New coop!! Ideas? Suggestions?

[Henway Park]

Hey y’all dad and I will be building a new chicken coop very soon and I’d like all the help with ideas and suggestions I can get! I want to know everything! What kind of coop? What building materials? How many roosts and nest boxes, and where should I put them? Where should I put feeders, waterers? What bedding material?
I want it to be able to house 20-25 chooks. Any helpful information is MORE than welcome!
Thanks in advance!!

 

[Henway Park]

Hey y’all dad and I will be building a new chicken coop very soon and I’d like all the help with ideas and suggestions I can get! I want to know everything! What kind of coop? What building materials? How many roosts and nest boxes, and where should I put them? Where should I put feeders, waterers? What bedding material?
I want it to be able to house 20-25 chooks. Any helpful information is MORE than welcome!
Thanks in advance!!

Start by clearing and leveling the area where the coop and run will be located plus @2 feet on all sides. Dig out about 3-4 inches of dirt, lay down a galvanized hard.ware cloth, and cover with the excavated dirt. You have now predator proofed against digging creatures.
I would also suggest a solar powered sliding metal door at the entrance to the roosting area. It will close at dusk and open at dawn so your birds can get to the run.
I got a prebuilt kit from EZ clean coops in the midwest somewhere. I made a couple of modifications, but it is a solid easy to assemble item.

 

[Hathamark]

Hey y’all dad and I will be building a new chicken coop very soon and I’d like all the help with ideas and suggestions I can get! I want to know everything! What kind of coop? What building materials? How many roosts and nest boxes, and where should I put them? Where should I put feeders, waterers? What bedding material?
I want it to be able to house 20-25 chooks. Any helpful information is MORE than welcome!
Thanks in advance!!

 

[Hathamark]

Hey y’all dad and I will be building a new chicken coop very soon and I’d like all the help with ideas and suggestions I can get! I want to know everything! What kind of coop? What building materials? How many roosts and nest boxes, and where should I put them? Where should I put feeders, waterers? What bedding material?
I want it to be able to house 20-25 chooks. Any helpful information is MORE than welcome!
Thanks in advance!

 

[Abigrayl]

Are your hens going to raise chicks? If so, you need to think long and hard about layer boxes. They can't be raised very high or the chicks can fall out. I've tried moving hens from layer boxes to other nests and it has never ended in a successful hatch. You also can't leave them around the other chickens when they're on eggs or the other chickens lay more eggs in the nest or kick them out of the hen forgets which nest of eggs was hers and sits on other eggs. If I could go back that's what I would change about my coop.

 

[Hathamark]

Winter region consideration: We had a devil of a time digging out & opening our ground based doors after heavy snowfalls or freezing rain.
I would recommend an access or entry door above the frost line.

 

[Judy Todd]

Our chickens really don’t spend much time in the coop, (they free-range on our four acres almost all day) so I think we could get away with a little smaller than that (coop size, I mean). I very much doubt that dad is going to build an 80 sqf coop if he doesn’t need to.

No matter how much your chickens free-range, they still need 4 sq ft for large, 3 for med size and 2 for banties. They will still spend a grat deal of time in the coop during winter esp. I have 78sq ft for 16 chickens, with 3 week olds under a broody hen. I built it myself at the age of 81, wiith just some help with the framing 2 by 4s. And, yes, mine free-range most of every day also. Sometimes you catch chicken math illness and need more chickens, always better to have a bit extra room then to have to add on later.

 

[Judy Todd]

In the winter when it's nasty outside, your going to need that 4sqf per bird. Overcrowding when they just won't go outside is going to lead to issues.

I agree completely.

 

[GambaDawn]

This is what we built. More like a shed coop. We love it! I took ideas from everyone as you are and built plenty of space, lots of ventilation and use the DLM for the floor. It’s all worked out great. My girls are happy! Good luck!

 

[GambaDawn]

This is what we built. More like a shed coop. We love it! I took ideas from everyone as you are and built plenty of space, lots of ventilation and use the DLM for the floor. It’s all worked out great. My girls are happy! Good luck!