NEW coop build in Central Florida

[magnumpi813]

Ok, my wife and I have been discussing getting chickens for a couple of years. With three teenagers and a ten year old, we go through a lot of eggs. So now my next project is building the chicken coop. I have some questions pertaining to the area where we live and hopefully some central Florida people are on here and can answer my questions.

I plan on building the coop 8'x8'x4' tall, elevated off the ground three feet, so peak of A frame should be around 9', with the run under the coop and 16' long by the 8' wide and 7' tall. So it will be 8' wide x24' overall length, but plan on just the A frame roof over the hen house. Just trying to keep it simple with wood measurements. I plan on using gutters to fill up a 50 gallon Rain Wizard barrel and running small hoses from there to water cups under the coop. So with all the rain we get I should never have an issue with watering the chickens. I plan on having 12 chickens. Not to breed but just for eggs. I am trying to make it as a convenient coop operation as possible.

Questions:
1. Windows for this area? I want to put windows in the hen house but it rains a lot here. What size windows should I go with so rain doesn't get inside the coop?
2. DLM??? That generates heat so not sure about doing that because adding additional heat to the Florida heat can't be good for the birds. Thoughts regarding DLM in Florida. I was thinking about doing poop boxes with the Sweet EZ stuff in it. But then again if you use American Hemp and the DLM I wouldn't have to scoop stuff all the time.
3. If I don't do the DLM inside the coop and do the poop trays with Sweet EZ what material should I use in the floor of the coop? I have heard sand mixed with Sweet EZ.
4. I plan on laying concrete blocks in the ground so that the run will sit on top of the blocks and no predators can dig in. If I did that, how could I secure the bottom boards into the concrete blocks.
5. Materials in the run? I am going to start off by adding sand to help with the moisture from all of the rain we get. What else should I add in there? I was thinking about some Peat Moss and hay.

Any other hints and help you can provide, I am all ears. My first chicken coop build and I want to do it right so it is convenient for all of us. Thanks in advance.

 

[N F C]

First

I used to live in FL east of Gainesville and can share some of the things I did. You really ought to check in with the FL state thread, there are a lot of members active on that thread, @cmom in particular is very helpful. Here's a link to the thread:florida-always-sunny-side-up.305793

We re-purposed an old wooden shed that was already on the property we bought. Windows were already in place but we fixed them so the glass windows could be removed and replaced with hardware cloth in window frames for warm weather. We did the same with the 2 doors that were on either end of the shed...we made hardware cloth "screen" doors. The roof jutted out enough that it kept rain from going into the windows.

I hung a box fan from the ceiling and used that to push warm air through the coop.

Our land was about 80% sand naturally so the run didn't need anything added to it for drainage. We did make the flock a large L-shaped run that went down one side of the coop and around the back half where it was shaded by nearby trees. That was covered on top with sunscreen material and the hardware cloth on the sides was buried to create an "apron" to discourage digging predators.

Hope some of this is useful. The FL peeps will have a lot of feedback for you.

Best of luck!

 

[aart]

What size windows should I go with so rain doesn't get inside the coop?

Size doesn't matter as much as operation. Top hinged windows are the only way to go IMO. You can leave them propped open all the time to shed rain and get the most open area of any other window(sliders, double hung, etc.) How big they are, which way they open(inside or out), and where they are placed depends on your coop design.

Oh, and, Welcome to BYC!

Oops, ETA.
I like PDZ on the poop trays, yes every day or so task but it can go quick and keeps things much healthier in the coop.
Dry shavings on the coop floor, total change out once a year.
DLM in the run, coop shavings added at fall cleanout.

Make sure you have good drainage around coop and run,
use swales/treches to divert any serious run off water.