Ideas welcome... First coop... 4x6 shed interior design help needed.

[city-smooth]

We purchased a 4x6 shed for a coop.

6-10 chickens (currently have 7 chicks).

We'll have a run attached 4x20ft.

The goal would be to have everything they'd need inside for winter cold.

Cold & Hot -10f to 110f climate in Idaho. (Vent Fans planned in gable areas)

Purchased feeders and nesting boxes see pictures.

Main access will be right door, left door primarily staying closed.

Looking for opinions or advice.


Need help with:

-How high should the roosting bar above the feeders be (1ft from wall)? Wife wants to have sand for base/poop catch ... Maybe above the feeders?



- Thinking of having the auto door on the left side.



- Laying boxes on the right side with exterior access to eggs eventually, are stacked or side by side preferred? On ground or elevated?



-Does there need to be a ladder to get up to the roosting bars? Feels like they're going to end up pretty high?



-Do you anticipate, seeing what we have to work with, should we plan for storage area on the floor in the corner or up above on the right side?

-Rain water collection from roof for the water feeder bucket.

-anything we are too ignorant to appreciate?

Thank You !

 

[DobieLover]

I would reconsider your run setup. What you are proposing is very narrow and setting up birds to have to run a gauntlet to travel from one end to the other. Making the run twice as wide (8'x20') only costs you another 8' of fencing material. I would put a solid roof over the section next to the coop so you will have at least an 8'x8' section covered so the birds can still come out during winter and it will be MUCH better to keep food and water OUTSIDE near the coop, under the covered section. That will free up much needed coop space. The birds will still go out on very cold days to eat and drink when they come off the roost as long as you wrap the winter section of the run with clear shower curtains or tarps or something to block the wind.

Nest height is your preference. Off the ground by at least 18" leaves that space open for coop space. You will want to mount a perch in front of the nest boxes so they can hop up on the perches before entering a box. That way they aren't jumping directly into a potentially occupied box.

Roosts should all be higher than the nest boxes. Ideally, you will want as close to 1 linear foot of roost space per bird. I would build a 22"-24" poop board along the 6' length of the coop and center a roost over that. You can run a ramp with cleats parallel to the poop board for easy access.

You can see my ramp that runs parallel to the left section of poop board. The bottom of the ramp is propped up on a cinder block to reduce pitch.

I would still add some windows into that coop for natural light. Birds are much more happy to enter a coop near dusk if they can see.

You don't want to overcrowd the chickens especially if they are to be locked in the coop for long periods of waking hours as they will go after each other. The goal is to have a minimum of 4 sq ft of floor space per bird under those conditions but if they cannot be let out into their run, then you should really double that amount.

I would not attempt to store anything is such a small coop. Plan to have that in your garage or mudroom or whatever.

 

[city-smooth]

THANK YOU for the quick suggestions!

It's funny, not knowing what we don't know

Noted,

Run- Making the run wider is now done today. It's be about 8x16. We'll cover the first part as suggested (this hadn't crossed our mind).

Box height - thank you, perfect.

Ramp & roost - good deal, we'll need more than we thought. Lobe your picture, very helpful.

Natural light - We'll grab the clear w-panels to place on the roof.
We have power... plan for vent/fans, and lights ECT inside.

We'll plan for storage elsewhere.

THANK YOU AGAIN

That'll give us the start we needed!