Interior Finishing,Roosts, Poop Boards

[Wxguru]

Questions!!
I am moving my coop outside today and beginning the assembly as well. So I have come to a couple of questions for everyone...open to all suggestions of course. So here goes:

1. I have walls that are built with studs, and I am going to be putting up plywood on the inside. Question is, do I just put it flush to the floor and screw to the studs leaving a cavity between the outside wall and the plywood. Or do I put it flush against the exterior wall and let the studs protrude (But have a completely sealed interior)? I am using pallets for the exterior walls so there will be wind that will get thru and I don't know if that is a good thing really. I already have plenty of ventilation along the roof line and on the sides, plus 2 windows.

2. Roosts....how much do you seperate them (spacing). I am getting 6 chicks (australorps, buff orps, and a golden buff). I don't want them too close so someones chicken butt is not in another's face...that would just be plain rude...lol. The roosts will each be 48" long. I am planning on same height for roosts. Also how high off the ground (I want useable space underneath) without needing a "ramp"?

3. Poop boards. I think for simplicity, I am going to do a single poop board to put under both roosts. How far below the roosts do I need to put them? I don't want them to be tempted to walk in their poop on the poop board (which goes back to question 2 and how high to put the roosts. I want them to be able to walk underneath and utilize the floor space!).

Thanks everyone!!

 

[tcstoehr]

1) Neither. Use a solid exterior siding and leave the interior 2x4 studs exposed. There is no need for an interior sheet. And the exposed 2x4's come in handy for attaching things. If you did add an interior sheet that covered the interior studs, you would be creating a rodent and bug paradise zone that you could not get to for cleaning and inspection. And if you put an interior layer directly against the exterior siding... well... I don't know what would be the point. What is your concern for adding a second sheet? Insulation? Strength? Aesthetics?

2) 18" apart would be adequate. 3' high for juvenile birds. Move to 4' when fully grown. They will want to go as high as possible. I had a single 4' high roosting plank and then added one behind it at 5'. All hens moved to the 5' bar on the very first night.
Another thing you can do with two equi-high roosting boards is to add connections between them, kind of like a ladder laying horizontally. They might enjoy using the rungs instead of the runners.

3) A foot of clearance between the roost and poop board is plenty and should leave adequate space below for general usage.

 

[Wxguru]

Without some sort of sheeting inside, the coop will be too drafty. The problem is the pallets don't exactly have tight planks. There are gaps up to 1" in between them. I can't go with exterior plywood mainly because of extra cost, and I have the frame already up to take interior sheeting.
The rest of the recommendations are EXCELLENT, and I will do what I can. Front wall is 49" and back wall 41"...so I would have to put the roost up around 26-30" high max.

 

[mrchicks]

I have OSB on my interior walls in one coop as it was a finished shed in it's first life. My roosts range by the type of birds using them. My Polish are at 3' over a poop deck, but my Jersey Giants are at 2'.

Pardon the poo, here's one of mine: