New coop just delivered need advise

[Chickenshoe]

I need to "chirp in" here..

yes, the vast majority of coops are made very poorly. My wife and I got into the back yard chicken thing this year with 13 ladies, they are about 6 weeks old now and itching to get outside where they belong. I looked at coops that can be purchased, to get one large enough and well made would have cost $2000... I am building this myself.. 4x8 with 4x5 add on for


roost.. will be posting finished product soon....this is made of 2x4s and 2x3s, obs roof, metal over that.. osb inner wall, textured siding on outside, plexiglass windows, lots of ventilation, wife is even putting a stained glass window in the peak ... cost of materials about $700..

I too looked at just buying one its either junk or big $, a local guy was going to charge me $700 for a 4x6, Im sure it was well made... this is almost 2x that size for same $. Its been fun to build and personally satisfying. if you live in a cold climate, junk coops likely pose a threat to the birds too..

 

[critta]

How many chickens do you currently have? There are a lot of excellent easy to build options on here. If you have the prefab coop you can use in while you try to put together something more substantial.

Having access to all of your Husbands tools is a huge head start. I learned a ton about building making mine.

Also take advantage of the free modeling tools like sketchup and the other similar programs for putting your ideas together without wasting time or materials. It may take you a few hours of learning to use the tool but it is worth the time.

 

[yellowchicks]

I "catalog/Google shopping" for awhile for a chicken coop as a chicken novice last summer when my son brought home 4 chicks unexpectedly.

The more I learned about chicken coops, the more I realized that the pre-fab coops can only hold half of the number of chickens of their claimed capacity. Eventually, we would be better off building one ourselves to our own specs and wish list. So last summer, I designed the coop (3 times!), then the entire family went to work. It was a fun family project to get the kids involved, a worthwhile experience. We, and the chickens, were more than happy to survived this winter with our coop. All that hard work and headaches paid off in the end. Our backyard has become the neighborhood petting zoo.



With your current pre-fab coop, you can modify it to make it sturdier and more functional. Here are some suggestions to consider:

1) Use 2x4 to frame it out, raise it off the ground to have 24" to 30" below the coop for additional chicken activity area, and get it off the rain and snow.
2) Replace the plastic pull out tray with a solid wooded bottom. Don't bother to pull that flimsy plastic tray out to clean, it won't work well.
3) Make a separate removable poop board beneath the roosting bar for daily cleaning.
4) Put in a wider roast bar (4" wide), give each chicken 12" of space in bar length and all around for roosting.
5) If your coop model has two external nest boxes, like one on each opposite side of the coop, remove one. One nest box per 2 to 4 chickens are plenty.
6) Make the extra nest box opening into a large accessible screen door, cover the opening with 1/2" hardware cloth, use the nest box cover as the external shutter. This way, the coop has better ventilation and you can access the coop easier to clean.
7) Caulk the interior seams or it might leak.
8) Put in half as many chickens as the manufacturer's lowest recommendation. Each grown chicken should have 4 sq ft of floor area inside the coop.

I don't know how many chickens and what breed of chickens your have. At 8 weeks old, they will start recognizing their coop as the permanent home. The sooner you can get them into a permanent living quarter, the less problem later for them to go in to the coop. If all that work describe above is only good for housing 2 or 3 chickens, but you have many more than that, then you might as well build your own coop to start over before too late. You can always use this pre-fab coop as-s a future brooder or emergency chicken sick house.

If your husband can build a rabbit coop, he can most definitely build an awesome chicken coop for the kids to show 'n tell.

 

[hayescamp]

Thank you for all of the advice. Made some modifications, caulking , metal braces, stain, glued all seams, roof tiles on top, raised it off the ground 30 and put a solid bottom on it. I have 8 Rhode Island Reds, about 8 weeks, no sure whose going to become a pullet and whose going to be a Ro. Unfortunately the roosters are going back to the farm - my two favorites are probably rosters- larger, bolder and have huge personalities. I'm definitely going to need a bigger coop at some point. I've heard about chicken math!

 

[WindyHillFarm]

Sounds like you are in good shape now! Best of luck with your chickies.

 

[Blooie]

And when you do settle on a design and get your more substantial coop built, you have an advantage! That not-so-good coop will make a dandy brooder for new chicks! It will also be terrific for separating a bird that gets sick or injured. It can be a grow-out coop if you brood more chicks in the house and then get ready to move them outside! Put the pre-fab coop next to the main coop/run setup so the teenagers and the older chickens can see and get used to each other before you integrate them completely!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

And when you do settle on a design and get your more substantial coop built, you have an advantage! That not-so-good coop will make a dandy brooder for new chicks! It will also be terrific for separating a bird that gets sick or injured. It can be a grow-out coop if you brood more chicks in the house and then get ready to move them outside! Put the pre-fab coop next to the main coop/run setup so the teenagers and the older chickens can see and get used to each other before you integrate them completely!

Yep - that is exactly why I am now the somewhat happy owner of one used pre-fab not-so-good coop setup.