How tall?

[Ridgerunner]

I have been looking at coops for awhile now. I have narrowed it down to 4x5 for 4-5 hens. The only dimension I can not find is how tall should your coop be? Looking for height from floor to roof. Some articles say 3 1/2 feet height. What height is your coop from floor to roof?

You are in New Jersey. Thanks for including that info, it helps. That means you will have snow, cold weather , and storms in winter. Cold winds in winter can keep them in the coop even more than snow.

The way I determine vertical coop layout is to first decide where the floor is, including any bedding. So look at the top of the bedding. Then position the nests. That can be on the coop floor or up high enough you don't have to bend over to collect eggs. With a coop that tiny it may be elevated so factor where you will be standing when you determine nest height. Height will matter more to you than it does to the chickens.

Next is to make the roosts higher than the nests. Chickens tend to sleep on the highest point available, you do not want that to be your nests. Most people don't want poopy eggs.

In winter your chickens will need ventilation to help bad air escape and dry the coop out. They give off moisture from breathing and from their poop. If you have a waterer in there then that will add to the moisture level. A coop with damp air can cause frostbite when it is below freezing. Good ventilation helps get that moisture out. At the same time you do not want a breeze hitting them when they are on the coop floor or on the roosts. To me the best way to handle that is to have ventilation up high so any breezes are over them when they are on the roosts. Can you do all that in a 4' height? Maybe, but extra height may come in handy.

Your roof needs a slope on it so rain runs off. If water sets on it the roof will either leak, rust, or rot. You do not want a flat roof. A sloped roof may give you a little more headroom for ventilation.

The higher the roost the more clear space the chickens need to land when they fly down off of the roost. You don't want them to hit a wall, nest, feeder, waterer, or another chicken when they fly down. It can help if they can spread their wings and fly to get up on the roost. A 4' x 5' coop doesn't give a lot of landing area anyway, especially of you feed and water inside. So you want the roost to be as low as you can make it and still be higher than anything you do not want them sleeping in or on.

I have no idea what your coop will look like so I can't give you a hard and fast number for height. My personal preference is for a walk-in coop but a 4' x 5' coop isn't likely to be a walk-in. Good luck on figuring it out.

 

[Yakisugi Coop]

I wrestled with this myself when designing our 3' by 5' coop. I ended up going with 4.5' tall on the high side and 3.5' on the low side. It's worked out well.

Here's my coop write up where I discuss that: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/yakisugi-coop.76398/

 

[Sbr73]

You are in New Jersey. Thanks for including that info, it helps. That means you will have snow, cold weather , and storms in winter. Cold winds in winter can keep them in the coop even more than snow.

The way I determine vertical coop layout is to first decide where the floor is, including any bedding. So look at the top of the bedding. Then position the nests. That can be on the coop floor or up high enough you don't have to bend over to collect eggs. With a coop that tiny it may be elevated so factor where you will be standing when you determine nest height. Height will matter more to you than it does to the chickens.

Next is to make the roosts higher than the nests. Chickens tend to sleep on the highest point available, you do not want that to be your nests. Most people don't want poopy eggs.

In winter your chickens will need ventilation to help bad air escape and dry the coop out. They give off moisture from breathing and from their poop. If you have a waterer in there then that will add to the moisture level. A coop with damp air can cause frostbite when it is below freezing. Good ventilation helps get that moisture out. At the same time you do not want a breeze hitting them when they are on the coop floor or on the roosts. To me the best way to handle that is to have ventilation up high so any breezes are over them when they are on the roosts. Can you do all that in a 4' height? Maybe, but extra height may come in handy.

Your roof needs a slope on it so rain runs off. If water sets on it the roof will either leak, rust, or rot. You do not want a flat roof. A sloped roof may give you a little more headroom for ventilation.

The higher the roost the more clear space the chickens need to land when they fly down off of the roost. You don't want them to hit a wall, nest, feeder, waterer, or another chicken when they fly down. It can help if they can spread their wings and fly to get up on the roost. A 4' x 5' coop doesn't give a lot of landing area anyway, especially of you feed and water inside. So you want the roost to be as low as you can make it and still be higher than anything you do not want them sleeping in or on.

I have no idea what your coop will look like so I can't give you a hard and fast number for height. My personal preference is for a walk-in coop but a 4' x 5' coop isn't likely to be a walk-in. Good luck on figuring it out.

I wrestled with this myself when designing our 3' by 5' coop. I ended up going with 4.5' tall on the high side and 3.5' on the low side. It's worked out well.

Here's my coop write up where I discuss that: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/yakisugi-coop.76398/

I have looked at so many designs. I have struggled with which would be best. Your coop is really nice and is similar to the idea I have for my coop. I will be attaching a run to mine too. Thank you for the information.