good sizing for hen house

[rocketdoctor]

Helping a freind convert a large shed into a coup. The plan is to make 2/3 of it into a screened in Run and then the last 1/3 into where the hens nest. I was thinking I would leave the bottom part of the nest open for the run as well. The sheds about 7 feet tall questions I have is.

1. How large should I make the hen house , I was thinking 3 feet with 2 roosting bars?
2. Can Iput a Hard wire floor in the Hen house so most droppings will fall onto coop dirt floor below or do you suggest a solid floor. where I live I didn't get freezing temperatures so I don't think its needed to keep warm.
3. Should Nest box be off the chicken house or ok to be in run area.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

How big is this "shed"?
How many birds will be in it?

Your post is a little confusing, since (to me) a "shed" is an enclosed building, a "coop" is an enclosed building, and a "run" is a FENCED area only.

I'm not sure what you mean by "convert a shed to a run".

The "roosts" should be inside the "coop" and the floors should be solid
Nest boxes can be anywhere they will stay dry, which generally means inside and not in a run

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Also the nest box entrances should be a little above the floor of the building. I like the entrance to be about a foot above the floor with a perch at the entrance so they can jump up and look inside.

The roosts need to be significantly higher than the nests or they'll sleep in the nest.

The roof needs to be high enough above the roosts so they don't hit their heads jumping up onto the roost and break their necks.

 

[rocketdoctor]

Sorry for the confusion the shed is 8 ft wide and 12ft deep. What I was going to do is tear off the siding on 8 -9 ft of length and replace with Hardware mesh as well as entire front side except for door. this would be the run. Then the last 3-4 feet would be enclosed as the run with some roosts in it. However I think having a coop thats 8 ft tall is a bit unnecessary so I was going to raise it to maybe 4 feet off the ground, so chickens can go under it. In my drawing is the 12ft side view. Probably won't have more than 6 chickens.

so Im thinking the hen house will be about 4 feet tall with the roost 1 ft off the hen house floor. leaving them 3 feet from the cieling. I'll put the egg boxes about a foot off the floor on the back wall

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The roosts need to be significantly higher than the nests or they'll sleep in the nest.

... However I think having a coop thats 8 ft tall is a bit unnecessary so I was going to raise it to maybe 4 feet off the ground, so chickens can go under it. ...

... 4 feet tall with the roost 1 ft off the hen house floor. leaving them 3 feet from the cieling. I'll put the egg boxes about a foot off the floor on the back wall

Leaving space for them to go under is a good idea in both summer and winter but they don't need 4 feet. 2 is probably plenty.

Making it tall enough that you can stand up in it will be much appreciated later for cleaning, working the chickens at night, etc..

You'll be sorry if both the roost and the nests are the same height. They will sleep in the nests and you'll have to clean them out every morning at dawn or you'll have poopy eggs.