Mountain Ledge coop 95% done - advice needed

[Shamo Hybrid]

Nice job. But I would have painted the coop a different color than the house color..... I just think it should be different, I don't like too much color matching. Some lady just recently did her coop too and painted it exactly like her home. To each their own, if it was me I'd paint it a totally different color though, would just add some 'pop' to it and like I said too much color matching coordination bugs me. But anyway, I do like your build.

 

[jddowdle]

Very nice I always like looking at other people’s coops and seeing the different ideas.

 

[That_australian_lad]

I've attached a series of pictures, though I have no idea in what order they may appear.
Photo's include the house in the back, as the Mrs insisted the coop had to look good, as it's the first thing visible as you come up the driveway. Thankful, we had lots of left over building material from when our house was built.

It was a 6 month project. After cancer, knee and hip replacements - this imperfect mess was huge for me. I built most of it in the basement and got lots of help assembling on site.
Got some advice on this site on the run and door. Used some leftover concrete pavers to build the entrance and then have some lumber that drops into place to prevent anything small from sneaking or chewing through the door bottom. Windows, I found at the dump. As some of the coop's top corner connections aren't as tight as I'd like, I put hardware cloth inside the roof rafters so that anything that might creep in, cannot get at the chickens.

I bought the Ador1 pop door - and love it. The pullets figured it out in 2 nights. First night- 1/2 couldn't get in before the door shut, and I reopened. The second night, and every night since - all tucked away nicely.

Here's where I need some advice from the pro's on here:

1. Roosting bars. I ran a 2x4 on one side, and an excess stair rail on the other. I didn't know about poop boards. The coop is 8'L x6'W x 6'T (3 additional feet at the peak.) There is only 18" of width between the door frame and each side.

• How High can I place the roosting bars. Can some be above window height?
• How much space does chicken need on the roosting bar?
• Can I run a poop board down each side, and have 2x4 roosting boards mounted perpendicular. If so - how many chickens would fit on an 18' bar? How much space between the 2x4s?
• Can I mount roosting bars / poop board above the nest box entrance (across from the entrance door - covered right now - pullets only 13 weeks old

2. Stairs - I bought risers to build stair in. Questioning that now. Stairs make it harder to get a wheelbarrow close to the entrance, but easier for me to get in to scrape the poop boards and sand.

3. Surrounding space - the forest is creeping close to the run - should I cut back to create a bigger buffer zone?

4. Insulation- I opted not to insulate. The building is wrapped, so pretty windproof. Our winter typically get a week or 2 or well below zero and wind chills in the 40-50 below. I plan of covering the windows with plastic, and leave the top vents open as appropriate. If it gets warm, I'll peel off the plastic on the side that has wind protection. I've bought chickens that are supposed to be cold hardy - barred rock, buff orp, New Hampshire, and golden buffs. There will be 12 chickens in there this winter. I have it wired, and can add light and heated water - could add some heat too if needed.

• should I add insulation, or see how it goes?

Lastly - any other advice on something I haven't thought of - or screwed up?

Thank you!View attachment 1860880 View attachment 1860881 View attachment 1860883 View attachment 1860884 View attachment 1860886 View attachment 1860887 View attachment 1860888 View attachment 1860889 View attachment 1860890

thats 95% done?!!

 

[NHMountainMan]

I have 2 4' roosts with a 3' connecting roost, when they were younger you could see up to 9 on a 4' roost... and the 10th one trying like heck to get up there to be on the same roost as the rooster, now usually the most is 5 on the 4' roost, in the winter sometimes 6 and sometimes they are just scattered about. My roosts are 12" off the poop board so they just hop up an down. If they have to fly up they need more room for their wings. Oh and no more fighting to be with the rooster he went to freezer camp.

JT

Can I ask how high off the coop floor you place your poop boards and roosting bars? I placed them close to the windows for the summer, thinking the breeze would help. I thought I'd need to lowered them below window height in the winter to protect from the wind chill. Does that make sense, or should I raise them above the windows?
Thanks again!

 

[NHMountainMan]

Nice job. But I would have painted the coop a different color than the house color..... I just think it should be different, I don't like too much color matching. Some lady just recently did her coop too and painted it exactly like her home. To each their own, if it was me I'd paint it a totally different color though, would just add some 'pop' to it and like I said too much color matching coordination bugs me. But anyway, I do like your build.

I'm with you on that. The Mrs had 2 conditions when I told her I wanted chickens - it had to look nice and she doesn't want anything to do with them. I grew up I NYC and wanted the green acres life. She grew up on a small farm and hated being dirty. She picked the color and style , and of course she loves being out a hand feeding the chickens. If I had a vote- is have painted it in camo colors.

 

[jthornton]

Can I ask how high off the coop floor you place your poop boards and roosting bars?

Well the current so called "coop" I copied off some plans from HD and it turned out to be all wrong and a terrible plan. The poop board is the floor.


My shed to coop conversion the poop table is 32" off the floor and the roost is 12" above that.


Under the poop table I'm putting a roll out nest box.


JT

 

[aart]

Can I ask how high off the coop floor you place your poop boards and roosting bars?

As low as possible but higher than the nests(to deter 'nest sleeping').
Roost height can/should be limited by landing space,
they need to be able to jump/fly down without crashing into anything.
Here's some other tips on heights:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

 

[Hobbits Mommie]

Insulating the ceiling helps with summer sun, and winter cold. Summer sun is a bigger problem, and planting a tree and shrubs on the south and west sides of the coop will give shade, and some shelter from raptors.
Mary

I'm in central Florida, and yes the heat and humidity are hard to combat. We didn't put a roof on our coop. It's located under huge oak trees, we used hardware cloth for the roof, and we have a tarp over that so we can air it out when needed, and cover them in the evening rains.

 

[NHMountainMan]

As low as possible but higher than the nests(to deter 'nest sleeping').
Roost height can/should be limited by landing space,
they need to be able to jump/fly down without crashing into anything.
Here's some other tips on heights:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coop-stack-up-how-high-stuff-works-well.73427/

Thanks for the link!
My nest box is external about 8" off the floor.
The coop is 8x6.
If I run a board opposite the door out 3.5', and run 20" boards down each side, I can run an 8' roost bar down each side (6' long with a foot clearance on each wall.) Then on the far wall, I can have 2 additional roosting bars the are 3' long. That'll give me 16' of roosting bar with poop boards beneath.
I'll build ramps to the bars. There will be approx 32-34" between side poop boards.
Is that enough room for them to get down?
To get to the nest box the hens will need to go underneath the 3.5' poop board. Is that an issue?
Thanks again

 

[NHMountainMan]

Well the current so called "coop" I copied off some plans from HD and it turned out to be all wrong and a terrible plan. The poop board is the floor.
View attachment 1861693

My shed to coop conversion the poop table is 32" off the floor and the roost is 12" above that.
View attachment 1861696

Under the poop table I'm putting a roll out nest box.
View attachment 1861698

JT

JT
Looks great. Got to admit that I'm a bit jealous of your carpentry skills!
In a similar design, could you poop a brooder underneath the poop boards?
... Already thinking about next year and expansion.