My homemade coop and couple of questions from a newbie :-)

[Ether]

I really like the pull-out floor, though I'd worry that it would end up with bedding in the track area?

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Two things:

1) You've incorporated a bunch of my favorite ideas including a slide out bottom / floor!

2) You've got to keep taking pics and add them to the BYC Coop Design Contest!

 

[LilBizzy]

That is a very good looking coop. I really like the slide out poo tray.
As coffeelady said, you dont want roosts over the nestboxes. I think most people have their roosts at 18 inches or more. I think thats what I read. Ours are probably 20- 24 inchesoff the floor with a ramp going up so they dont have to jump if they don't want to.( And good thing too. Ive found they don't want to jump)
We have 2 roost bars at different heights. They only use the higher one. The roosts are across the width of the coop ( 4 feet) and our 4 chickens use only half of it.
For our little chickens, we're building them a coop, and we'll have the roosts all on the same level. Right now they are in a temporary pen ( the shed) and they roost on their 10 inch high baby "playpen". There is 10 of them, and they huddle in a very small amount of space.
I could be very wrong, but I think the formula is 1 linear foot for each chicken. Someone please correct me if I am wrong

 

[Cetawin]

Beautiful coop...nice job.

 

[bluey]

Nice job on that coop so far!

 

[jacyjones]

Quote:
That is a lovely chicken shed - well done. The sliding bit looks like a really good idea - let us know how well it works. I think the shed looks big enough for 6 without a problem as long as they have plenty of space to range in during the day. Are they going to free range or have you built a run for them?

 

[Moony Moon]

Thanks for all the nice comments, i will post more piccys asap!

1) You've incorporated a bunch of my favorite ideas including a slide out bottom / floor!

Must admit i stole the sliding floor idea from some other houses that i found at a garden centre. Its a bit heavy but i am hoping it works well.

Roost higher then nesting box, but not OVER the nesting box. (roost over nest box - poopy eggs!)

The nesting boxes are going in the big holes on the left and right hand side, so will be external to the main house so no chance of poop on the eggs (aslong as they lay in the nest box!).

Nice coop! Are you going to stain it or paint it? I really love the look of it. You should be quite proud

Not sure if i am going to stain or paint it. I like the pine colour so may just use a clear wood preserve and keep it simple, but i also quite like the idea of a nice bright chicken house in my back garden!!

That is a lovely chicken shed - well done. The sliding bit looks like a really good idea - let us know how well it works. I think the shed looks big enough for 6 without a problem as long as they have plenty of space to range in during the day. Are they going to free range or have you built a run for them?

I don't have room to let them free range unfortunately, they are going to have a nice run, about 4m x 3m and then the rest of the garden when i am there.


Cheers

Dale​

 

[Joy1]

Nice. How many chickens will you have.

 

[2manyhats]

That is one good looking coop. Nice job. I agree with the roost higher than the nest boxes. I didn't do that last time and had to deal with a lot of poop covered eggs. I use a ladder style roost so they can hop up to the highest point which is about 1 m off the ground.

 

[CityChook]

Your coop is beautiful. I'd stain it - why cover up that lovely wood??

Congratulations!