Just sharing my coop idea

[Thorn_shrike]

Hello! I’ve been attempting to build an 8x8 coop for my girls since January lol. I’m very indecisive and picky so that hasn’t made it any easier . I have the corner posts and base already built, the 4 walls are framed but not secured onto the base yet

Right now everyone is in an enclosed 10x10 gazebo but alas, DH says they can’t stay in there (even though it’s perfect….and we never use it )

Here’s a quick little drawing I did of what I *think* I will eventually end up building. Let me know what you think! And please send suggestions!

-Dimensions are 8x8ft
-it will be a slanted roof going from 5ft to 7ft
-the coop itself will be lifted off the ground 2ft at the highest and 1ft where our yard slopes up
-*not pictured* nesting box with 5-16x16” boxes
-I plan on having the entire sloped roof ventilated on all 4 sides with hardware cloth covering everything
-I also plan to have at least two decent sized windows on each side for even more ventilation in summer and max sunshine in winter
-the coop will open up to a large (180+sqft) covered run with a door for the girls coming out of the coop and a human door somewhere else tbd
-I have gutters that will eventually be added and hopefully I’ll be able to harvest rain water to water our animals and the garden


Some of my questions right now are:

-we are in central Ky and have very poorly draining red clay soil everywhere! What are some CHEAP ways to help with drainage and standing water in the run that will be safe for the chickens (not something that will kill them if they eat it or give them bumblefoot)?

-how do you all have the insides of your coops set up? What roost set ups do you like or what do you hate?

- boredom buster ideas inside the coop and in the run? I know I could google these but I want real ideas from everyday people

-how have you all done your access doors in your coops? I want to be able to easily rake everything out and hose down when needed

-I would like to possibly add open vents around the bottom of the coop in a few places to help air circulate up and out for summer heat. Is this overkill? Will that even help?

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

You definitely need a human door access to your coop. Even if you get eggs from the outside, you'll still need to go in there to replenish food/water/oyster shell (that's where ours is anyway) and clean.

I'm no help about roosts as our silkies roost on top of the nest boxes or the walkway in front of them.

You don't need boredom busters in the coop as they just sleep or lay eggs in there, but in the run, there are oodles of ideas I've seen posted. One is to hang a cabbage, etc. from a swingset frame or similar.

We put a log down and balance a 1' wide x 6' long piece of 1/2" plywood on it for a teeter-totter. As far as toys, those are unnecessary as they don't play with them as much as you'd like to think they would.

Here's a thread on having a cluttered run for integrating smaller chicks so they have a way to get away. Kind of the same principle though.

Have you checked out other coops for ideas? If not here's a link to a zillion coops.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Ok here it comes......bubble burster here.

The mesh area at the top of the walls while great ventilation will let rain blow in. Really really large roof overhangs will help but cannot stop it all. Best to make open soffit venting and have awnings that you can close on all windows.

If the birds will have access under that coop you need to be able to access every inch too. They will invariably lay eggs in a corner, decide not to go in at dusk, go broody, get sick, be injured and THAT is where they will go to do all that.

Just as you need to be able to get to everything underneath you need to be able to do that inside the coop too. It is also incredibly easier to grab a bird from the roost at night as opposed to chase one down during the day to do health checks or tend an injury.

Being able to stand up in the coop to tend things and not knock your head on rafters makes keeping chickens much more pleasant. Make the coop at least 6" taller inside than the tallest person that MAY need to enter it.

Not to mention if there is a mite infestation applying proper methods to rid the coop of them means being able to reach everything to spray it.

Speaking of spraying....
Hosing out should never need to happen. Water will get where it cannot easily dry causing rot and greatly impacting the life of the structure.

How many birds do you have/intend to have? That helps determine roost set up.

 

[GlicksChicks]

nesting box with 5-16x16” boxes

A box that big could encourage multiple hens laying in one box. I use 12×12 and it still has those problems.

What roost set ups do you like or what do you hate?

I have 3 different types.
I have a "second floor" if you will. Just an area higher up they can lay on. 80% of my birds will choose that even if they have alot of open roost space.
I have some grapevines I cut and secured in there.
I also made ladder style perches with 3 levels out of long boards.
The good thing about perches is that chickens aren't too picky.


How many chickens do you have? Do you plan on getting more to house in there?

 

[SourRoses]

Good drainage on clay soil is going to require building up the site with a load of coarse gravel. On top of that you can put a load of wood chips for good run footing.


The emphasis on ventilation is very well thought, but you may need to modify it one of these ways:

- Vents that don't extend downwards so far from under the roof. They should begin immediately under the roof and extend only as far as the overhang reaches outwards, to help prevent rain from blowing in. So a 6 inch tall vent would need at least 6 inches of overhang. More overhang is all the better of course.

- A coop / run combo under one continuous roof. The 3 outer walls of the coop are unvented, solid walls. The shared wall with the run is left completely open or mostly open with (hardware cloth), so the run roof portion is protecting the open side of the coop.
In a location with cold winters, you may need a partial windblock, like shutters or tarp or some other idea to protect the birds from breezes while allowing ventilation over their heads. It's good if it's something that can be opened or removed in summer.

 

[SourRoses]

Oh, I forgot to mention the "Woods Coop" design which is the best for a cold climate where you want good ventilation. There are a lot of threads about it you can search

 

[Thorn_shrike]

Hi,

You definitely need a human door access to your coop. Even if you get eggs from the outside, you'll still need to go in there to replenish food/water/oyster shell (that's where ours is anyway) and clean.

I'm no help about roosts as our silkies roost on top of the nest boxes or the walkway in front of them.

You don't need boredom busters in the coop as they just sleep or lay eggs in there, but in the run, there are oodles of ideas I've seen posted. One is to hang a cabbage, etc. from a swingset frame or similar.

We put a log down and balance a 1' wide x 6' long piece of 1/2" plywood on it for a teeter-totter. As far as toys, those are unnecessary as they don't play with them as much as you'd like to think they would.

Here's a thread on having a cluttered run for integrating smaller chicks so they have a way to get away. Kind of the same principle though.

Have you checked out other coops for ideas? If not here's a link to a zillion coops.

Oh yes, there will definitely be a human door into the coop. I just haven’t decided if I want big double doors on one side, or a single door. I’m no carpenter so I’m not sure how much I’m able to put together myself .

Thanks for the articles! My chickens are jerks to new additions so having plenty of hiding places in the run is a great idea

 

[Thorn_shrike]

Ok here it comes......bubble burster here.

The mesh area at the top of the walls while great ventilation will let rain blow in. Really really large roof overhangs will help but cannot stop it all. Best to make open soffit venting and have awnings that you can close on all windows.

If the birds will have access under that coop you need to be able to access every inch too. They will invariably lay eggs in a corner, decide not to go in at dusk, go broody, get sick, be injured and THAT is where they will go to do all that.

Just as you need to be able to get to everything underneath you need to be able to do that inside the coop too. It is also incredibly easier to grab a bird from the roost at night as opposed to chase one down during the day to do health checks or tend an injury.

Being able to stand up in the coop to tend things and not knock your head on rafters makes keeping chickens much more pleasant. Make the coop at least 6" taller inside than the tallest person that MAY need to enter it.

Not to mention if there is a mite infestation applying proper methods to rid the coop of them means being able to reach everything to spray it.

Speaking of spraying....
Hosing out should never need to happen. Water will get where it cannot easily dry causing rot and greatly impacting the life of the structure.

How many birds do you have/intend to have? That helps determine roost set up.

There will be some overhang (hard to illustrate though so I didn’t). To be honest I only have that much mesh at the top because of what I already have built (and because I didn’t want to buy more plywood).

The windows will definitely have awnings I just didn’t draw them and forgot to mention it in what I wrote for the post.

I’m barely over 5ft and thankfully wont have to alter my plans much to accommodate for that. As I have them now, from the floor to the top of the wall is 4ft, then the slanted part raises it another 1ft-2ft

Do you think hosing out would still be a problem if I put some kind of waterproof barrier on the floor and 1 to 2 ft up the inside of the walls? I don’t do deep litter, and I like to scrub out hardened poop or food from time to time

Right now I have 17 birds, 4 will be going to new homes before this coop is built.

 

[21hens-incharge]

There will be some overhang (hard to illustrate though so I didn’t). To be honest I only have that much mesh at the top because of what I already have built (and because I didn’t want to buy more plywood).

The windows will definitely have awnings I just didn’t draw them and forgot to mention it in what I wrote for the post.

I’m barely over 5ft and thankfully wont have to alter my plans much to accommodate for that. As I have them now, from the floor to the top of the wall is 4ft, then the slanted part raises it another 1ft-2ft

Do you think hosing out would still be a problem if I put some kind of waterproof barrier on the floor and 1 to 2 ft up the inside of the walls? I don’t do deep litter, and I like to scrub out hardened poop or food from time to time

Right now I have 17 birds, 4 will be going to new homes before this coop is built.

I used porch and floor paint on the floor and regular semi-gloss exterior on the walls of my coop. I keep pine shavings a few inches deep so honestly it's rare a dropping actually sticks to the floor. A plastic putty knife pops those up easily enough. The exterior paint on the walls makes them washable if needed.

I still wouldn't recommend hosing it out even with waterproofing on the floor and up the walls. If vinyl or linoleum water may still find its way underneath. If it's blackjack any tiny missed spots or pin hole sized gaps will allow water to touch wood. Thinking chickens scratching about will eventually cause even more chances of water getting in.

If you REALLY feel the need to scrub it out maybe a dedicated mop or rags and bucket would be a better choice.

 

[jillybeansisme]

Hello! I’ve been attempting to build an 8x8 coop for my girls since January lol. I’m very indecisive and picky so that hasn’t made it any easier . I have the corner posts and base already built, the 4 walls are framed but not secured onto the base yet

Right now everyone is in an enclosed 10x10 gazebo but alas, DH says they can’t stay in there (even though it’s perfect….and we never use it )

Here’s a quick little drawing I did of what I *think* I will eventually end up building. Let me know what you think! And please send suggestions!

-Dimensions are 8x8ft
-it will be a slanted roof going from 5ft to 7ft
-the coop itself will be lifted off the ground 2ft at the highest and 1ft where our yard slopes up
-*not pictured* nesting box with 5-16x16” boxes
-I plan on having the entire sloped roof ventilated on all 4 sides with hardware cloth covering everything
-I also plan to have at least two decent sized windows on each side for even more ventilation in summer and max sunshine in winter
-the coop will open up to a large (180+sqft) covered run with a door for the girls coming out of the coop and a human door somewhere else tbd
-I have gutters that will eventually be added and hopefully I’ll be able to harvest rain water to water our animals and the garden


Some of my questions right now are:

-we are in central Ky and have very poorly draining red clay soil everywhere! What are some CHEAP ways to help with drainage and standing water in the run that will be safe for the chickens (not something that will kill them if they eat it or give them bumblefoot)?

-how do you all have the insides of your coops set up? What roost set ups do you like or what do you hate?

- boredom buster ideas inside the coop and in the run? I know I could google these but I want real ideas from everyday people

-how have you all done your access doors in your coops? I want to be able to easily rake everything out and hose down when needed

-I would like to possibly add open vents around the bottom of the coop in a few places to help air circulate up and out for summer heat. Is this overkill? Will that even help?

You do not want open vents around the bottom of the coop because of drafts. You might consider having a full access door within a door (I do and it's wonderful). It's a frame that's hardware clothed that has a separately hinged solid door within the frame. In the warm months, the solid door stays open and the hardware cloth covered frame acts like a screen door. This is also the door I rake everything out of. I also have an awning "window" on one side, which is actually a hinged solid panel with interior hardware cloth as a screen. When open, it's held up with a stick. The back of the coop is sectioned off to provide a 4' x 30" area with shelves to store supplies. At the top of that is a 4' wide by about 15" high hardware cloth screen ventilation for the coop. Because it's at the back of the storage area, it is weather protected. For drainage, I'd dig a trench and fill it with rock in the lowest area just outside the coop/run. In the run I'd use a scant amount of pine pellet bedding, which will absorb water (and swell). If you get flooding in that area, then I'd seriously reconsider where you house the birds. A temporary measure would be low roosts in the run so the birds can be out of the water. You could also put in a French drain. My roosts in the coop are 2" x 3" with sanded edges. In the run I used some branches as roosts. I have a boulder for them to jump on. They also have a tire with the side wall removed as a dust bath. They go through a chicken tunnel to their free range area. You want to be able to stand up in the run so you can rake that out. My coop is airborn on 2' posts. I can walk into the run, stoop down, and rake most of it. It's important to think about access because sometimes the chickens lay eggs where you least expect. If I were to ever change anything on my coop, it would be a lift-up section for underneath the coop so that it would be easier to clean out completely. Even though I've predator-proofed, I still have a Run Chicken automatic door on the coop house. Get the more expensive metal one. It's lasted me for years whereas the plastic one is more likely to have weather issues such as cracking. If you have bantams, the rungs of your ramp need to be about 3"-4" apart. Hope this helps.