Help me with my coop plans please

[Martha_Maybel_Lisa]

I do have a lot of coops. I like being able to walk into them. All of my coops I can walk into except one that was given to me. These are my main group of coops. I do have a couple of others. One I use if I need to separate birds and another which is my chick/grow-out coop which is a duplex coop. The larger coops are duplex coops too. I have rain/shade tables in all of the pens. In the summer it rains most every day and when it's hot the ground stays cooler under the tables and the birds like to get under them.View attachment 2581699View attachment 2581700
There was once grasss in all of the pens but the birds destroyed it years ago. I do give them greens as well as alfalfa which they like.
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I love the tables I will have to do something like that. Can I see the inside of one or two of your coops? Ours neighbors have lost several of their girls to raccoons and possums sneaking into the coop at night, so security is very important to me but I am a novice chicken owner trying to take in a lot of info and make the best decision.

 

[Sally PB]

so security is very important to me but I am a novice chicken owner trying to take in a lot of info and make the best decision.

You are thinking about this ahead of time. Good for you! It's easier to build it safe and strong than to try to make it safe and strong later.

 

[Martha_Maybel_Lisa]

I don’t want to “live & learn” I want to learn & live
The open coop design sound appealing for maximum ventilation. However I want to be able to lock them up completely at night. We’ve had armadillos dig 3 ft deep holes over night under our stem wall to get under our house, I’m not sure they would harm a chicken but if a raccoon or some other critter came in behind them... I don’t want to wake up to a massacre. My husband suggested the 2 smaller coops but it probably is more practical and economical to do 1 larger.

 

[cmom]

I love the tables I will have to do something like that. Can I see the inside of one or two of your coops? Ours neighbors have lost several of their girls to raccoons and possums sneaking into the coop at night, so security is very important to me but I am a novice chicken owner trying to take in a lot of info and make the best decision.

I have welded wire over a poop pit under the roosts. This is my favorite coop. It's very easy to clean. I did take the perches off of the front of the nest boxes because the birds would roost on them and poop in the nest boxes. Problem solved. Good luck and have fun...

 

[cmom]

I also have electric wires around my coops and pens, good heavy duty netting covering all of the pens and concrete under the gates all due to losses from predators in the past. It may not be too pretty but works well. I also have several game cameras up around on my property and see predators roaming around mostly at night. I think the adult predators teach the young not to mess with the electric wires and that a chicken isn't worth getting zapped for.

The date is wrong on this camera. This picture was taken a couple of nights ago.

This a bobcat outside the chick/grow-out coop a couple of months ago.

 

[cmom]

As far as latches go I use spring hooks and so far nothing has gotten in. I even have trouble sometimes. I put screen doors in the coops. I got most of them cheap at the local habitat for humanity. I put hardware cloth over the screened part. I like them because when we do get rain I can shut the screened part with a window that comes down. Again, good luck and have fun... Where in Florida are you located? I'm near Ocala.

 

[Martha_Maybel_Lisa]

@cmom oh wow GENIUS I love love the poo pit, do you cover them during our 2 weeks of winter when it’s cold? Are your nesting boxes opposite the perches? I appreciate you sharing! Thank you so much

 

[Martha_Maybel_Lisa]

As far as latches go I use spring hooks and so far nothing has gotten in. I even have trouble sometimes. I put screen doors in the coops. I got most of them cheap at the local habitat for humanity. I put hardware cloth over the screened part. I like them because when we do get rain I can shut the screened part with a window that comes down. Again, good luck and have fun... Where in Florida are you located? I'm near Ocala.
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Hastings! So not far from you

 

[3KillerBs]

As far as latches go I use spring hooks and so far nothing has gotten in. I even have trouble sometimes.

On your recommendation I've got those on my nest box and DH HATES them because his hands are just big enough to have trouble with them.

If he can't get in ....

 

[Sally PB]

@Martha_Maybel_Lisa, have you read about run "aprons?" It's 2 feet (or so) of hardware cloth (you'll see it called "HC") flat on the ground next to the coop/run. Animals can't dig through it, so they can't tunnel into the run.

Some people bury it straight down from the wall of the run instead. Or down a few inches, then out to the side.

Grass can grow right up through HC, but you may have to tack it down at first.