Is my coop good?

[JYount]

Hello - new chicken owner here. Can I get feedback on our coop? We are located in northwest part of Missouri. We converted a resin shed, added windows, and additional vents on top. It's dry inside but I'm worried I may not have enough vents? Windows on north and south, and additional roof vents on east and west. Any suggestions on what I can do to improve? We discussed the idea of adding the shiny insulation to the roof at least, but wasn't sure if that was needed or not?

Coop is 8x10 and the run is 9x26. We have 7 chickens now but wanted to make sure we had enough room to expand.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My guess, just eyeballing it, is you need more ventilation - maybe not right now, but if you want to expand the flock further.

How big area all of the vents? Hard to gauge without solid measurements. The windows look like they only open part way, so make sure to only measure the parts that can be opened.

I assume the light squares on the roof are the roof vents? How much snow do you get? Only issue with vents in the roof itself is they can get blocked up by snow, so don't count them into available winter ventilation total if that's the case.

 

[saysfaa]

Do you mean for both rails of the roost to be used? The higher one may be too close to the wall. Twelve inches from the wall gives clearance for their tails.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC.

It's great that you're giving your birds so much room! Overcrowding is the #1 mistake people new to chickens make.

I think you'll want to move that roost out a foot from the wall because they won't have room to assume their over-flowing and drooping nighttime position:

See how the hens who have settled are sort of squatted down with their chests low and their tails hanging below the roost?

You will also need a lot more ventilation at the roof peak level because heat and ammonia both rise. It's recommended to have a minimum of 1 square foot per adult, standard-sized hen or enough to keep the temperature and humidity inside equal to the the outside. This diagram is from an article on cattle barns, but it illustrates the principle of providing draft-free ventilation well:

Here's an article on an excellent resin shed to coop conversion that you'll probably want to read: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-scoop-on-a-rubbermaid-big-max-coop.76444/

 

[JYount]

The top part of the windows that opens are 18 x 11 inches that open fully. The roof vents are on the walls facing west and east, and those are 8 x 8 inches. The domes on top are just mini sky lights. We were thinking about trying to make them into vents but worry about rain coming in. We can get either a ton of snow or not too much. It can get to zero but it's mostly wind chill that affects us here. The doors have large-ish windows that are towards the top of the door and those face east. Should we take the plastic out of those and put hard cloth? I got my chicks late and they are going to be 6 weeks old this Sunday. On top of that, we are already hitting 45 degree weather and some nights down to 30. I just want to make sure they transfer into our coop safely this early winter!

 

[3KillerBs]

The top part of the windows that opens are 18 x 11 inches that open fully. The roof vents are on the walls facing west and east, and those are 8 x 8 inches. The domes on top are just mini sky lights. We were thinking about trying to make them into vents but worry about rain coming in. We can get either a ton of snow or not too much. It can get to zero but it's mostly wind chill that affects us here. The doors have large-ish windows that are towards the top of the door and those face east. Should we take the plastic out of those and put hard cloth? I got my chicks late and they are going to be 6 weeks old this Sunday. On top of that, we are already hitting 45 degree weather and some nights down to 30. I just want to make sure they transfer into our coop safely this early winter!

Venting needs to be up at the top both to remove ammonia and moisture-laden warm air (even in winter), and to keep the drafts well above the birds heads when they're roosting.

Here's an excellent article on chicken keeping in cold-weather areas: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/cold-weather-poultry-housing-and-care.72010/

 

[rosemarythyme]

The top part of the windows that opens are 18 x 11 inches that open fully. The roof vents are on the walls facing west and east, and those are 8 x 8 inches. The domes on top are just mini sky lights. We were thinking about trying to make them into vents but worry about rain coming in. We can get either a ton of snow or not too much. It can get to zero but it's mostly wind chill that affects us here. The doors have large-ish windows that are towards the top of the door and those face east. Should we take the plastic out of those and put hard cloth? I got my chicks late and they are going to be 6 weeks old this Sunday. On top of that, we are already hitting 45 degree weather and some nights down to 30. I just want to make sure they transfer into our coop safely this early winter!

Your "roof vents" are gable vents (a ridge vent would be more in line with a roof vent, or there's actual roof vents that stick up from the roof to allow for ventilation) and provide just under 0.5 sq ft of ventilation.

The 2 windows provide another 2.75 sq ft of ventilation.

With 7 birds you should have around 7 sq ft of vents, and you're at a little under half that.

The windows in the doors could be additional ventilation but depending on your wind directions opening those up may or may not be advisable.

On the plus side, what you do have going for you is a lot of air volume inside the shed, due to height and overall floor space, so while the chicks are young you'll probably be ok with ventilation as it stands, however a good spring project would be to not only add more ventilation, but add enough to accommodate any future birds you might want to add + extra (i.e. if your goal is 10 birds total, add enough for 15).

Wind chill should not be an issue as the birds have 4 solid walls to blunt winds.

And yes I didn't catch that the top roost (assuming that's the top roost) was so close to the walls. Roosts should sit at least 12" from walls and 14-16" minimum away from one another.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Definitely cover windows with HC. Also, where are you going to put the nest boxes?

 

[JYount]

Definitely cover windows with HC. Also, where are you going to put the nest boxes?

We did this past weekend! It definitely made a difference in air flow. After a lot of articles read, we decided to add a whirly bird to the roof in spring to help with the air flow.

Probably going to put the next boxes by the door. It has two doors, but I only need to use one so figured it will be in the corner near the door that won't open? Debating on what to use as nesting boxes. I saw people converting plastic storage bins. I just want something that is easy to take in and out of the coop to clean down when needed.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Debating on what to use as nesting boxes. I saw people converting plastic storage bins. I just want something that is easy to take in and out of the coop to clean down when needed.

Plastic bins should work fine. Chickens aren't really picky about what the box is, they just want a space with some privacy, that's tall, deep and wide enough to allow them to turn around and partially stand in. So anything about 12" cubed is big enough for most standard chickens, though I like giving mine a bit more space (14.5" cubed) since it gives them more wiggle room.

In most cases you won't need to clean the nest boxes at all. Mine is freestanding, so it can be moved, but I usually just tip it over to "clean" out of old nesting material, then refill with new material.