My wife and I are starting our chicken coop experience together for the first time. I am a type of person who does everything over the top. So that being said i am building a 8x8 coop with a 12x50 run and a movable chicken pen, we have 15 acres of property and plenty of areas for our birds to explore and eat. I have the foundation and two walls done. I am building it in my shop on 8x8 pressure treated skids. I plan on moving it with my tractor to its permanent spot. Been raining here in western Washington so building indoors is nice. My first question is about ventilation. I have purchased a 120v automatic wall fan for summer but i am looking for input on static vents. I plan on putting 5 soffit vents on each side of roof. its a single pitch roof. Will that be enough for 6 chickens in a 8x8 shed? We will have water and 50 amps of power to the coop and plan on interior lighting. I know i dont need that much power but its available and want the option of cameras and additional outside lights. Is there any specific lights that i need for interior or will LED be fine? I also plan on running all my wires Through seal tight and PVC to prevent pecking on wires.
G'Day from down under jamming Welcome! I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun. BYC has Topic of the Week discussions which I have found to be a great resource, informative and sometimes entertaining; so definitely worth checking out. If you would like to share Pictures and Stories of your flock when they arrive, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out Including your general location on your profile will assist others. Location, climate, season etc can be important factors when members are responding to any questions you may have and vice versa. You might want to also Find Your State Thread and pop in and say hello. You may be interested in these links: Learning Centre Articles Mama Heating Pad Thread Coop & Run Forum How Much Room do Chickens Need? https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop.47774/
Welcome Jamming! 8x8 coop? while your at it, make it bigger they get smaller every year. There will be a time you wish you started bigger on the coop itself instead on adding later. By the following year or two you’ll be adding more chicks or adults and you’ll be doing some integrating, depends on the motive wether you want colorful eggs or colorful variety of flocks or for whatever reason. My 10x12 shed/ coop seems got smaller after friends wanted eggs left and right then I wanted more types of chicken then more colors of eggs. Then we have an accidental dark egg roo so we need to separate certain group together to breed. I had to build another 8x8 coop for pricey heritage chickens. Get the picture? This all started from just wanting 3 egg layers.
We are glad you joined our flock. Jump right in and make yourself at home. This video will help you learn how to navigate this site: Official BYC Coop Page Contest - Fall-Winter 2017
Thank you for your response. But already pretty deep into my build and would be a bit of a challenge to adjust now. My wife is planning her retirement in the next few years and adding on might be a good project for me at the time if need be. My shop is 40x60 might be full of chickens one day it sounds like. Lol. Thanks.