My daughter is getting 4h chickens and we need to build a coop

[Jtp79]

JTP, your location would help to give appropriate advice. No matter what your climate, good ventilation is key. And that ventilation must be provided in such a way that the birds do not have a draft on them while they are perched. I had a "short coop" as my first coop, and found that it had huge issues with providing enough ventilation, resulting in much greater risk of frost bite to the birds in the winter. Increased cubic feet of air space = less issues with moisture = improved air quality for decreased risk of frost bite, and decreased risk of disease issues for the flock.

Shade can be provided in the run with shade cloth, or giving the birds a couple of pallets tied in an A frame structure, or even placing a pallet over 4 cinder blocks.

We are in Sparta Tennessee. Right smack dab in the middle of the state.

 

[lazy gardener]

Many people put their general location in their profile, so it is always available for future reference. Depends on how comfortable you are with that, but general location is pretty safe. At least you are not in arctic climate!

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Don't buy into the short coop idea; a walk-in building is the way to go! You can start with a garden shed and modify it, or build one from scratch.
Build big! It can't be too large, for storage, bad weather inside time, and 'chicken math' issues. I wouldn't go smaller than 8'x12', with an attached run.
Ventilation and predator proofing are most important, and there's lots of good information on this site, so spend time reading, and looking. Chickens are fun!
Mary

 

[AmazingRachel]

Haha!
My family's in the same boat. I'm 17 and president of a 4-H club called Hooves, Beaks, and Bills. After caring for chickens for 3 years at a farm where my club works, my family decided to get chickens for eggs and for showing. Unfortunately, our coop took months to complete because my dad works (only able to do work on the weekends).
In the end, I would suggest getting a Home Depot shed, and cut out a hole (with a guillotine style door) at the bottom for the chickens. Set up a pen on the outside and cover it with a deer fencing canopy. All said and done, you can have enough space to do ladder roosts and you can hang egg laying boxes on a wall. It's basically a hen house that you would see on a real farm.
If you live in a more suburban area with no a lot of acreage, then I suggest going with a more fashionable Wichita Cabin Coop style.
Contact your county cooperative extension for more info.
I made a presentation for chicken ownership and presented it a local library.

It's awesome your daughter is doing 4-H, it helped me find a career in doing (possibly) animal science or even veterinary science at (possibly) UCONN.

 

[Folly's place]

If I was starting over, I would want a Woods coop! Love the design, and it functions very well. Otherwise, a shed with windows and extra upper ventilation is great.
Mary

 

[blackdog043]

I would only build a walk in coop and run. In the beginning a short coop might seem ok, but you will get tired of twisting, bending and laying in chicken poop trying to reach things and clean the coop out. Practical is better than cute for coops in the long run. Proper ventilation is easier accomplish in a taller coop also. I highly recommend a wooden shed of some sort. If you are going to use 1/2 x 1/2 hardware cloth for your run(which you should) check amazon or walmart.com they usually have the best prices(they do fluctuate).

 

[PetesChicks]

You will definitely want a coop you can walk into. Look at the coop pages to get some ideas. The bigger the coop, the easier to work with. I have a 10x16 shed, with the first 5’ or so walked off for storage and the rest for my girls. It’s much easier to handle ventilation properly when you have the extra height also.

@aart has some great links for coops ideas, how high everything should be and stuff like that.

You’ll probably want a poop board under the roosts. They make it easy to keep the coop clean and odor free.

 

[Jtp79]

My only problem with these shed ideas and all of this is we are on somewhat of a budget. I can probably spend 500 or a lil more but the shed i have behind my house cost 4k. So there is no way I can buy a shed and just cut a hole out for the chickens to come in and out and use that.

Thanks for all the replies, great info.

If the coop has let down sides to clean it out, how can that be harder than cleaning a floor in a walk in coop?

 

[lazy gardener]

If money is a deciding factor (and it is for 90% of us) I suggest that you look into building a cattle panel coop. You can build an 8 x 8 x 6' coop for a fraction of the cost of stick build construction. The beauty of a CP coop is that it is built right on the ground, so it is perfect for DLM. You won't ever have to clean your coop!

Cattle panels are about $22 each. You'll need 2.

Miscellaneous screws, fencing staples, zip ties. A few ratchet straps and clamps to make the job super easy.

Framing lumber for the base, and end walls, and the center ridge pole. Easy peasy.

1/2" hardware cloth to cover the structure, including a skirt.

Build a door.

Cover the structure with a tarp.

Set up a safe construction grade electrical cord so you can brood your chicks in the coop with a MHP style brooder.

Done.

Fun family project that will most likely be completed in 1 or two weekends.

Or build a wood frame building yourself. An 8 x 8 shed style coop could easily be built within your budget. The CP would most likely be half that price. Your biggest expense will be the hdw cloth. cheapest place to buy that is on line.

If this 61 year old biddy can build 2 tractors, a CP coop, a green house, and would easily take on an 8 x 8 wood frame building, it's well within the abilities of almost anyone.

 

[Jtp79]

I also have probably 80 feet worth of dog kennel or more. Would it be ok to use this as the run area? Or are the holes too big? Im sure it would keep out coyote and large predators, not sure on what smaller ones that it wouldnt.