Here goes nothing. New coop from hubby’s brain

[Beehappy13]

Here’s the start of our new coop. My husband basically built this using only plans in his brain. (He’s a contractor so I wasn’t worried about anything) I told him what I wanted and where and we started last weekend. We haven’t been able to work on it today due to the weather but if it doesn’t rain tomorrow we may actually have it all done. So here’s what we got so far:

Coop is 6x4 slant roof with laminate floor (for easy clean up plus extra for poop boards)
Shingled roof
Run is 8x4 covered in chicken wire (which I hope is big enough for 5 girls)
Open vents in the soffits on the front and back being covered by hardware cloth.
Sliding chicken door (will possibly install and auto opener at a later time)
Plus three nesting boxes
Hardware cloth will cover the bottom of the coop and the soffits

So it’s a work in progress.
Any recommendations or insight are greatly appreciated.

Question about the run....does anyone that has their chicks on grass in their run just leave the grass or do you lay sand, shavings, or dirt?

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Wow! That's really nice! Great job!

 

[Parront]

Here’s the start of our new coop. My husband basically built this using only plans in his brain. (He’s a contractor so I wasn’t worried about anything) I told him what I wanted and where and we started last weekend. We haven’t been able to work on it today due to the weather but if it doesn’t rain tomorrow we may actually have it all done. So here’s what we got so far:

Coop is 6x4 slant roof with laminate floor (for easy clean up plus extra for poop boards)
Shingled roof
Run is 8x4 covered in chicken wire (which I hope is big enough for 5 girls)
Open vents in the top on the front and back
Sliding chicken door (will possibly install and auto opener at a later time)
Plus three nesting boxes
Hardware cloth will cover the bottom of the coop and the top vents.

So it’s a work in progress.
Any recommendations or insight are greatly appreciated.

Question about the run....does anyone that has their chicks on grass in their run just leave the grass or do you lay sand, shavings, or dirt?

Leave the grass, it will only last a few weeks while the chicks are small. Then you will be throwing all your yard waste and wood chips in there for them to scratch and poop in. Nice little house, will you be putting in more windows?

 

[Beehappy13]

Good to know thanks. No just the one window. It’s just to leave open on hot nights

 

[Parront]

Good to know thanks. No just the one window. It’s just to leave open on hot nights

Even in a cold winter, they need a lot of air. Maybe hardware cloth-covered vents up above the door in the soffits.

 

[aart]

Even in a cold winter, they need a lot of air. Maybe hardware cloth-covered vents up above the door in the soffits.

Yes, leave those soffits open, cover with 1/2" HC.

Would be good to add fly rafters on sides to help protect windows from rain.

 

[Beehappy13]

Even in a cold winter, they need a lot of air. Maybe hardware cloth-covered vents up above the door in the soffits.

The soffits in the front and the back are both open and they are going to be lined with the hardware cloth.

 

[Parront]

The soffits in the front and the back are both open and they are going to be lined with the hardware cloth.

That sounds great!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Coop is coming along nicely, but run is too small. Unless you plan to free range the vast majority of time, build for a minimum of 10 sq ft per chicken in run - bigger would be better if you have space for it. Since the framing is there he could extend it out with another similar set of framing, to double the run space.

The chickens will decimate the grass in no time. At that point, you'll need to add some form of litter to manage poop and mud and odor.

 

[Beehappy13]

Coop is coming along nicely, but run is too small. Unless you plan to free range the vast majority of time, build for a minimum of 10 sq ft per chicken in run - bigger would be better if you have space for it. Since the framing is there he could extend it out with another similar set of framing, to double the run space.

The chickens will decimate the grass in no time. At that point, you'll need to add some form of litter to manage poop and mud and odor.

Thank you so much. We are unable to let them free range where we live due to other people’s pets in the area that cannot be trusted.
I was worried that the run might be a little small for 5 but that was all we were able to build within budget right now. Maybe we can extend it later on when we get a little more $$$ they’re only 5 weeks old now so maybe I have at least a month or so to build onto it.