Help me with my coop plans please

[Martha_Maybel_Lisa]

I currently have 3 young hens but would like to expand my flock and would need to build a new coop. I am thinking 9 chickens... but chicken math = 12 chickens I am looking at building Two L8’xW4’xH4’ identical coops. I live in North Florida so I want to make sure they have enough ventilation. I also want to have a couple access points for ease of cleaning. They would share a 15’x10’ run, but they would also have access to supervised free-range for several hours most days. I live on 60 acres so plenty of space to roam, but due to a surplus of predators I can’t allow free ranging without supervision. I’m not an architect so forgive my rough drawings, the top left is an aerial view, bottom left is the left and right sides, but left side would be on hinges with a locking latch. Right picture is of the back with protruding nesting boxes. I drew it with the whole nesting boxes on a hinge but my husband suggested the roof of the nesting boxes be what opens (easier for him to construct) the aerial view shows 2 roosting bars (the squiggly’s) but I don’t want the to go the entire length of the coop because I want the one wall to open up and I also don’t want them pooping in their food and water. So for my questions: 1) feedback on nesting boxes-too many, wrong size..etc? 2) roosting bar-1 in each box or 2? And currently planning 12-18” off the bottom of coop, how is my height? 3) enough ventilation or too much? 4) Height, is the coop tall enough?
Any other feedback or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Any particular reason you want 2 smaller coops instead of 1 larger one? What is your plan if all the birds choose to be in 1 coop over the other?

Top hinged nest box openings are prone to leak issues in the rain so a side opening hatch would be better, unless you can put enough roof overhang over the nest area to protect it.

1) For 12 birds you'd only need 3-4 boxes total. I have 3 in my coop built for 12 birds.

2) Roost bar: # of roosts is a little less relevant than how much total roost length you have. For standard sized birds 1 ft per bird is recommended. That said, having more than one roost is optimal as not all birds will want to sleep next to certain others.

3) No such thing as too much ventilation in a hotter environment. You might want to consider going with an open air design rather than a traditional 4-wood-wall type coop, i.e. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/texas-coop-build-pic-heavy.1371038/

4) Is it tall enough... well, it's tall enough for chickens. The real question is, is it tall enough for YOU? You need to consider how hard/easy this will be for you to access. I personally would never want a coop that isn't walk-in, because of back issues. Bending down or over to clean or maintain or to reach a bird isn't for me.

 

[3KillerBs]

3) No such thing as too much ventilation in a hotter environment. You might want to consider going with an open air design rather than a traditional 4-wood-wall type coop, i.e. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/texas-coop-build-pic-heavy.1371038/

I agree with this.

In your climate you need maximum ventilation.

Do you want 2 coops because you intend to have two flocks or for some other reason?

 

[Isellsilkies]

Ooh make sure you add windows and window boxes you can grow veggies for them in the window boxes

 

[DobieLover]

Chickens are flock creatures and will all want to pile into one coop unless they are physically prevented from mingling. I would build one large coop.
Top hinging windows is a great idea. Top hinging the nest box will lead to water penetration into the nest boxes. A bottom hinge the nest box will work better.

 

[Isellsilkies]

And Windows natural light helps them lay eggs and window boxes are cute and they love food that u can grow in the window boxes

 

[3KillerBs]

And Windows natural light helps them lay eggs and window boxes are cute and they love food that u can grow in the window boxes

Windows are cute for humans and can supplement the necessary overhead ventilation -- especially in a hot climate -- but don't really meet the needs of ventilation placement for chicken housing unless very carefully designed.

This photo is from an article on cow barns, but the principle is sound:

Ornamental features like window boxes can certainly be very useful when fitting a chicken coop into an urban/suburban setting where neighborhood aesthetics is important but should be secondary.

Because my hot climate requires watering container plants twice daily I may build raised beds around the base of my coop to plant tall, fast-growing things like sunflowers and pole beans that will provide summer shade.

 

[Sally PB]

As someone else said, I would never have a coop I couldn't walk into. If you can't walk into it, you have to be able to reach all the areas in the coop for cleaning.

I really love the drawings @3KillerBs provided. It shows ventilation and air flow well.

OP, check out some of the many coop building articles here on BYC. So many good ideas there!

 

[Acre4Me]

@cmom raises lots of chickens in Fl, has dealt with predators and has built many coops. Maybe she can add her thoughts.

 

[cmom]

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.

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.