Need advice for a chicken tractor/coop I'm building

[Nerdicus]

Ok, something I just realized, the coop is designed for 10 chickens. We're getting 15 expecting to get a bunch of roosters in there. By the end of chick getting time, we hope to end up with 9-10 hens and a rooster.

But, going by what everyone is saying, I need 50 square feet for my flock. It means getting more plywood, and possibly some 2x4s to give it more strength, but I'm not going to test my chicken raising skills by starting off with too little space.

So now I'm thinking of making 2 of these boxes, but upping the dimensions to 3x4 each with a enclosed little patio between them and hope that 2 square feet shy of the full 50 will be alright.

This also means I don't think it will be much of a tractor.

 

[Nerdicus]

Also, the coop will have a metal roof and will be fully weatherized. Given the size of the thing I am going to be taking back my 2x2s and getting a bunch of 2x4 instead. If I can't move it, I can't move it, and I might as well make it strong enough to stand up to some snow fall.

I'm also going to have the nesting boxes off the sides of the thing, so that ads and extra 6-8 square feet to the overall coop size....

Also I am planning on having two rows of roosting poles per box. stacked styles. Room permitting. I might make the box and look inside and realize there is no way I'm getting 2 roosting poles per box.

Thanks for the help so far! Though my wallet won't thank you for the extra supplies it will mean for it to buy, I'm sure the chickens will in there own cluckin way.

 

[Msbear]

PatandChickens always has wonderful advice for coop construction but I like to push the space as well

I have a 3x5 tractor in which I have a bantam trio in. They had 6 babies so now their all in there and are happy. We have since added a slanted corrugated metal roof to the run.

I think you are really pushing it with how many birds you want. Are you planning on having anymore in the future? I think you could make it a tad bigger, get a few less birds and construct it out of 2x2's. (a lot less weight and still very strong) ..remember people this is a chicken coop and not a 2,000 sq. ft. home.

By the time you add your siding material, that thing will be just as strong as if it were constructed of 2x4's.
We built all of ours out of 2x2 and added covered runs. This, I believe, adds to your total square footage. A chicken will brave most elements to be outside and as long as there isn't snow and rain hitting them, they will be content to spend their time outdoors.

Another thing to mention is that when you push the square footage per bird, you need to be more on top of keeping their bedding clean. A lot of birds in a small, dirty area will give you some sick chickes.

Here's the big coop we constructed out of 2x2's. ...and more covered runs.

Another thing to mention: when ripping 2x2's from 2x4's it's important to start with a straight board and use a table saw with guide for an even, straight cut. ...a circular saw wouldn' be a good idea. Predrilling holes when going with the grain will prevent splitting. We used drywall screws and didn't have much of a problem with splitting but other have said they did.

Our nests are bantam-sized...app. 10x11 or so.

 

[Nerdicus]

Well then I'll do it with 2x2s! I already got them so no need to rip anything.

Well, I"m going to go for a 6x8 design which has the two 3x4x4 boxes side by side with nesting boxes running along the edges(over hanging out of the coop with a hinged sloping lid). One side will have the chicken door and the other side will have the front side swing as a big door for getting into it for cleaning. I might also make the whole roof be a hinged door, but we'll have to see how things go first.

Keep up the ideas and wisdom folks! It's not set in stone until I make it out of wood!

 

[patandchickens]

Wait, I am slightly confused here now

Is this supposed to be a moveable tractor or is it meant to stay permanently in one place.

If it's a tractor, I'd say that if you don't have something mechanized to pull it (and good ground on which to do so), it would be a real challenge (but not absolutely impossible) to build big enough for 10 hens. If you want to try it, I highly recommend making the house and run as two detached structures, to move separately and then hook back together.

If you want a tractor but don't want the challenges inherent in building a hand-moveable 10-chicken structure, then two separate 5 chicken tractors makes perfect sense. As you say, something like 3x4' houses, with as big a run part as you can do. However if you do that, you can still perfectly well use 2x2 for most of it (I'd use 2x4 for the 'sill' that lies on the ground) to make it lighter. Rip yer own 2xss, tho -- the construction-grade ones are worthlessly crappy, and the 'knotty or select' grade spiff ones are unreasonably pricey.

But if you don't need a tractor and will be content with something that stays in one place, don't build two half-size things; build a single large-enough (or too-large) structure. It will be as cheap or cheaper, and approximately half the work to maintain. Really!

Quote:
If you use a metal roof, bear in mind that you'll be wanting either plywood or insulation (peck-proofed with thin plywood or whatever, if it is in reach of the chickens, as it would be in a tractor) on the underside of your roof. Otherwise you will have lotsa condensation/humdity problems as the cold metal condenses out air moisture in wintertime.

I'm also going to have the nesting boxes off the sides of the thing, so that ads and extra 6-8 square feet to the overall coop size....

I wouldn't really say that nest boxes add to the coop size from the chickens' perspective; and it is often possible (especially in a full-height rather than 3'-high-tractor-style coop) to work them in somewhere in the existing coop. Mine are under my droppings boards for instance

Also I am planning on having two rows of roosting poles per box. stacked styles.

I am not certain what you mean here, but recognize that if you put one roost actually *above* the other, half the flock is going to be seriously pooed on, and seriously p.o.'ed about it, and there will likely be HUGE squabbling for the top roost (even more than normal). Really if you have the opportunity it is probably best to just make all roosts the same height - reduces the incentive for arguments (which can lead to bloodshed). Remember it's really important to all chickens to be roosting on the highest place available, they don't like being second banana

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[Nerdicus]

I totally didn't think about the fact that two rows of roosting poles(one on top of hte other) would result in chicken turd on the shoulders of the lower roosters! Hahaha, duh!

As to the rest of what you said, thankyou! I intend to do the roof up proper with a sheet of plywood and insulation and all that.

Well, I don't know what I am going to be doing now.....I'll wait to see if anyone else has any advice!

 

[briteday]

I am currently building a 2' x 4' by 4' coop for 6 Rhode Island Reds. I decided on that size after building a much larger coop last fall when we got them.

The first coop was 2' x 8' x 3'H and they had a difficult time during the winter keeping the coop warm with their body heat, and they were only utilizing 1/2 of the coop for roosting. And they were choosing the more crowded 1/2 that already contained a feeding bucket and the water bucket. The only time they went on the other side was to lay an egg.

In the new coop, to maximize the birds' space inside I am going with feeders and waterers that can be filled from the outside and take up very little space inside the coop. I am also hanging the nest box (my 6 hens have always used just one box no matter how many were in the coop) on the outside of the structure. I'm going to try a 5 gallon bucket first. If they resist I'll build a wooden nesting box. (the bucket idea is on someone's video here about their new coop, the exterior feeders and waterer is also on a post here in the coop section of the forum)

To prevent poop on the birds roosting below I'm going to try a ladder arrangement inside the coop. The food and water inlets will be lower in the coop with a small roof over the area so poop doesn't end up there too. And the area in front of the nesting box entrance will have a small landing pad for those waiting in line.

I'll try to post pics as soon as I get a chance.

To be clear though, I have only 6 hens in this coop and they are rarely required to spend an entire day in the coop. I've only had to delay letting them out a few mornings due to an overnight snow or horribly cold weather for an hour or two after the sun came up. Otherwise they are out in their run all the time.

After having these checkens for a very short period of time (compared to most members on BYC) my main concerns are wasting food pellets as they head butt them out of the feeder (it makes the teacher voice in me come out and I end up removing the feeder until they clean up their mess!) and poop in the water...ewww. I'm also not wild about them walking through the roosting area to get to the nest box. They seem to track all of the poop under the roosts into the nest boxes and we've had quite a few dirty eggs, eally dirty. So I'm trying to take these logistics in mind when building my coops now.