Need Coop Design Ideas from this

[NewHomesteader2010]

Hello BYC and thank you in advance for any suggestions you might be able to offer. Our house had a chicken coop on the property when we bought it. It was not inclosed and thus suffered some damage. We are hoping to salvage what we can and relocate it. The concrete slab we have set out is 10' x 20'. Do you have any suggestions on how we could fix it and what we could do for some design ideas? We are only looking to have 8 chickens (I know...I know...I am sure we will definitely end up with more...but 8 is our top amount for now). I don't know what size chickens we will be having, but some recommendations were BO, Jerseys, Cochins (my personal favorite), or any docile temperament one. Thank you so much for your suggestions!!

 

[OkChickens]

I would enclose a part of that for the "coop" then make a run then add ChIckens!

-Nate

 

[darkbyrd]

We get kinda cold weather here in NC, I would fully enclose an area for a coop, and leave some for covered run space. And maybe more run without cover. If you are planning on free-ranging, enclose that whole structure. Even if you can't manage to fill it up with chickens (and from what I hear around here, the first law of chicken math won't allow anything less than a full coop) you'll have outside storage, or housing for another animal. A homesteader can't have too many sheds!

edit: beef up that chicken wire, 'dere be coons in dem woods!

 

[NewHomesteader2010]

Thanks for your pointers. We are planning on moving the coop into the yard and out of the woods for better free ranging (and better monitoring...we have a hawk/falcon of some kind in the area). This is an old coop (not in the best condition...some of the wood is rotted) and we're in the process of tearing it down and rebuilding it. I want to salvage the wire just for the "run" and enclose the entire coop. We saw the coop design called "Wichita Cabin Coop" on the Coop Design forum under the small coops. We're thinking of using that idea and just expanding on the size since it was only for 3-5 hens and we're looking to have room for 8-16 (max). I'm hoping for as much advice as we can get seeing as we have NO clue what we're doing. I will confess it's a hobby that is definitely becoming an obsession and we don't even have any chicks yet!!

 

[darkbyrd]

I spent alot of time looking for coop plans for a similar size flock, and the best advice I have is don't look for coop plans. Look for shed plans. Pick up a book at your local hardware store/TSC about building sheds. You'll have a stronger building and flexible space, and gain skills for future projects (while making the mistakes where it matters less). It's easy (once you've done the research as to what a chicken requires) to adapt a shed to the byrds. 'Chicken math' is only a category of 'homesteading math', the second theorem being "you always need more outbuildings". Stay tuned for my coop-build thread, coming soon to a forum near you!

 

[NewHomesteader2010]

Quote:
OOhh...Dark, thank you so much!! My husband is an avid builder and can plan out how to build a shed easily. I will look for the forum too!!

Thank you again!!