty sight.
Make it easy to clean.
And welcome to BYC!!!!