My 10 x 20 coop plans

[CarolJ]

I am very fortunate that we've bought a 10 x 20 storage barn, and my DH and I can design any way we want. I've been playing around with various designs. The photo below shows a rough sketch of what we've got so far. I want to collect eggs from inside. There will be an area inside the door and to the right that will be blocked off from the chickens so I don't have to worry about dodging poop.

If you can, take a look at the drawing and offer any suggestions. I don't want to look back at this opportunity in a few months and say, "I wish I'd done it differently."

There will be 12 nest boxes - 3 rows of 4. The roosts will be 4 feet high - which will put them above the level of the nests.

 

[backwoodschick]

Looks awesome!

 

[Kaitie09]

How many chickens do you have or are planning to have? If you have time, could you right the dimensions of each pen and re post the picture?

 

[KDK1]

Quote:
Each grid is 1 foot...

the whole shed is 20'X10'
No matter how well you plan, chances are you'll find something you wish you had done differently... It looks good though!

 

[Kaitie09]

Quote:
Each grid is 1 foot...

the whole shed is 20'X10'
No matter how well you plan, chances are you'll find something you wish you had done differently... It looks good though!

Lol. I must be pretty tired if I missed that...

Oh one thing I just thought of something...Why do you need so many nesting boxes? If the inside sq ft is 70 that means you can only have about 17 chickens (at the 4sq ft per bird rule). They say 1 nesting box per 3-4 hens so you would only need 4-6 at the most. With the 25 you would still only need 6 or 7, and even then you know that they will all just choose one.

 

[CarolJ]

Each block on the graph is one square foot.
So the brooder pen would be 3' x 5' for 15 square feet, etc. The grow-out pen would be 24 square feet, and the breeding pen would be 20 square feet.
Counting the loft, the main pen will be 88 square feet.

I don't plan on having more than 25 chickens in the main area - and the smaller pens are temporary ones. There will be a large outdoor run (size not determined yet) and the chickens will be able to go in and out during the day. They'll be closed in the coop at night.

 

[CarolJ]

Quote:
How true, how true!

Thanks!

 

[AZBootsie]

You are very fortunate!!! How wonderful to have a huge coop!!

Looks like you thought of everything.

 

[CarolJ]

Quote:
The loft adds more to the square footage - making it 88 square feet. Still, I think it will be more than enough to handle 25 or more chickens. I think it can comfortably hold more than that. My current portable coop had 18 square feet and it has more than enough room for the 7 chickens in it. The run is much larger, and they only go into the coop to lay eggs and to roost at night. The #25 is one that I have to grow into anyway. Right now I only have 7 grown chickens - and 18 chicks. And I'll be rehoming most of the male chicks.

And you are right about the # of nesting boxes. 12 is too many. I will probably change it to two rows of 4. When I first drew this out, I was thinking of make the boundaries of the smaller pens movable in case I wanted to add more chickens to the main pen. I doubt I'd ever do that, though.


Decisions, decisions. . .

 

[enjoyin' my chickens]

Plans look good. Good luck on the project and keeping to just 25 chickens.