Is there a desired/recommended height for inside of a coop?

[Ol Grey Mare]

Azygous, you’ve been on this forum a while. Can you remember ever seeing a post where someone said “I wish I’d made my coop smaller”? My memory is not as good as I wish it were, but I sure can’t think of any.

For someone keeping a small flock of all hens in a suburban backyard those little elevated coops with external nests can work really well. But I don’t have that kind of flock so I really prefer a walk-in coop, not to handle chickens but so I can see what is going on inside. By walking in to collect eggs I’ve seen a lot of things that I’d have missed if I were collecting eggs from outside the coop. But many people with small backyard flocks are very happy with the small elevated coops and the external nests are pretty much required for those coops.

I totally agree with you on the run. You need to be able to get in there and stand up. Not for the chickens’ sakes but for yours. People tend to think about what their chickens need and forget about what they themselves need. I think that is a mistake.

The bolded is a perfect way of putting it!

To the OP:
I like walk in coops and runs...not good at bending over for long and forget about 'squatting' at all.
Taller the coop, the better the ventilation IMO.

Agreed with both --- I will never have a non-walk-in coop for the simple fact that it is what I prefer. It is just so much easier, imo, to be able to get into the coop and run and move around without having to be bent over. I am also one of "those" chicken people who enjoys being able to interact with my birds so being able to be inside the coop is very helpful in that - especially on not so pleasant weather days (can't tell you how many rainy or cold afternoons I have passed in the coop in my years of keeping chickens). I want to be able to easily and comfortably reach every bit of the space my birds will occupy because there may well come a time I need to reach a stray egg, a sick/injured/deceased bird, etc....or simply for the ease of cleaning and maintenance. I am in the process of designing my new coop (having recently relocated) and it, too, will be a walk-in coop and run setup with plenty of room for birds and people to be able to move about comfortably and to provide the most living space I can to the birds we will be keeping.

 

[Folly's place]

I agree with everyone here about having bigger walk-in coops and runs. Crawling around in or under a little raised dog-house type coop is NOT for me! Build as large as you can, and make it human-friendly for your sake. Mary

 

[donrae]

Azygous, you’ve been on this forum a while. Can you remember ever seeing a post where someone said “I wish I’d made my coop smaller”? My memory is not as good as I wish it were, but I sure can’t think of any.
.

What is this "smaller" of which you speak?

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I have a relatively small coop compared to most folks 36x54x48" with external nesting boxes and some large access doors. I only have 3 hens but expect this coop to handle up to 5 girls maximum. The only reason I say that is because my run is about 25x30' and they have constant access to it. If they were all penned up and stayed in the coop during the day I'd make it much larger.

Just vent the whole roof line and keep the roosts a good two feet below it.

 

[culturalinfidel]

My two coops have about 4 feet of head room, which is fine for the chickens. They also stay warmer in winter than larger coops.

But if I could tear them out and rebuild, I would make my coops with enough room where I could stand up comfortably in them. Interacting and handling your chickens is so much more enjoyable in coops where you fit.

My original run was fashioned out of four foot tall hog panels. It became painfully inconvenient as time passed. My back would kill me after cleaning the run. I decided, enough. I enlisted a friend and we built a gorgeous new run around the old run, then I tore out the entire old run and built nifty partitions in the new run. The chickens and I are all so much happier.

Those smaller coops look quaint and cute, but I wonder how many folks curse them and wish they had gone larger to begin with.

I still could build my coop on the ground and make it walk in. It is up in the air. Part of the reason for elevating the coop was to put the waterer's and gravity feeder underneath it, out of the elements(read: Seattle Rain). Another reason for the elevation is for shade during the summer months since this area gets full sun. Contrary to popular belief, Seattle does have some fantastic summers! We just dont usually share this intel with anyone lol.

My run will be 6' tall which is taller than me by a solid 5 inches, so there will be plenty of area in which I can interact with the hens. Assuming that I progress with the elevated plan, the coop itself will have plenty of access via a pair of barn doors on the long side. Still planning on the nesting boxes on the exterior wall.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Lot’s of people with a small flock are very happy with what you are describing. Shade is very important. Being able to feed under there and keep the feed dry makes you coop a lot bigger. You can put your water anywhere, it doesn’t have to stay dry, but in the shade in summer can help keep it cooler.

In your climate your chickens should be able to get outside most days to eat and drink, but you may need to watch that with snow. My chickens generally don’t like waking up to a white world, they often stay inside a day or two when snow is on the ground but after a couple of days some usually are willing to go out in it. You may need to scatter straw or some type of bedding on top of the snow so they go outside to eat. There is a learning curve on what management techniques you may need to use to make it work, but you should make it work fine.

You say you are adding chickens. I still have concerns about that, the smaller the space the more challenging that can be. But keep that old coop. It may really help with integration.

 

[SlipsWife]

I agree with the others, you'll be happier with a walk-in coop in the long run. You might look into hanging a feeder inside or building a 'shelter' outside in the run for the food if you don't want it in the coop. We feed in the coop because our current flock won't run off wild birds in the run and the wild birds are less likely to go into the coop, water is outside in the run. I also like the deep litter method and I think that would be harder in a smaller coop that you might start losing inches of height from the litter. Shade cloths are really nice for runs in direct sun, they also help keep the occasional snow/ice out of the run, we just go out and knock it off outside of the run. I've found keeping things simple, giving it a few weeks and then making one or two changes at a time will help you figure out what works best for you.

 

[culturalinfidel]

In your climate your chickens should be able to get outside most days to eat and drink, but you may need to watch that with snow. My chickens generally don’t like waking up to a white world, they often stay inside a day or two when snow is on the ground but after a couple of days some usually are willing to go out in it. You may need to scatter straw or some type of bedding on top of the snow so they go outside to eat. There is a learning curve on what management techniques you may need to use to make it work, but you should make it work fine.

You say you are adding chickens. I still have concerns about that, the smaller the space the more challenging that can be. But keep that old coop. It may really help with integration.

The run will eventually be 1/2-fully covered so snow shouldnt be as big as an issue. Just so you know, I am leaning more towards the coop being 3'wide x 8'long, no longer 6-8'. I am also looking at materials to make it 4' wide. The run is also being expanded greatly, from 64sq ft to 156+/-sq ft. So plans have changed and have been upscaled slightly.

I was leaning on fully cleaning the small coop when its time and and creating an outdoor "brooder pen" of sorts with a portal a la azygous's method in their sig. Would allow for the new chicks to be outside with the older ones and slowly integrate them into the flock. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...rooder-and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors

Still doing a lot of research though, so who knows how this will end up.

 

[Cindyjohnson]

Earlier someone wrote that 4 square feet per bird is good to use on making chicken coops. Is that for each adult bird? If we are raising meat chickens instead of laying hens can we get by with less room if we move the pen more often? And what kind of materials would you recommend to be used on the roofs in a fairly warm climate ?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Quote:

Earlier someone wrote that 4 square feet per bird is good to use on making chicken coops. Is that for each adult bird? If we are raising meat chickens instead of laying hens can we get by with less room if we move the pen more often?

4 square feet is assuming a standard adult bird. Giant breeds require more space, bantams a little less.

Can you get by with less room? Yes. Can it cause behavioral problems? Yes. But moving it around has nothing to do with the space inside the coop.