Need your opinion: what should every coop have?

[afveteran88]

I built this roll out nesting box https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=287684
I have a large coop 60 x 20 and it works great. If I didn't have this everytime I went out to get eggs I would have to go into the coop and have the potential to step in chicken poop.
I also love the poop board I put in. A large waterer is a must with close acess to water. I hauled 5 gallon buckets for a while then ran a water line to my coop.

 

[egglicious]

I am so amazed by the ingenuity of all of you. How I wish I had your skill!!

 

[UrbanFarmerGreg]

Such great ideas... I am fairly new to this chicken raising and am learning through trial and error and I am wondering if you really need nexting boxes...? I have one leghorn that is still laying (as of yesterday) and 3 sexlink that are not laying ( they were molting when I got them) just wondering if the sexlinks will lay in the same spot as the leghorn? I used a golfball to show her where to lay and it worked after only 3 or 4 days... I leave the golfball in the same spot 24/7

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
I am in favor of a Tunnel nest. Just a big box big enough for two or three hens.... ONe opening and no partitions. Lets em come in and lay an egg even if someone is already in there. The top of the thing hinges up.... sort of like a kids toy box. the Darkened interior gives a sense of security and cuts down on the possibility of egg eating. The only disadvantage I see is if you get a broody in there and you want to have her hatch the eggs its a more difficult process to remove the hen and eggs to a Broody enclosure. (private food and water and nest box broody hens eat and drink and poo one or two times per day)

 

[GARYZZ1]

#1 Enough Head Room For You To Walk In. At Some Point You "will" Have To Go In!
#2 If You Have An ( A%%hole Rooster ) ,get Rid Of Him...if You Have To Ask Why,you Will Find Out Soon Enough!!!
#3 Nesting Bxs. At Least Knee High So You Don`t Have To Neal Down.
#4 "and Just Like Every Guy" , Bigger Is Better!!! There Is Always Room For Improvement.


#5 Just Have Fun And Enjoy...

 

[NC ChickenKate]

I rent our house in the city and so had to consider that we might be moving eventually. We built the coop large enough so it can be converted into a children's play house or a storage shed when we leave it behind. Needed something good and tough that won't blow over as we are in a hurricane prone area.
I have a mixed flock...Easter Eggers, Welsummers and Silkies...and love the diversity of colors and characters.
I designed the coop and attached yard so both the chicken's and my older human needs could be met. Nest boxes (5) are stacked on three different levels so hens wanting a nest close to the ground or high off the ground can choose what feels best to them. Each nest box has an individual door on the outside with a 5 ft deep shed roof overhead to keep egg gatherer's out of the rain and adds a bit more shade to the sunny side of the coop.
The coop roof is done in fiberglass panels...opaque green over most of the coop but clear over the human door to allow for older human's failing eyesight.
The roof of both the coop and yard is over 6 1/2 foot at the peak with gutters at the lowest end to collect the rain in a series of rain barrels used both to water the flock and the garden. Older human loves those nipple waterers and so do the hens because their water is always clean.
There is electricity to the coop so chicks (and their dust) could move out of the house and into the coop at two weeks with their heat lamp...electric outlet on ceiling allows me to plug in and un plug whatever is needed seasonally...right now they have Xmas lights inside and out and come summer a small fan will help with air circulation.
I used old cedar fencing materials the neighbors were going to throw away for the siding of the coop to save costs of materials (me like saving money) and if the shabby chic shack look starts to bother me I can paint it down the road.
The yard has both a dead tree branch and a raised roosting area and sometimes they roost in the tree and sometimes they use the roost. I hang kale, collard, cabbage or broccoli from one of the tree branches for their entertainment and feeding joy. I have 8 large black plastic bags full of fall leaves from the maples and dogwoods and pine needles and when I freshen/clean their coop or yard flooring litter I add a layer of leaves on top which they jump into tho scratch and peck.
If I owned my own place the only thing I'd change is a larger coop and multiple yards feeding off it so I could have more chickens.

 

[bald egg]

#1 Electricity with well planned outlets. Plan where your heated waterer will go. Have two lights, one wired to a timer and the other to a switch. Plan for an aoutmatic door if you will need an outlet for it. If you wish to add a heat lamp plan on it during construction.
#2 Room to get in and stand up. If you wish to keep it clean then give yourself room to move around.
#3 A covered run with sand or my favorite fill gravel. I hate muddy stinky runs! Take a lawn chair and a cup of BOS out on a rainy day for a relaxing time.
#4 Nest boxes with outside access. No need to go in in your clean work clothes, and dirty germ covered shoes. (I work in health care)
#5 Poop boards under the roosts with thoughts of how you will clean them prior to instilation.
#6 Insulation. Warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.
#7 Predator proof!! 1/2" by 1/2" welded wire covering the run and buried around the perimeter. My pop door is open 24/7.

 

[bairo]

bald egg above has it right on the money.

I would say: Take your planned size and double that so you can have plenty of "SEPARATE AREAS" if the need arises
I started with a 10x20 that I thought would be more than i ever needed, now I wish it was bigger. If I had it to do over again I would shoot for 12x32 I think...but ive gotten into breeding.
I have a 10x6 main coop
a 10x4 brooding and grow out area
4x10 rooster jail
6x10 storage

The other time and energy savers have already been mentioned that i ended up going back to install or redo after the fact.

I ran electric for a light, two outlets, and a motion light in front of human door
I am getting ready to run water out there
had to move nest boxes up higher
getting ready to turn nest boxes into outside access
making a pvc feeder
making a pvc nipple waterer with heat tape plugged into thermo cube

it is those things above that would have been easier to do initially.

 

[3forfree]

I like the idea of having a partition just inside the human door so you can go inside the coop and don't have any thing escaping, and you can have all your essentials at hand, and dry.

 

[Cowgirl75446]

I have raised chickens for many years, I use to have pens all over the backyard, out in the pasture, and in the front yard. It took me hours feeding and I had to be out in the weather all the time. My pens were getting old, so I decided to finally build a new chicken barn about a year ago. I had my brother and his friend build me a 32' X 24' X 8' metal pole barn. It has one walk through door on the east side, 2 10 foot sliding doors on the north and south side, and 4 skylights in the roof of the barn for light. We actually do have snow here in Texas. lol

The barn was finished around February. I am a school teacher, so I had to wait until summer to build the inside/outside chicken pens. I built majority of the inside and outside pens myself, I had a little help from my brother. I built 14 inside/outside pens, I have 8 pens on the west side and 6 pens on the east side. Each inside pen is 7' X 4' and 6' tall. I have a 7' X 8' X 7' feed room on the east side, where the walk in door is, that part is not completed yet. Then I have 14 outside pens, each pen is 12' X 4' and 4' tall, I used heavy duty 1" X 1" welded wire for the outside pens. I also have a 5 foot wood fence with 2" X 4" welded wire around the barn, it keeps the large critters away from the barn. I hope this barn is critter proof, it should be anyway. All my chicken pens are tall enough to walk in, I have electricity out there, and I just finished the waterline to the barn, 93 feet worth of digging. lol

My dad taught me how to do a lot of things, we always worked together on the chicken pens/horse barn. The last couple of years, my dad had Parkinson's Disease, so he was unable to do any kind of physical work, but he would sit in a chair and instruct me how to do things, . Dad passed away on September 22 of this year, he was able to see most of the chicken barn completed. He taught me a lot of things, I would have never been able to build this, if it was not for him. This barn is really special to me, I still have his chair in my barn, I will always keep it there in memory of my dad.