Is my coop good?

[3KillerBs]

In most cases you won't need to clean the nest boxes at all.

I agree. I very rarely ever have to clean the nests. A couple times a year, maybe. If an egg gets broken or if someone sleeps in there and poops.

 

[Sydney65]

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:

View attachment 2887412

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:

View attachment 2887416

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/

Ok..is that gorgeous white fluffball at the end showing it's head or it's tail?!

 

[3KillerBs]

Ok..is that gorgeous white fluffball at the end showing it's head or it's tail?!

Poor Dumpling has been having a hard molt.

Being a Brahma, she hasn't much tail to start with and she lost ALL her tail feathers at once. That little black fringe is the new tail coming in.

 

[Sydney65]

Poor Dumpling has been having a hard molt.

View attachment 2893642

Being a Brahma, she hasn't much tail to start with and she lost ALL her tail feathers at once. That little black fringe is the new tail coming in.

Adorable.

 

[629864]

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.

I tried setting up egg crates in my second hen house. It was a complete failure. Not only do they not have a solid "roof" (meaning, some other hen can be a jerk and poop on the hen trying to lay her egg), but the chickens did nothing but throw out the nesting material (no lip on the front to hold the nesting material inside) and poop in the crates. Now I'm trying to figure out what to build in there for them with just materials laying around.

 

[Sydney65]

I tried setting up egg crates in my second hen house. It was a complete failure. Not only do they not have a solid "roof" (meaning, some other hen can be a jerk and poop on the hen trying to lay her egg), but the chickens did nothing but throw out the nesting material (no lip on the front to hold the nesting material inside) and poop in the crates. Now I'm trying to figure out what to build in there for them with just materials laying around.

On etsy, someone has made frames for 5 gal buckets - it holds the bucket stable on it's side
, and has a front 3-4" rise to keep material inside. Depending on your breed, you may not need even a 5 gal.

 

[629864]

On etsy, someone has made frames for 5 gal buckets - it holds the bucket stable on it's side
, and has a front 3-4" rise to keep material inside. Depending on your breed, you may not need even a 5 gal.

I saw those a while back. I wonder if anyone here has used them and could say whether they like them or not.

 

[Sydney65]

I saw those a while back. I wonder if anyone here has used them and could say whether they like them or not.

I haven't. I was under the impression that guineas didn't use them. Reconsidering that impression, but if I put them in, I think I would get plastic milk crates bc they like to be able to see while feeling hidden, and they'd go under the drop boards.

 

[suburbanfarmermi]

You are very wise to have gone big. I predict you will have 20 chickens a year from now. We are new to keeping chickens and went with a smaller coop so we have no room to expand. Right now it does not matter as our township ordinance limits us to 6 chickens. While we would love to move out of the suburbs I don't think we are going to. So our coop should be adequate. But it does seem the more space you have the less behavior and disease types of problems you can expect. or at least that is my opinion based on all of the research i have done.

I do wonder if the best ventilation would be some gable vents ....
something like this

 

[rosemarythyme]

I do wonder if the best ventilation would be some gable vents ....
something like this
View attachment 2893697

Louvered gable vents are nice but in most cases they add pretty limited ventilation since the covers are only so big, usually something like 12-14" square, so you'd need to add a LOT of them to provide enough ventilation for a growing flock.