newbie seeking input on coop design

[aassbb]

Hello all - what a great site! We are getting started with backyard chickens for eggs and fun at our new country property in south Florida. We are retrofitting an old dog kennel/yard into our chicken place. Hoping to tap into some of the knowledge here.

What we are starting with: 7' x 14' concrete slab covered by slanted zinc roof. This open sided structure is located within a 30' x 40' "yard" fenced in with 6' no climb horse fence.

We plan on completely enclosing the roofed structure with hardware cloth, and adding a people door for access. We will build a coop at one end of the slab. So this will end up being a coop within a run, more or less what I believe is called a Witchita design.

The chickens will be able to roam in the large yard during the day. I know this is not predator proof and we do have coons and possum, but it is dog proof. They will be in the screened-in structure that contains the coop at night.

My questions are as follows:

• Is is bad that the run is a concrete slab? should we cover that with something? Remember they will have daytime access to the larger fenced in yard. and perhaps beyond, see next question...
• How likely are they to stay within a 6' fence? if not, how hard is it to round up everyone to go in at the end of the day?
• Coop size: Was thinking to make the coop about 7' x 4', and extend up to the height of the slanted roof which is 6-8'. secure nest boxes out the back, accessible from outside of run.We want it to be big enough to hold a max of 10 hens. Big enough?
• Coop off the ground or not: I've seen them raised up 2-3 feet with an access ramp, and also full height with coop setting on the ground. Any recommendations or preferences either way? Would like to be able to access coop from inside the run, so maybe full height with a ramp/chicken door and separate people door?
• Interior design: what are the basic elements and positioning of the coop interior?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

An elevated coop provides a cool space which you certainly need in FL.

If they have access to an area to dustbathe the concrete is fine but I'd cover it with some type of bedding like straw, shavings or sand. Otherwise the feces will stick to it like glue.

 

[aassbb]

Thank you for your advice! Going to build soon!

 

[Percheron chick]

A Wichita coop is a nice design for 4-6 hens but does not lend itself to a larger flock. You can't reach across or walk inside to clean if it's 7' across. Living in the south, you don't need a traditional coop. It will be too hot and muggy in it for your chickens. I would just build an open wire coop with the nest box side solid and roofed.

 

[aassbb]

Makes sense! You mean something like this pic?

 

[Percheron chick]

That looks just about perfect. Use the entire slab. It will be more of a combo coop/run and they will love it.

 

[BarredCometLaced]

About the fence height:

I watched one of my three year old silver laced wyandottes launch herself over a six foot chain link fence today. Her friends (a tad heavier then she) were extremely jealous to find that they could not make the jump. SO, it depends on the chicken, size, determination. Remember to chickens, the grass is always greener on the other side. In terms of getting them back in, our chickens were heavily socialized when young and respond to both my calls and the sound of food rattling. Our chickens are also stellar at putting themselves to bed with no help at all.

 

[chynasparks]

We built a coop over a slab. Left the bottom open so the slab is the floor. We cover it with play sand and Sweet PDZ for control. Works great. The roost and best area is up stairs. The look so cute walking the stairs my hubby built into the coop. We lost our first flock to predators. I was so sad. We got a false sense of security because predators were a minimum. So, we did supervised free range. While we weren't looking, in a 3 week period, we lost our little flock. Now I have 5 new chicks. We are putting up a chain link kennel on the back of the coop. There is enough concrete there to add the 10x10x6 kennel. I will put down something, not sure yet. There will be a large dust bath with sand in the center, big enough for all 5. Going to add a rosy of some kind. Eventually we will build an enclosure on the front which is in the grass. They can come out there when we are home. Actually they will be able to go front to back when we're home. I will just open the back door for them when I go to work. I like the slab because nothing can dig there way in. The are pets to me and I'm still sad I failed my first flock. Now we are reinforcing this dog kennel to the max. I fell in love with chickens. I watched my first flock grow. They became so friendly (in a chickens way). I watched my Buff Orpington hatch and raise chicks. It was amazing to me. Well I'm trying again and I don't plan to fail again. Loosing them is part of life though and sometimes you can do everything right and still loose a peep. Good luck with your flock.

 

[chynasparks]

Sorry, spellcheck changed roost to rosy :-(

 

[aassbb]

Thank you all for the replies. Im confident to move forward and think we will have a great place for them and make the most of this old dog kennel run. We're going to start this weekend. Super excited.

I'm still pretty paranoid about the coons and possum, though, getting at them in the outside yard during the day. But it seems like its too big a space (40'x30') to cover with a mesh roof of some sort. Any thoughts on this?

Also, we have bazillions of established peacocks in our area. They will probably want to visit the chickens. Any problems there?