Need Help on Coop Design from Shipping Crates

[Irishhenman]

No, inside the coop there should be horizontal tree branches or 2x2 lumber around 18" from the ceiling and at least 12" from the floor for the hens to sleep on

My camera is broken so here are some images I got off google (not mine)

ETA Also I don't think you grasp the problem with 17 hens in that little box. It is a welfare issue, it is not a question of how many chickens you can cram in there. If hens are that closely boxed together you will get feather picking and bullying and this will eventually result in cannibalism. It will be a breading ground for disease and parasites and one of the above comments is right, even with a lot of bedding in there an 8square foot house with 17 hens in it will need daily if not twice daily cleanings. Personally I would not even consider putting more that 4-6 hens in there and most keepers would only put 2 or 3

 

[AmandaShivonne]

I think you've got a great idea and before we built our coop I would've loved to have bought something like that! but for a max of 4 chickens. I would install a roost with poop board in one side, a nest box in the other side leaving room for fod and water binds, and drill big circles all around the top of the walls for ventilation, if not windows. Good luck!

 

[supercoops]

There have been some great suggestions given. As a chicken keeper I provide 3-4 square feet of floor space. I believe floor space is what is referred to when this rule is used, not cubic feet, and most chicken keeps on this site will agree. If trying to fit 17 in, it is more like a boxed roost than a coop. It definitely needs more ventilation and the roof on an angle for the rain to run off of. They're going to poop in there and the ammonia needs to escape somehow. The crate on its side is an interesting idea for storage but not for food (unless using metal containers). One end of this should be hinged for cleaning. On the raised one (if end hinged) a customer could easily roll a wheelbarrow under the end and clean it out. Truthfully if I drove by and saw the coop I would not purchase it (for the above reasons). If someone around here offered the crates that are seen in the background I'd be interested in purchasing those.

In the winter time the chickens choose to stay warm by bunching together.. I guess I'm just not getting it on all the space that's required when my birds are doing just fine. My last customer remarked at how clean my chickens are -- yeah they have good bedding -- that's why.

I guess I just don't get it on the coop cleaning either. Surely you don't like doing it. I use horse bedding like the folks at Tractor Supply and Southern States Hardware both recommend. My coops go for months before they have any odor, and the bedding is light weight. Used bedding makes the best compost you could ask for if you do any gardening. I can only imagine what I'd be up against without it!

I attached pictures of my coops after more than one month without cleaning. They smell like pine scent -- not ammonia, and not chicken poop.. Yeah you can tell chickens have been in there but it's no big deal (see pictures). The yard smells considerably worse.

While living in Kentucky I shoveled out a few horse stalls, and I think of chickens as "manure lite" compared to a horse. It's amazing how fast a horse can fill a stall. They pee several gallons at one time. That's why we used horse bedding. It's the best thing since toilet paper.

If bedding can take care of an animal that size, it's no problem with chickens. Believe me -- the cleaning is a small chore compared to other things.

I also attached a picture of my overhead sun-filter. It keeps the heat way down -- the same as it does for my nursery plants.

 

[JackE]

Have you ever taken care of chickens through a winter? You say you got started this past spring. I would think at this time of year, with your coop, a lot of the birds are just staying out side at night, instead of roosting inside the coop. With 17 birds, in that basically unventilated box, in the winter, with temps approaching zero, it's not maybe, but a sure bet you are going to have problems. Too many birds, in too small a space, coupled with freezing temps and no way to get rid of the humidity, just from the birds breathing, You will have frostbite, and probable respiratory problems and maybe even a few dead birds. You would come out one freezing morning and find that box frozen shut, with a bunch of freezepops for chickens. Not to mention, if you get any measurable amount of snow, and the birds choose to stay in, they will get irritable, and start tearing each other up. NO WAY would I even attempt to keep more than 3 birds in there, and before that, there would be some BIG holes/ ventilation cut into it. Sorry, but that coop would be a death trap in winter, with 17 chickens in it. You might want to do some reading about the need for proper ventilation in a coop. Ventilation, is one of the most important things for a coop.

 

[Irishhenman]

So there are no roosts, hens need roosts to sleep on!

I would agree with Jack E, it is high summer. With your young birds probably not even laying yet they probably aren't even going into the house for more than a few minutes a day. You have even said that your birds sleep on the ground outside the house. Put some roosts in the house and see how much the poo builds up in a couple of days, then double it for the days during the winter when hens won't want to go inside.

 

[supercoops]

No, inside the coop there should be horizontal tree branches or 2x2 lumber around 18" from the ceiling and at least 12" from the floor for the hens to sleep on

My camera is broken so here are some images I got off google (not mine)

That's the same thing I do with sliding shelves, except in this case you have poles in place. I have room for either one. Thanks for the idea. I'll take the sliding shelves out of the crate and run poles across it instead:





The shelves are about 12 inches above the floor and there is less headroom than you mention. These coops are only 22" to 24" deep. My chickens don't have a problem with headroom when they sleep on top of this crate, they're right up against the net:




So why do you need 18" of headroom above the poles? Do your chickens fly up against the lid?

 

[puglady]

Op, you've asked for input and everyone who's replied believes 17 in this space is too many, we will have to agree to disagree on this point. Several of us have made some of the same suggestions for improvement. If several people from the largest site of chicken enthusiasts currently online make the same suggestions you may want to take them to heart, there's years of experience here. Everyone has a different cleaning schedule. I don't like cleaning the coop but do every 1-2 weeks. I will scoop out beneath the roost more often and replace shavings in the laying box more often too.
I understand that you have your way of doing things but can you really ask your customers to change their ways to yours in order to avoid putting in ventilation or a clean out door? When trying to sell your product (most any product really), including features that most customers want/expect will help sell the product faster and for more money. Take a look in the coop section, if most coops have roosts, include roosts. If most coops have ventilation, include ventilation. You have a great start in the boxes you're able to get. I wish you luck!

 

[supercoops]

It's night time and I just checked on them. All 17 chickens are in the house and they are not potty trained. They go through the same routine every night. I'm at 3,000 feet elevation and our nights can drop into the 50s. On the other coop with only six chickens -- they are on top of the lid. They go inside when it gets cooler.

Chickens originated from South Viet Nam, which is a tropical rain-forest, not an arctic permafrost. They are much better equipped for heat than our winters. In KY we went a whole week where the temperature stayed below -12C. . We get those winters in the continental USA.

You are from Ireland. You don't have a real winter, or a real summer for that matter. Dallas, TX had 30 consecutive days where the thermometer reached 37C or higher. That's the kind of heat you'll see in Viet Nam -- where chickens originated.

In the cold of winter -- my chickens all huddle together so tight they only use one corner of the coop and there is room for maybe 40 more of them. I frankly don't see how your chickens could possibly survive a northeastern winter without a high electric bill and a lot of protection. What's the coldest temperature you've ever experienced?

 

[supercoops]

Op, you've asked for input and everyone who's replied believes 17 in this space is too many, we will have to agree to disagree on this point. Several of us have made some of the same suggestions for improvement. If several people from the largest site of chicken enthusiasts currently online make the same suggestions you may want to take them to heart, there's years of experience here. Everyone has a different cleaning schedule. I don't like cleaning the coop but do every 1-2 weeks. I will scoop out beneath the roost more often and replace shavings in the laying box more often too.
I understand that you have your way of doing things but can you really ask your customers to change their ways to yours in order to avoid putting in ventilation or a clean out door? When trying to sell your product (most any product really), including features that most customers want/expect will help sell the product faster and for more money. Take a look in the coop section, if most coops have roosts, include roosts. If most coops have ventilation, include ventilation. You have a great start in the boxes you're able to get. I wish you luck!

Thanks for the suggestions. I honestly would much rather have the cleaning job than the feeding job anytime -- but that's how the bedding system works. I didn't make it up.

It's easy to add ventilation -- raise the lid about half an inch. Close it down when it gets super cold.

Your disagreement really isn't with me -- it's with the 17 chickens. Ask yourself a simple question: Why do they go in there and sleep every night. They could sleep outside of the coop if they wanted to, but they don't. Do you suppose they like it better inside the coop or please tell why they would go in there on their own? Seriously.

The bedding system has the wire system beat hands down. I tried the wire system and I hate it because it is very messy. It's unsanitary, and wire isn't good for the chickens feet. There is a major collection of germs on the wire. It's also highly abrasive. I'd be seriously concerned about infections, and I'm not the first to say it.

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[supercoops]

So there are no roosts, hens need roosts to sleep on!

I would agree with Jack E, it is high summer. With your young birds probably not even laying yet they probably aren't even going into the house for more than a few minutes a day. You have even said that your birds sleep on the ground outside the house. Put some roosts in the house and see how much the poo builds up in a couple of days, then double it for the days during the winter when hens won't want to go inside.

Mine don't sleep on the poles I put in the pen -- they sleep in the coop. Please look at this picture. The roosts are there and they'd rather sleep inside the coop on the bedding. By the way, there are dogs in our neighborhood that tried to go through the fence during the night. The coops are a safe place. I haven't lost any chickens to predators. We have hawks as well.