Help building a coop!

[Margy1]

We are going to start building our coop (hopefully this weekend!!).We have four chicks,we have no idea how big it needs to be. We live in S.W Florida, it is very hot during the summer, in the sun about 100 and in the shade probably about 85-90. In the winter it will sometimes get down to 35 at night (very rarely) we are planning on building a coop like this:

We are thinking of staining all of the wood inside and out so that it is sealed since in FL there is a lot of rain.

is staining the wood okay for the chickens? Will it make them sick?

What are you suggestions on:
Size coop and run
Bedding
Anything else you think we need to know before we build out coop

Thank You!!!

 

[WthrLady]

Ex floridian here.....put that window on a hinge. Cover the hole with hardware cloth. You want to be able to open that window full wide for ventilation!

 

[Margy1]

We were thinking of making a few windows and putting chicken wire over the openings so we could get air through there but not worry about anything getting in the coop. Boyfriend said he grabbed a 4ft rat snake out of the yard earlier that was about 10 foot away from our chicks!

 

[N F C]

This link might help answer your questions regarding size, bedding, etc.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/housing-and-feeding-your-chickens

We are in north/central FL with our flock of 16 and have dealt with the high & low temps you mention. There are several ways of keeping your birds cooler in the summer (such as fans, water to wade in, frozen fruit treats). You do need good ventilation in your coop but be prepared, it's still going to be hot in the summer for everyone. Last winter when we had some nights down in the low 30's, we put a red heat lamp from their old brooder in the coop and the girls loved to huddle under and around it for extra warmth.

One really important concern to keep in mind is predator-proofing your coop as strongly as possible. Here's some good information on that subject too. Forget using chicken wire for the coop...hardware cloth offers much more protection from coop invasions.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-predators-pests-how-to-protect-treat-your-flock

Hope this helps, just post if you have questions...there are a lot of really helpful people here that would be glad to help.

 

[WthrLady]

Oh a tiny baby black snake! Our problem was pigmy rattlers. Tiny as a pencil and hardware cloth does not slow them down, so you have to eliminate hidey places. Then there were the bears, the armadillos, and the gators.....geesh.