Making my coop for the 4 time

[AnnaWolf]

I've been working on a new coop.
My old coop was fine but not the way I liked it. Not the first time I think it could be better.
So here we are again.
I have a small flock of 2 and will get 2 more this spring.
We have a moderate climate but it can rain lots of.
It wil be a raised coop with storage room and I will be using recycled wood.

First sketch.
Wil make lots of picture's.(is not a promise I am terible at it)

 

[aart]

Any sketch needs dimensions and proper proportions.

 

[Sally PB]

@AnnaWolf, please keep posting your sketches. (Your drawing is better than what I could do...) Do you have a coop you are using for ideas? There are a lot of different coops shown here on BYC.

It's great that you're going to use recycled wood! There are lots of things that can be reused or repurposed as building materials for a coop.

Do you have an idea of how big you want to build? You said you plan to get two more chickens next year. Do you plan to get more at a later date? If you build your coop bigger than you think you need, it will give you options with your flock. Like if they need to stay inside all day because it's raining.

As @aart said, dimensions on the drawing help us to see what you're trying to show us. There are some free drawing programs you can download from the internet that might help you draw what you want to build.

 

[AnnaWolf]

Any sketch needs dimensions and proper proportions.

You're wright call it a doodle

 

[AnnaWolf]

@AnnaWolf, please keep posting your sketches. (Your drawing is better than what I could do...) Do you have a coop you are using for ideas? There are a lot of different coops shown here on BYC.

It's great that you're going to use recycled wood! There are lots of things that can be reused or repurposed as building materials for a coop.

Do you have an idea of how big you want to build? You said you plan to get two more chickens next year. Do you plan to get more at a later date? If you build your coop bigger than you think you need, it will give you options with your flock. Like if they need to stay inside all day because it's raining.

As @aart said, dimensions on the drawing help us to see what you're trying to show us. There are some free drawing programs you can download from the internet that might help you draw what you want to build.

I looked alot at pallet coop were you leave the pallets hole.
Have not found any that I could (partially) copy.
The coop floor wil be around 70cm by 120cm with external nestbox.
4 is my maximum for the space I have, and they are/will be bantams.
I will be raising the coop and put a overhanging roof on it so they can get out and stay dry.

 

[Sally PB]

The coop floor wil be around 70cm by 120cm with external nestbox.
4 is my maximum for the space I have, and they are/will be bantams.

70 x120 cm is approximately 2.25 x 4 feet for readers here in the US.

It's a little small, even for bantams. Is there any way to make it closer to 90 x 120 (roughly 3x4 feet)? It's good that you plan on having external nest boxes. The overhang will help, and I'm guessing if the coop is raised off the ground, they will be able to use the space under it too.

It's great that you're planning ahead.

 

[3KillerBs]

The coop floor wil be around 70cm by 120cm with external nestbox.

That's awfully small, even for bantams.

Will the food and water be inside or out in the run? If inside, the space it takes up doesn't count as space for the chickens.

I don't know what size pallets come in where you are, but here in the USA a standard pallet is about 3 feet by 4 feet, which is .91 meters by 1.2 meters. So if your pallets are about that side your coop would be easier to build that size rather than the smaller size you quoted.

Considering that you want storage room you probably ought to measure exactly how big the things you intend to store are and add that to the footprint of the coop. It's one thing for me to sit a metal can of feed and a plastic-wrapped bale of shavings in a corner of my 16'x16' coop (just shy of 5 meters square), and quite another to put something that size into a miniature coop. In fact, since those things sitting side by side probably occupy most of the size of your entire proposed coop, you might want to consider putting the storage area outside the coop instead of inside.

I don't know how it would work in your climate, but I keep some of my equipment under the roof overhang at the back of my coop.

 

[AnnaWolf]

70 x120 cm is approximately 2.25 x 4 feet for readers here in the US.

It's a little small, even for bantams. Is there any way to make it closer to 90 x 120 (roughly 3x4 feet)? It's good that you plan on having external nest boxes. The overhang will help, and I'm guessing if the coop is raised off the ground, they will be able to use the space under it too.

It's great that you're planning ahead.

Thank you for converting!
Tomorrow I will be measuring.
All my coops have been raised and yes they wil use te space under it as it is higher than 40 cm, my coop now is about hip hight (no clue how high exactley).

 

[AnnaWolf]

That's awfully small, even for bantams.

Will the food and water be inside or out in the run? If inside, the space it takes up doesn't count as space for the chickens.

I don't know what size pallets come in where you are, but here in the USA a standard pallet is about 3 feet by 4 feet, which is .91 meters by 1.2 meters. So if your pallets are about that side your coop would be easier to build that size rather than the smaller size you quoted.

Considering that you want storage room you probably ought to measure exactly how big the things you intend to store are and add that to the footprint of the coop. It's one thing for me to sit a metal can of feed and a plastic-wrapped bale of shavings in a corner of my 16'x16' coop (just shy of 5 meters square), and quite another to put something that size into a miniature coop. In fact, since those things sitting side by side probably occupy most of the size of your entire proposed coop, you might want to consider putting the storage area outside the coop instead of inside.

I don't know how it would work in your climate, but I keep some of my equipment under the roof overhang at the back of my coop.

Their food and water is outside, they can go in and out 24/7.
Tomorrow my measuring tape is my friend. .90 by 1.2 should be no problem.
I'm thinking about putting in 2 floors,top floor will be te actual coop and the room beneath it wil be my storage area(shelf).
For max 4 bantams I dont need much to store.
Just under a roof overhang wont work, it wil get wet and mold or grows moss on it.

 

[3KillerBs]

Their food and water is outside, they can go in and out 24/7.

A predator-proof run with 24/7 access makes a lot of difference.

I love getting the food and water out of the coop. It keeps things tidy and encourages the chickens to roam around in the fresh air getting plenty of exercise.