Official Coop Thread

[aart]

I'd make the coop tall enough to walk into...better for ventilation purposes too.

My Coop stack up:
Bottom of pop door 8" off floor for bedding,
bottom of nests at 24" for my convenience,
roost at about 36", still needed a ramp to avoid crashes,
coop is 6' wide, ceiling is 8' high, roof eave vents at 8' and 12'.

 

[FranciscoR]

Easy enough. I could make it 8ft tall. Would make things a lot easier.

 

[FranciscoR]

I am redoing the coop in a BIG way. I am making it 8x8x8. It'll be a 8ft cube. This should make things a lot easier. I will post specs in a bit.

 

[FranciscoR]

Here is the updated (as of now) layout for the coop. As stated, I made it bigger, 8x8, for a much larger / more comfortable coop.

1. For ease of discussion, and since it doesn't matter at this point, I am keeping the windows at 2ft x 2ft. There will be 4 of them, with the front one offset to the right of the main door.
2. I am going to keep the bottom of the nests (going with 4) at about 1ft. I have dogs and I want to keep boxes as low as can be, without giving dogs opportunity to stick/pry their noses in them.
3. I am keeping the storage space underneath the nesting boxes though. I still like the idea of having one. Although, with the size of the coop, I may just move it inside.
4. I added a run-access door to the back-right. I have scrapped the idea of having a run on each side. I am going to make a single run (8ft x 16ft) to the right side of the coop. It will too be 8ft tall. It's just easier working on one side, all lumber being the same width.
5. With this in mind, there will only be one chicken door.
6. I made the roosts a big change. They will be full length of walls (16ft total). They will run the back wall, and left wall. The picture shows right wall, but that obviously interferes with the run-access door.

So, how am I doing so far?

 

[aart]

Looks good...better to redo designs on paper than in wood!!

If you can make the roof with wide overhanging open eaves, it really helps with ventilation.
Air can come in the eave vents and exit at the gable or ridge vents.

 

[FranciscoR]

Looks good...better to redo designs on paper than in wood!!

If you can make the roof with wide overhanging open eaves, it really helps with ventilation.
Air can come in the eave vents and exit at the gable or ridge vents.

I am going for 10-15 chickens. I am thinking the 64sqft of floorspace, and 128sqft of run should be enough...lol

 

[aart]

That space is about minimum for 15...especially if you live where winter weather might keep them confined for day on end like mine.

What's your climate?...putting your location in your profile helps folks give better answers.

 

[FranciscoR]

That space is about minimum for 15...especially if you live where winter weather might keep them confined for day on end like mine.

What's your climate?...putting your location in your profile helps folks give better answers.

Northern Kentucky, Independence. Climate is cold in winter, hot in summer...it's very temperate.

 

[FranciscoR]

And so the "lumbering" begins! Took down this fella this afternoon. I do not have the time to finish it o ff this week unfortunately. It'll be there when I'm ready though. It's right around a 12"-15" log, at, about 12ft long. It's nothing major, but it'll provide for a bunch of 2x4s, or at least for some of the 4x4s that'll be used for posts/foundation. There's another section just as big (to the right). It'll provide for a lot of the wood I need. At the very least, all the lumber for the run...easy.

 

[FranciscoR]

So now I am poised with an "issue." I was dead-set on milling all my own lumber for the coop. However, I have been afforded the opportunity (if my schedule permits), to acquire A LOT of free lumber/wood. We are talking about 3-4 pieces of 3ft x 8ft framed walls. On top of that, A LOT of 2x8s, and smaller pieces. So I don't know exactly what to do. I REALLY wanted to mill my own lumber. But this is enough wood to make a lot of the coop.