Help planning to enlarge the Garden Coop

[fightingbunny]

I am planning on building an enlarged Garden Coop (www.thegardencoop.com). Basically, I am going to make it deeper and have the run go a lot further. I want to have it be eight feet deep and 20 feet wide. The original plans have the coop/run at 9.5'w x 5.5'd x 8'h. I want to also enlarge the coop part from 3 x 5.5 to be 4 x 8. Because I have a lot of slope, I am going to build one half of the coop/run a foot shorter than the other, but the roof line will be continuous. Their website did not have any details on enlarging it, just a bunch of pictures, so I need to figure out the details.

So my first specific question is how to handle the rafter/stud for the wider coop part. The original plans have the upright studs every 3 feet with the roof rafters sitting atop them. Because I want the actual coop part to be 4 foot wide, do I make that one stud be an extra foot away and just keep the rafter on top like the rest? Or do I keep the rafter/stud at 3 feet and cantilever the coop out a foot? I would prefer to just make things a foot wider as that looks a lot easier, but I don't want to make it unsafe.

Sorry if my description is confusing, I am not sure how to describe this. I am going to try to upload AMAZING paint drawings that have my two options. Hopefully those help

My second specific question is whether I can go eight feet deep or if I should shoot for something a bit more modest, like 7 feet deep. I can put a pillar for support under the coop and the middle of the run will have a double stud as that will be where the height changes.

Thanks,
Jenn

 

[Merrymouse]

I am planning on building an enlarged Garden Coop (www.thegardencoop.com). Basically, I am going to make it deeper and have the run go a lot further. I want to have it be eight feet deep and 20 feet wide. The original plans have the coop/run at 9.5'w x 5.5'd x 8'h. I want to also enlarge the coop part from 3 x 5.5 to be 4 x 8. Because I have a lot of slope, I am going to build one half of the coop/run a foot shorter than the other, but the roof line will be continuous. Their website did not have any details on enlarging it, just a bunch of pictures, so I need to figure out the details.

So my first specific question is how to handle the rafter/stud for the wider coop part. The original plans have the upright studs every 3 feet with the roof rafters sitting atop them. Because I want the actual coop part to be 4 foot wide, do I make that one stud be an extra foot away and just keep the rafter on top like the rest? Or do I keep the rafter/stud at 3 feet and cantilever the coop out a foot? I would prefer to just make things a foot wider as that looks a lot easier, but I don't want to make it unsafe.

Sorry if my description is confusing, I am not sure how to describe this. I am going to try to upload AMAZING paint drawings that have my two options. Hopefully those help

My second specific question is whether I can go eight feet deep or if I should shoot for something a bit more modest, like 7 feet deep. I can put a pillar for support under the coop and the middle of the run will have a double stud as that will be where the height changes.

Thanks,
Jenn

I see that no one has responded to your thread....

Let me see if I post we can bump it. So I want to help you but Im not sure what your asking? Can you ask again? and maybe explain a little clearer please so maybe I can help. How sloped is your space? I think stepping down your plan or cantilever will make things more difficult. Is there any way to set your foundation level by building up with cinder blocks or whatever?

It sounds like you want to have 10' width and 3ish' depth? I guess what I dont understand is if your run is 20' wide how can your coop be only 8'wide? Doesnt the garden coop run the same width as the run? I guess I should look at the coop online again so I can better under stand what your asking. Wait a minute....I think Im thinking of the garden LOFT because that is what I was going to build. Hold on...let me think. Ok...I think you can build it just like the plans say but just make all your cuts longer to make it 4x8 for the coop part and as far as the rafters go you can buy 10' lumber and span it across just like you would do for the 5.5" depth. This is assuming your plans roof over hangs the run and coop by at least a foot on each side for water run off. Just remember if you make the run/coop deeper you may have to make your roof pitch more so it wont be too flat. So say the plan says your 7' high in the front and 8' high in the back you may have to make it 7' in the front and 9' in the back so you have an appropriate pitch for run off etc. If you increase the depth you also must increase the pitch. I did not do this when I made mine bigger and my roof is pretty flat so i wil have to remove snow manually on occasion.

As far as the stud on the coop part I have my studs at 4' apart but I still kept my rafters every 18" or whatever to support the roof. But my rafters sit on top of a fascia or soffit and dont tie directly into the studs like I think they do in your plan. So I guess to answer this part of your question, yes you can place your stud at 4' instead of 3' but you till have to support the roof with rafters and 4' apart rafters is not enough.

 

[fightingbunny]

Thank you so much for the reply! I tried to make my question make sense, but when no one replied I figured it didn't make a lick of sense

I plan on the entire structure being 8 foot deep and 18 foot wide. The coop is inside that dimension as it is a floating (not sure that is the right word) coop that is attached to the run. The structure will have studs at every 3 feet supporting the roof. The roof rafters will sit on top of the studs every 3 feet. My question was whether I should keep the roof rafters every 3 feet if I move one stud a little bit over.

I need to do some trig and figure out for an 8 foot length what size rafter I need to get to get the proper pitch on the roof. Or maybe I will just get the biggest I can find and go with that

 

[Merrymouse]

Im pretty sure you can use 2x4 for the rafters, thats what I used. Its the spacing thats important. Is your roof going to overhang? If yes, just add a foot to each end so for a 8' deep you would need 2x4x10 lumber. Also being a newbie you might not know this because I didnt at first, 2x4 is not exactly 2"x4" its 1.5"x3.5" this goes for most lumber sizes. just FYI so your measurements wont be off keep that in mind. Where are you in your project? Have you started yet?

 

[fightingbunny]

In my head I have started, does that count?

We have moved the current small coop and started digging out the area that we will be installing the new coop/run. I have been free ranging my hens in the morning before work to help them not go as crazy. The new chicks arrive in June, so I have a "little" time. I do predict that June 1st, I will be posting in a panic that we aren't even close to done

Right now, we are debating if we really need cinder blocks for the entire base around the run and coop as those things weigh a ton! I keep seeing people that use just a pillar support every few feet instead. I just don't know how people hold earth back doing that. Maybe we just have more slope than most people? We also thought it would make the framing easier as everything would start out level.

 

[fightingbunny]

What do you think about the following layout for a 4' wide x 8' long x 4' high coop? I want the nesting boxes on the front due to the side being a bit inconvenient for daily egg retrieval. This allowed me to have an 8' roost and PDZ tray under it. I think 26' head clearance is enough for chickens right? The one downside I see is that this limits the nest boxes to 12" tall. I am not sure that is roomy enough.

 

[Merrymouse]

What do you think about the following layout for a 4' wide x 8' long x 4' high coop? I want the nesting boxes on the front due to the side being a bit inconvenient for daily egg retrieval. This allowed me to have an 8' roost and PDZ tray under it. I think 26' head clearance is enough for chickens right? The one downside I see is that this limits the nest boxes to 12" tall. I am not sure that is roomy enough.

Check out this link. Its my build and I have the same size coop 8x4. I just installed my poop boards and roosts yesterday. I currently have 10 chicks but I know at least one is a cockerel and will not be staying. Also my coop and run was built on uneven ground. On the low end we have 3 cinder blocks to make the run/coop level. I also posted some pictures of how we got loam and started backfilling to make everything level. First we just kept dumping loam to build up the base a bit then we attached the hardware cloth perimeter and then more loam on top. Once you put the loam on top you cant even tell there is hardware cloth there. And it packs down nicely then we added more loam. Out run is 8x14 and we ordered 8 yards of loam and it looks like we will have some left over, just for reference...I think you've looked at my thread before but check the new pictures I put up last night as it is exactly what your asking now


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1148526/technical-coop-building-question/240

Also keep in mind you want your poop boards high enough for chickens to walk under easily. Keep in mind that you will be putting some kind of bedding that will essentially raise the height of the coop floor. Good luck and keep us posted!