Getting ready to build. Need input

[fdehaven]

Please look at my page and let me know if there is anything else I need to do before I get my Chickens.

 

[GraceAK]

Make sure that the nest boxes are lower than the perches, or they will poop in the nest box!
Also, make sure each chicken has enough square feet (4 per large chicken, 2 per bantam)

EDIT: I looked again, and it looks like the house can fit 8 but the yard can only fit 6. If you extend the run for 2 more feet you can fit a full 8 chickens.

 

[bills]

It looks like a good plan for six hens.

You may find one nest box is all that will be used, least my six all use the same one, sometimes with two crowding in at the same time..goofy birds..

I put a roost in my small run, but have only seen the birds use it once or twice, with usually just one bird on it at a time. You may not need that.

If your intending on raising layers, you may want to install a light inside the coop, to extend the light exposure in the winter months.

A roof or partial roof over the run will give the birds some shelter if it rains. They will want to be outside all day, so you want to try to avoid them getting soaked..

A dropping board under the roost really helps keep the floor litter cleaner, so you may want to add one, allowing that you can access it for daily clean ups. I find all my birds sit within inches of one another on the roost, so I could have made the roost much smaller. You may not need two in your coop.

HTH,

Bill

 

[LynneP]

Is the bottom schematic for a PVC hopper feeder? If so, you can get a screw-on top for the 4" kind, at your hardware store...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-diy-hopper-feeder

 

[teach1rusl]

Looks good! I agree w/the dropping board and partial run roof comments...nice to have both! Electricity is wonderful, but I'm presuming this is a tractor of sorts? So maybe that's not an option...

 

[fdehaven]

Thanks to all who answered. I am going to cover half the yard with a good heavy tarp juxt incase it rains. I am only getting 6 chickens so it sounds like I will ahve enough room for them. As far as the feeder I have it built already but I wish I would of known about the screw on top. Oh well live and learn. I am going to try and figure out some thing with the droppings board. As far as electricity it will only be about 100 - 150 feet from my house and I think I ave an extension cord that will work for that, I would like an automatic door for the days I wanna sleep in. Again thanks for the input.

 

[Doopy]

I have been studying coops and asking lots of questions for the past two months and, to me, your design looks great. You may want to install your nesting boxes only 6" or 8" above the floor and for 6 chickens two nesting boxes should be enough.

For many years I have made game feeders in the woods for wildlife photography and your feeder is one of the designs that has always worked best for me. I always use 4" for the lower portion and as large as possible diameter for the vertical tube. One time I found several scrap pieces of 12" diameter PVC at a scrap yard and used 4' long sections of it for the top section of several feeders. Aluminum pie pans made perfect rain/critter covers. Your "fuel gauge" looks good but may get in the way when refilling the feeder.

Maybe mine flowed too fast because of the large diameter (weight of food) but I had to install baffles in mine to restrict the food flow. Also the animals would eat the plastic at the discharge opening so I had to replace the bottom sections several times. I doubt that chickens would do much damage that way. But they do love to peck at things.

 

[bigoakhunter]

Coop plans look good!

I would add a couple of vents towards top of coop. Cover vent opening with 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch harware cloth to keep varmits out. I keep the long piece I cut out of wood for vent and make a track to slide it in or hinge it so i can close up one or both vents if needed.

Ventilation helps with humidity in coop and smell issues. plus other benefits.

PatandChickens has a thread all about ventilation and coops. You can do a search on this site for it.

 

[gsim]

Do full length soffit vents front and back. Do more overhang, say 8". Put gutter on back so as not to flood egg door and cause rot or leaking. Include underside of coop as run for rainy days and shade outside. Forget tarp, junky looking and they can blow away and cause collapses in snowy conditions. Cover run only if flat and soggy, the underside of coop will do enough for cover. Make run tall enough to walk in and make an access door for the run. Make walkboard not so steep. Do a 3":1 or 4:1 slope for walkboard. Do 1/2" OSB with linoleum cover for poop plank. Make it removable for yearly cleaning/scrubbing. Sheet metal would be best for it. If unlimited supply of litter, can keep it covered with litter for easier cleaning. I end up doing daily scrapings on mine in wintertime

because I run out of grass clippings for litter. I use 8" drywall finishing knife. No problem as smears dry quickly

and do not stink up the coop. Set roost 12" from wall and do poop plank 24" wide, centered below roost, maybe at half it's ht. Makes a place for chooks to hop up to roost. Do linoleum floor. Do guillotine doors with overhead pulleys and cable or rope. Can retrofit auto-door later. Do two windows on two opposing walls for cross ventilation in warm weather. Make them so that they can be operated and locked from outside. Do deep litter method and with poop plank under roost, your litter may last a year as mine does. Feed inside and water outside, under coop if possible to keep it cool in hot weather.

Ask lots of questions, take long breaks, take short puffs, work safely, and have fun.

 

[Doopy]

gsim, as usual, offers some great suggestions. The one about using the space under the coop as a part of the run is especially good. It would provide shade, dry space to get out of the rain, a dusting area, and increases the overall area of the run. The downside is that it may interfere with the mobility of the coop-on-wheels idea.