First time coop. Critique my plans.

[Sally PB]

More on ventilation.

The best place to put it is up high. Ideally, a foot above the chickens' heads when they are on the roost at night. They exhale warm moist air, which rises, taking it away from their combs and wattles. Moist air can cause frostbite, if the temps are low enough.

Ammonia from their poop also rises. They poop a lot at night. Look up "poop boards" as a way to keep your coop cleaner. There is about a 1/2" of what is called "sweet PDZ" on the board. It's also called "stall refresher," but you want the PDZ kind. I scoop up the poop with a kitty litter shovel, shake the PDZ back onto the board, and dump the poop in a bucket. 5 minutes, most of the poop in the coop is gone.
Here's a picture of my poop board.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I was thinking that if we did corrugated metal then we wouldn't have plywood underneath it (just some 2x4 joists instead). So there would be gaps between the peaks of the corrugation and the coop walls.

Ahh, okay..... So yes that would be ventilation, but you do have to put hardware cloth over the gaps for safety.

 

[21hens-incharge]

One other thing....

Hinged tops on nest boxes are virtually impossible to seal.
Consider having the rear of the nest box drop down to gather eggs.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

One other thing....

Hinged tops on nest boxes are virtually impossible to seal.
Consider having the rear of the nest box drop down to gather eggs.

This is so true, it started "the list" of reasons why I had to expand my coop (like I needed to justify it ,) I definitely prefer internal boxes........

 

[21hens-incharge]

This is so true, it started "the list" of reasons why I had to expand my coop (like I needed to justify it ,) I definitely prefer internal boxes........

Me too!

For the OP. Know that we speak.from experience.
I myself have had the following sizes...
4x4 raised (hard to clean and shockingly tiny not to mention no room to vent)
4x6 raised (easier to clean, hard to vent, external nest leaked no matter what we did)
8x8 walk in better, easier to vent and clean.
8x14 walk in best by far. Lots of room for nests, windows, vents, brooding chicks and enjoying my flock. Also easiest to clean.
3x5 raised (bantams only and just 3 ever lived there)

 

[MrRaccoon]

Hinged tops on nest boxes are virtually impossible to seal.
Consider having the rear of the nest box drop down to gather eggs.

What is more ideal for a non-walk-in coop? Would I do a couple small doors flush with the wall (one per nesting box)?

 

[21hens-incharge]

What is more ideal for a non-walk-in coop? Would I do a couple small doors flush with the wall (one per nesting box)?

It looks like most go with one big drop door.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Perhaps I could add a foot tall strip of ventilation along the front of the coop, under the overhang. That would be 1'x8', so enough for my needs. Should I have flaps to cover over parts of that if the chicken count is lower, or is having a few extra sqft of ventilation not a big issue?

You want some sort of awning, overhang, etc. to protect the vents from climate intrusion, but having extra ventilation is never an issue. You'll appreciate having it on hot summer days if nothing else.

I have read many times that I must have a draft-free coop, but that it must be well ventilated. What is the difference between keeping out wind/drafts, and allowing ventilation. Is it mostly that the ventilation is up high, above the chickens' heads (including on the roost)?

EDIT: I just found the answer on a featured article today: Articles Learning Center Top 15 Chicken Coop Mistakes. According to the article, yes the ventilation must be over the Chickens' heads to not be a draft.

It's not that clear cut, but that's a good place to start - having vents at least 1' above their heads makes it pretty likely that you won't have a draft issue. But you can have vents lower that still don't cause draft (my upper roost is set directly between 2 windows, which stay open about 99% of the time). It's about wind direction, buffering, air movement paths inside the space, and a whole lot of other stuff that I'm definitely not knowledgeable about.

 

[BDutch]

How are your plans going?
Did you get all your answers? Added a few personal ideas and experiences.

2) Bigger is better. "Gee, I wish I'd made my coop smaller," said nobody, ever. Figure 4 s/f per bird in the coop, and 10 s/f per bird in the run. These are considered minimums. Also plan on 1 linear foot of roost space per adult bird. For 8 layers, 2 or 3 nest boxes should be enough.

I would not recommend this either. It’s the bare minimum imho. Better: 4 layers or double the space. This takes down stress levels, which means happier and healthier chickens and less cleaning too.

We have hawks, but we also have lots of cover (both trees and large bushes). Most of the hawks I see are fairly small (not much larger than a crow), but once in a blue moon I see an eagle. Hopefully they go for the plentiful squirrels that we have around here, rather than the chickens.

I do recommend to add strong, cat or birds of pray netting on top. Easy to make and its keeps your chickens so much safer. Cat netting has a maze of 3 cm and the birds of pray netting 4 cm (between 1 and 2”) . I have a pole/frame thats about 30 cm higher in the middle as the sides, against sacking. The amount of snow you have resembles with the snow we have here. Never had a problem with the snow in 9 years.

I have read many times that I must have a draft-free coop, but that it must be well ventilated. What is the difference between keeping out wind/drafts, and allowing ventilation.

A chicken in a tree has no problems with draft. Just avoid a strong air flow that passes a chickens body.

are hoping to add ducks (maybe next year)

No experience but have been reading ducks and chickens are not a good combination. Not in the same coop/run.

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

Hey, Mr. Raccoon! You're getting some great input from everyone here, love how you're working suggestions into your designs!

My 2 cents:

1. When considering placement of the roosting bar(s), remember to THINK POOP. My next coop will definitely have space for poop boards under the roosts!

Our prefab coop was designed so that the girls have to walk through the night's fresh poop to exit/enter the coop and to get into the nest boxes, resulting in (of course) dirty eggs from dirty feet. And there's no space for poop boards or to relocate the roosting bar away from the "traffic pattern". (The things I didn't think of as a total chicken newbie... )

2. My experience agrees with the above comments that external nest boxes need to have a drop-down door instead of a hinged lid over the boxes. Our VERY WET winter here on the North Coast has shown us that no matter how much flashing, add-on coverings, etc. we've tried to keep water from seeping in, there's still a wet line in the coop bedding right under the lid's hinged top edge, and more moisture drips in from the wet lid when I lift the nest box lid to access the nests.

I hadn't discovered BYC yet when we got our first chicks last spring, alas! If I had, we would've gone with a completely different coop setup. You are ahead of the game already!