hen house

[n2h20]

SO o am about to add a coop to my run,, its going to be about 4'x4' by 3' tall, and sit 2 fee off the ground. All ply wood sides and i might insulate it.

My question is.....
I see every one have the nest boxes and "egg gathering" doors on the outside of the main structure.
why is this? to save room? ease of gathering eggs?

I am thinking of having the whole side open and the nest boxes on the left side inside the coop. I am tight on space and think this would give me the most room.
any negative to doing it this way?


thanks

 

[Anny]

Personally I like the look of having the nesting box being a little "add on" to the main structure, it looks cute. haha but also it save floor space (if your nesting box is at floor level. And it's easy to collect the eggs with out disturbing the chickens. You can sometime even collect the eggs while they are sleeping on the roosts.

 

[Bird Hearder]

How many birds do you have? Do you plan on any more?

4x4 is Darn small especialy if your going to have nest boxes inside. I think you only have recommended space for 3 chickens in a 4x4.
My coop is not even finished and only 2 months old and is already time to build bigger. you need to think ahead and ask yourself how many birds do you want in the future.

 

[n2h20]

i have 5 birds... i also have a 5 x 10 run that is attached and they get out twice a day for a few hours.

 

[GallowayFarms]

If you want to only make a coop that small, you need to let them have access to the run at all times.

You would only need to insulate your coop if it gets really cold for long periods of time.

I would def build your nesting boxes on the outside of the coop about 12 inches off the floor and about 18 inches tall. 4x4 is def going to limit the room for the chickens so you don't need to waste it on the nesting boxes.

4x4 is 16 square feet. A chicken takes up about 1 sqft.

So that only leaves 11 square feet for them to move around in. A nesting box should be about 12"x12" or 18"x18". so that would leave you between 9 to 10 square feet if you only build one nesting box. Then if you add a feeder and waterer inside the coop those are another square foot apiece. so that knocks you down to 7 or 8 square feet of open space in the coop.

Just somethings to keep in mind.

Good luck

Nick

 

[CarlaRiggs]

Nick,
I believe n2h20 meant that the hens will have access to the run each day; they'll get out to free range for a couple of hours each day, also.
In Pasadena the weather is very temperate. Chickens can be out 24/7 if not for those dang predators.

Carla

 

[jenjscott]

One disadvantage to opening the entire side is keeping the girls in while you're busy on one side, they like to try and sneak out !

 

[GallowayFarms]

ok. I was reading a bit fast. I thought he ment he only let them in the run a couple hours a day. hahaha.

That size coop should be fine then. Just need room for them to bed down at night, enough perch space for all of them.

 

[AngieChick]

I decided to put mine on the outside when I set it inside during framing, I realized how much square footage I would lose. It wasn't as hard to do as I thought it would be, it was a bit more work, but the savings in space made it worth it to me.

---Angie

 

[Chirpy]

I have my nest boxes inside the chicken coop. But, I have a larger coop (8x8), I divided that into a chicken side and a smaller people side. I have a separate door for the people to walk in so the chickens never get into the people side and we don't step on poop.

I really like this set up for several reasons...

1) I have children helping to collect eggs... sometimes they forget to shut the nest box door and if a chicken goes through it to the other side it's no big deal ... they are still safe inside the coop - just on the people side.

This one also keeps the chickens safe from predators getting to them if they get through the nest box and we don't know it for a couple of hours.

2) I didn't want any of us standing out in pouring rain (we get some severe thunderstorms around here) or a snowstorm collecting eggs. This way we can go inside where it's nice an cozy and enjoy collecting them.

It's totally a personal decision but I really like the way we did it and would do it again.


I also think that 4x4 is too small for your five chickens. I'm really big on having more space than you need ... cramping chickens is asking for feather pecking issues in the future, if for any reason, they have to be locked up for a day or more. When you take into consideration your feed and waterer, roost and possibly your nest boxes ... that's really tight.