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DobieLover said:
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
Well ventilated, DRY coop with poop boards that are cleaned daily and dumped into a compost bin when full.
I recommend a walk-in style coop.
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Thank you! I'm more interested in the raised style so I can place movable trays under the floor for easy cleaning, please check my reply to @ValerieJ
 
ValerieJ said:
I don't think that would work nearly as well as you think. The mesh will catch the poop and you'll have a real scraping mess on your hands. I hope you looked up the poop boards that use sand and pdz. Much easier. You definitely want a walk in coop. You will thank me for that advice one day, or say "why didn't I listen" when you're trying to climb into a chicken hutch for cleaning!
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That was convincing! No mesh. But still more into the raised style to make use of the ground under..
 
Chicken_Ninja said:
That was convincing! No mesh. But still more into the raised style to make use of the ground under..
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Is this because you have limited space? If you have to go with a raised coop, make sure it is high enough to easily clean, and make one side able to be opened almost entirely for cleaning. Then get children's hoes and rakes for cleaning. The poop boards wont work, so you'll have to do what I do. I just clean the coops every day, taking all soiled straw or shavings out and replacing it. Because I didn't start with a walk in coop and enclosed run, my work is a lot more than it would have needed to be.

I started with 6 chickens, thinking that's all I ever needed. Then I learned about chicken laying habits, and realized I needed to add a few every year to keep eggs coming. Planning ahead, I started adding 3 chicks per year. Next thing I knew, my 10x4 raised coop was not large enough, so we built another 4x4, and that worked for another year. Year 3 began with yet another coop to accommodate the 3 new chicks and keep them separated in a see/no touch pen for a couple months. Now I had 3 coops, all being used. All hutches. Year 4 inadvertantly brought two cockerels into the mix, both of whom I fell i love with , so I'm trying now to figure out how to keep them. DH built coop #4. Now I have Coop #1, (10x4), Coop #2, (4x4), Coop #3 (prefab 3x3, because I didn't have the heart to ask DH, and now it's falling apart), Coop #4, (4x4, built by DH), and in March, at the beginning of year #5 we are building coop #5. I currently clean all 4 coops every day because it's winter and they spend a lot of time in there doing what chickens do!

Coop #5 will be an 8x10 walk in coop with all those spaces above and below inside the coop. We will be able to divide it into two coops and runs as needed, and have a space for brooding mamas. I will keep the other 3 DH built coops for isolation pens when needed, but will not use them. Next winter I'll be headed out for the 5 minute scoop the poop off the poop boards, have large water proof feeders and heated water dishes under a full roofed chicken run (min 120 SF) and will not be dealing with this winter mess anymore!!! :ya They will still be able to free range in my orchard every day, which is surrounded by electric wire, fencing and covered with bird netting. I can't wait!

I still only have 12 chickens. That is the approximate number I will always want, but it will ebb and flow with chicken life cycles.

I'm just sayin...
 
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Wait...I just went back and re-read your intro. 20-30 chickens? Do you realize you need a minimum of 120 SF of floor space in your coop for 30 chickens? That doesn't include nesting boxes, and you'll need about 5 of those. Then you'll need at least 30 feet of roosting bars. I've never seen a raised coop that big before, but I'm sure it can be done. Then, in the run, you need a minimum of 300 SF of space, and I think that will be too small to avoid problems. I go the opposite way and give my chickens 4000 SF of safe free range space during the day, which will be open to them during the day even when the new coop and run are finished. You'll need to think about obstacles, perches and ways to entertain chickens. Make sure you have 3-5 feeding stations. I have 5 or more for my 12 chickens. Depending on the season and what is happening with them, I may add but never less than 5.

Again, I didn't start here. I learned the hard way...kind of like what you want to do. :D
 
Chicken_Ninja said:
Thank you! I'm more interested in the raised style so I can place movable trays under the floor for easy cleaning, please check my reply to @ValerieJ
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I had the raised style. It worked fine for the chickens. It did NOT for me.
I converted a shed into my coop and use poop boards and would never consider going back to raised floor.
If you build your run as predator proof as your coop you can leave the pop door open 24/7.
You also need to consider how difficult it is going to be to retrieve chickens off the roost to work with them when required. For example, last night I did health checks, routine maintenance and dewormed my flock of 27 birds. This took over 2 hours. I had to do no stooping to do the work. I just walk into the coop, picked up the bird I wanted and went into the brooder room to work with it.
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