We are designing our new coop and since we have a long, narrow lot, we want to customize it to fit the space we have. It also has to look good. It will be in the front part of our yard (our house sits at the very back of our lot so everything is in our front yard) along a block wall and everyone walking to the house will have to walk past the new coop. I want it to look cute and like it has been there forever.
I am curious as to why the majority of these designs (Heather Bullard etc.) feature the coop on the end of the structure, rather than in the middle? Is this just a design choice or is there a good reason for it? I have one shot to get my new coop right, so I do not want to make a mistake I will have to live with for 30 years.
I am going to be building an all in one covered coop/run, but I was considering putting the coop in the middle of the structure with a run on the left and the right. Access to the runs and the nest boxes will be on the front of the coop and access to the coop would be on both the left and right sides of the coop and accessed from inside the runs. The coop will be close to the back wall so no access from the back will be possible and we will have gardens on either side of where the coop will be and do not want to take that space for coop access. I also do not want to have to clean out the coop into a wheelbarrow and then haul it around to dump it into the run, which is how most of these designs seem to work. They have a clean out door on the front or side and if you want to put the bedding into the run, you have to haul it in there after cleaning it out. With my plan I would just open the doors and scrape it into which ever side of the run I wanted it on.
The other reason I thought the two runs would be nice is that I could keep the food and water on one side where it would all be easy for me to access and hopefully stay fairly clean and then I would have their "play area" on the other side. Stumps, perches, chairs and so forth. They will also have under the coop as well and thought I would put some wood ash and compost there to encourage dust bathing. They currently have access to a small area under a shed and it seems like they hang out there quit a lot, so I am sure the under the coop area will be great for them.
My last reason for a middle coop design is symmetry. I love symmetry and the coop on the side designs always look lopsided to me.
A coop in the middle would provide symmetry. The space where we have decided to put the coop is approx. 48 ft long. There is a large pine tree on the left side and a large cedar tree on the right side. The coop will be approx. 28 ft long and will sit in the middle of this 48 ft area. That will leave a 10 ft space on either side of the coop for a garden to be planted right up to the coop. This will make the coop look like part of the landscape and like it has been there forever.
So do you see a major flaw in this plan? If so what is it? Any help is greatly appreciated before I make a couple thousand dollar mistake. Thanks.
I am curious as to why the majority of these designs (Heather Bullard etc.) feature the coop on the end of the structure, rather than in the middle? Is this just a design choice or is there a good reason for it? I have one shot to get my new coop right, so I do not want to make a mistake I will have to live with for 30 years.
I am going to be building an all in one covered coop/run, but I was considering putting the coop in the middle of the structure with a run on the left and the right. Access to the runs and the nest boxes will be on the front of the coop and access to the coop would be on both the left and right sides of the coop and accessed from inside the runs. The coop will be close to the back wall so no access from the back will be possible and we will have gardens on either side of where the coop will be and do not want to take that space for coop access. I also do not want to have to clean out the coop into a wheelbarrow and then haul it around to dump it into the run, which is how most of these designs seem to work. They have a clean out door on the front or side and if you want to put the bedding into the run, you have to haul it in there after cleaning it out. With my plan I would just open the doors and scrape it into which ever side of the run I wanted it on.
The other reason I thought the two runs would be nice is that I could keep the food and water on one side where it would all be easy for me to access and hopefully stay fairly clean and then I would have their "play area" on the other side. Stumps, perches, chairs and so forth. They will also have under the coop as well and thought I would put some wood ash and compost there to encourage dust bathing. They currently have access to a small area under a shed and it seems like they hang out there quit a lot, so I am sure the under the coop area will be great for them.
My last reason for a middle coop design is symmetry. I love symmetry and the coop on the side designs always look lopsided to me.
A coop in the middle would provide symmetry. The space where we have decided to put the coop is approx. 48 ft long. There is a large pine tree on the left side and a large cedar tree on the right side. The coop will be approx. 28 ft long and will sit in the middle of this 48 ft area. That will leave a 10 ft space on either side of the coop for a garden to be planted right up to the coop. This will make the coop look like part of the landscape and like it has been there forever.
So do you see a major flaw in this plan? If so what is it? Any help is greatly appreciated before I make a couple thousand dollar mistake. Thanks.
