needed: coop critique

[cptbahama]

okay, I'm trying to understand the orientation of the nestboxes vs. the roosts. in a 6' x 5' x 3' henhouse..

1- one nestbox is enough for 7 hens?

2- the nestbox should be above or below the roosts?

3- someone stated the roost should run the 6' length instead of the 5'. so I would need two of these to give a total of 12' roost in the house for 7 birds? that seems excessive.

4- a poop board can be something like a 2x12 board that slides under each roost? then you just pull it out and scrape off the poop?



i found this pic online of a commercial company's example of their product. does the position of the nest box in relation to the roost look ok?

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:

 

[terrilhb]

It looks really good to me. Hope to see pics when done

 

[DVTO2]

The idea is to hang the nest boxes with only the openings inside the coop, so you don't lose any interior space. My coop for 7 hens is 4' by 8', with the back wall housing the openings for the nest boxes and two 2" by 3" roosts across the width of that back end with the poop board running underneath. Your roost goes down the length of the coop, so it's a bit different set up. I think for this idea to work in your coop it looks like you would have to raise the roof of the coop so the roost could go high enough to put a poop board in and still have the chickens be able to walk underneath, which is important given the size of your coop. That being said, there are many ways to do this and your access door is large enough to do any cleaning you might need to do, so don't take this idea as gospel. Your coop does seem small for 7 hens, especially with the next boxes inside.