New coop

[burdboy]

I'm thinking of building a 18, by 24 coop with a 6 by 6 tack room inside. How many chickens could I have in there along with a goose, a few turkey hens, and a tom, and a few ducks, a couple guineas, and my chickens.

 

[burdboy]

I'd like to have about 50-60 birds in all, I think I'm gonna need a bigger coop.

 

[burdboy]

I'd also have brooders in the tack room, and maybe my incubator.

 

[burdboy]

Should I make it solid wood sides, or tin sides with wood supports.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can follow the link in my signature to see some of the things I consider important for you to consider. I don’t believe in magic numbers like square feet per bird but believe that different numbers work for different people. How much room you have outside and how you manage giving them access to that room is very important. Climate can be an important factor. Will you be integrating in the future, that needs more room? There are just so many things to consider.

That is a really nice sized coop. If you can pair it with a lot of outside room and give them access to that room it might be big enough. But I’d reconsider the ducks. Ducks need water and usually make a wet mess. That is not good in a coop with chickens and other non-waterfowl. I’d suggest a separate coop for them.

 

[burdboy]

Thank you, and I already have 4 ducks. I can make the outside as big as needed really as long as I cover it with wire, how do you cover a run that big though?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I want to be able to walk into a run without banging my head. Wire will sag if not supported. If you live where you can get wet snow or an ice storm, that weight can bring it down. If you have trees that can drop leaves or limbs on top, that can get really heavy.

If the run is very wide you’ll need to brace the cover in the middle. How much bracing you will need will depend on how wide it is and how much weight it might need to hold up. Length isn’t as important as width, it’s the span you are looking at.

One way to consider is to set some tall posts and put a cross beam at the top, like a T. You might do 2 (or more) of those posts and run a beam between them. If it’s not very wide you can maybe run long beams from one side to another. It’s hard to say what will work when you don’t have a clue as to size or budget.

 

[burdboy]

Ok so what kind of wire can I put on top of the run, will bird netting keep hawks out?