If you had it to do over again, what would you change about your coop/run?

[mrskenmore]

6'-8 doors everywhere lol!

I would make all areas of the coop and run taller and bigger! I am still happy with the overall design of the wichita cabin coop for sure!

 

[Toothpick]

I’d finish it all before introducing the chickens. Pain in the butt to build inside the coop with chickens running around. Or expanding the run

 

[Chicken Strut]

I’d finish it all before introducing the chickens. Pain in the butt to build inside the coop with chickens running around. Or expanding the run

Toothpick, we had our first flock confined to the coop for almost a week while my husband finished the run. It was kind of a pain to deal with food and water in the coop since we had never planned to feed and water them in there. They did figure out the coop was home, though (having previously lived in a brooder in the garage.) But I totally get you on this point!

 

[Nardo]

Run gas line, water line, more electricity.
And have another enclosed coop area to separate ______ (fill in the blank) from others.
I really just have the one and the greenhouse doubles because they are connected but in the Winter it is full of plants and in the Summer it is too hot, so.

 

[Flockandfowl46]

My co-op is 14x28x8 and its perfect for what we use it for we separated it in half and brood our babies until free range size on one side and adult ducks and chickens on other. We also have chicken door and 35x35 run for use if necessary even though we free range from Sun up till sundown thankfully chicken and duck math hasn't gotten the best of us till now so now we are building additional runs with sheds for the breeding season only each run is 7x35 for 3 to 4 birds each so depending on your chicken math definitely go bigger

 

[CapricornFarm]

I wish i had built bigger, but i did everything full height to start with because i hate crouching down to catch chickens or get eggs. Nest boxes should have been taller.

 

[FlyWheel]

I'm still pretty happy with mine. It has kept the ladies cozy and dry now for nearly three years and has been easy to maintain. Only thing I would change would be to move the roof panels further apart, as I hadn't thought of poop trays until after the frame was built. So now with them it's a wee bit tighter inside than originally conceived.

Also, although not really a coop redesign, I would have incorporated roll away nest boxes from the very beginning, before they started laying, as they will not use them now no matter what I do, having gotten used to standard flat nests.

 

[A.M. Eggs]

I would put concrete around the outside of my pen to stop any predators from entering by digging.

 

[Wise Woman]

We just built a new coop and run last year and I love it mostly. The main thing I would love to change is the size of the run. I wanted it about twice as big as it is, but we just couldn't afford to do that and it would have left no room for a garden. Next year I am making a potager next to the run and I am hoping that I can eventually let them out to free range around our yard. I will have to clip their wings though if I do that as several of them are very good fliers.

The only thing I would change about my coop is the two front windows above the nesting box lids. I had old vintage windows that I had installed vertically like casement windows. I should have went and bought a couple small double hung windows because you have to close the windows to get into the nest boxes to gather eggs. Other than that, I love my run and coop.

 

[Cryss]

Wow. Loaded question. I just opened the run extension but still have some work to do on it. It was a 10x10x6 dog run, sides top and an apron covered in hardware cloth and 1x2 wire. I wouldnt have used the 1x2. The extension using another 10x10x6 doh run now is covered in hardware cloth only. It makes a total of 10x30x6 run. I realize I'm gonna want a snow cover and am thinking of a slan roof pole barn over all.
The coop? No brainer. I wouldn't have bought a TS coop, would have built a coop much much much bigger and tall enough to walk into. I'm constrained now by budget and lack if help from family. Members are either skilled but physically unable or physically able but unskilled.
Bottom line? Knowing what I know now I would have used the finances I've sunk into this project to hire someone to build what I want. My advice? Research what you will need, know what you want before you start, triple that, build that. Time and effort saved!