Is this acceptable in the run?

[Ittybittyschmidtie]

Hello first time chicken owner of 15. This is a 8x10 chicken run built from 2x4s and cattle panels, attached to the side of the shed.
I would like to know if the roosting perch’s in there are in a good position. I have yet to cut their little chicken door which I read is supposed to be 6inches above ground level from the inside. So I kinda drew with kids chalk an estimate of where the door would be and estimate of the ramp. Idk if they would get injured with the roosting perches being so close to the chicken door on both ends. Also, I am rebuilding the outside door, I bought gate brackets to ensure stability and sturdiness. Thoughts, ideas, concerns?

Thank you

 

[perkolator]

Looks ok to me. Shouldn't be any issues with proximity to the doors, they'll be able to jump down fine. You may find the roost bars going all the way across the run will be problematic for humans needing to do maintenance inside - I had something similar and ended up relocating them so I could walk around easier without stooping. I'd put some of that plumber's tape on the 2x4 roost ends, to mount on the hog panel so they can't fall off. The 6" lip under the chicken door is a good idea if you're doing deep bedding inside the coop, you could even go deeper - mine is at least 10" for this purpose

 

[rosemarythyme]

Do those roosts in the run come out easily? I wouldn't have them in there like that as maintenance would be a pain if they don't come out.

Mine are diagonal in the run, in corners, which keeps them out of the center area.

Are you going to be free ranging most of the time? For 15 birds the run should be closer to 150 sq ft or more, preferably - your shed is a great size, but realistically birds generally opt to be outside vs inside so you may have space related problems if this is the extent of outside space.

6" high for pop door should be fine. Rather than a ramp, because your coop is on the ground you may find concrete blocks as steps to be less space consumptive:

 

[RojoMarz]

What kind of chickens do/will you have? My heavy breeds (BO, Brahma) would not be able to get on those roosts as they are too high. Then if they could get up there, I'd be concerned with them hurting themselves when trying to get down.

In my run, I have a perch that is less than 18" off the ground...the big girls don't use it, even at that low height. The coop roost is 24" off ground and has a ramp.

 

[Ittybittyschmidtie]

Looks ok to me. Shouldn't be any issues with proximity to the doors, they'll be able to jump down fine. You may find the roost bars going all the way across the run will be problematic for humans needing to do maintenance inside - I had something similar and ended up relocating them so I could walk around easier without stooping. I'd put some of that plumber's tape on the 2x4 roost ends, to mount on the hog panel so they can't fall off. The 6" lip under the chicken door is a good idea if you're doing deep bedding inside the coop, you could even go deeper - mine is at least 10" for this purpose

I might look into a chicken swing or something that way they are outta the way and they can still have fun? Lol

Oo okay yes I was going to try out the deep litter method

 

[Ittybittyschmidtie]

Do those roosts in the run come out easily? I wouldn't have them in there like that as maintenance would be a pain if they don't come out.

Mine are diagonal in the run, in corners, which keeps them out of the center area.

Are you going to be free ranging most of the time? For 15 birds the run should be closer to 150 sq ft or more, preferably - your shed is a great size, but realistically birds generally opt to be outside vs inside so you may have space related problems if this is the extent of outside space.

6" high for pop door should be fine. Rather than a ramp, because your coop is on the ground you may find concrete blocks as steps to be less space consumptive:
View attachment 3483576

I realized that was a bad idea. I may look into a chicken swing or like you said putting them in the corners

I plan on free ranging and keeping them in the run whenever I am not outside.

I did this chicken calculator thingie and it told me 60 or 80sqft for the run. Well the more I stand inside the chicken run the more I feel it is too small. I do think I have to increase square footage outside in the run just to be safe. I would of never thought with the blocks that’s a good idea especially to save space


One last question !! Lol
When you say maintenance in the chicken run, am I suppose to add bedding of some sort to the grass?

 

[Ittybittyschmidtie]

What kind of chickens do/will you have? My heavy breeds (BO, Brahma) would not be able to get on those roosts as they are too high. Then if they could get up there, I'd be concerned with them hurting themselves when trying to get down.

In my run, I have a perch that is less than 18" off the ground...the big girls don't use it, even at that low height. The coop roost is 24" off ground and has a ramp.

I have 15
5 speckled sussex
5easter eggers
2 cinnamon queens
3 Delaware chickens(They gave me 3 Delaware chicks accidentally and I’m pretty sure are all cockerels)

So question, in the chicken coop, how high up is the roosting perch? I was measuring and we have a window and it measures 4feet 2inches so I was going to put the perch an inch below the window? I’m not even sure if they’ll be able to get up that high yikes ! What do you suggest?

 

[Tonyroo]

From the picture of the coop and run, I would have framed out the run the same length as the coop and extended out. Then you would definitely have a good amount of space for the chickens and for you should you need to do maintenance like food and water, etc.

 

[RojoMarz]

I have 15
5 speckled sussex
5easter eggers
2 cinnamon queens
3 Delaware chickens(They gave me 3 Delaware chicks accidentally and I’m pretty sure are all cockerels)

So question, in the chicken coop, how high up is the roosting perch? I was measuring and we have a window and it measures 4feet 2inches so I was going to put the perch an inch below the window? I’m not even sure if they’ll be able to get up that high yikes ! What do you suggest?

I'm not exactly sure how high our windows are. We have two windows, in the same location on each side of the door. We use poop boards with a roost. The poop board is about 24" off ground, then the roost is about 12" above that. The girls can look out the window while on the roost.

 

[RojoMarz]

You can be creative with what goes in the run. We have two sets of temporary stairs (3 steps each) that were used at our house until the deck was built. We've made them free-standing and stable and put into the run. Gives the girls several heights to choose from and none are too high for the big girls.