Opinion on Cooop Size vs. Amount of Rhode Island Hens

[Brookside7]

I actually sat down last night and drew up a coop with attached run.

The coop that I have drawn is 4 x 6, since we plan on having 6 chickens.

The coop will be up off of the ground and the run will be going under from there as well. The run will be 4 wide x 10 long x 6 tall plus the extra 4 x 6 space under the coop. Which is a total amount of 64 sq. ft. in the run. I allowed for 2 next boxes sticking OUT from the side of the coop like you see a lot of times with a lid that you can lift and I plan on attaching a little something to be able to latch it. I also allowed for a large door on one side. I incorporated one window over the door that leads to the run, a window on each side (one of which will be on the inside of the large door, if that makes sense.. lol), and a small window on the other end as well. (the chicken wire over them to prevent anything from getting in when open.) Run will be 6' tall as I said so will have walk in door.

Any thoughts? Enough room?
I painstakingly drew it all out... Then meticulously listed the materials I'd need... THEN, looked up their prices and availability at our local store so I could estimate the price.lol So, I hope I'm ready.

 

[Ridgerunner]

In my opinion, you don't need that many windows. I don't see anything wrong with it, and you do need at least one, it's just that you can maybe spare some expense by not having as many.

What you do need is good ventilation, in the winter as well as in the summer. Heat is more of a threat than cold for most of us. With their permanent down coat, they don't handle hot temperatures real well. You really need lots of good ventilation in the summer if you are in a warm climate. That's where those windows I just said you don't need can come in handy. During summer it does not matter if a breeze hits them on the roost.

Hot air rises. You need a fair amount of ventilation up high to get that hot air out. It is helpful to have a window you can open in the summer to let cooler air in.

But you also need good ventilation in the winter, especially if your temperatures get below freezing. Your biggest risk is not them freezing to death or being uncomfortably cold, but in frostbite. Your risk of frostbite is a lot higher if the humidity from their breathing and poop cannot escape. Wind chill plays into it a bit, so you want to close off the ventilation low. The way I get around all this is to have a sloping roof with overhangs. On all four sides, I left an area under the overhang permanently open. I covered it with hardware cloth to keep predators out but it stays open above where they are roosting year round. You don't need this on all four sides, but I'd suggest permanent ventilation build in on at least two sides up high. And it does need to be above them when they are roosting.

My lowest overnight temperatures have been around (-) 4 Fahrenheit. I've seen posts on here from people that do it this way that regularly see (-) 20 F. It's not a problem. I've seen posts where people do not have ventilation up high and they see frostbite when the temperatures are in the 20's F. Some of these people have posted that the frostbite problems stop when they add ventilation.

I don't like chicken wire to keep predators out, just to keep chickens in. Raccoons, foxes, dogs, many larger predators, can rip that wire apart. I recommend you use hardware cloth for that. I use 1" square welded wire hardware cloth and it has worked so far. I've seen what my dogs can do to chicken wire. The gauge is so light that they can just break it, and the construction is twisted, not welded, so they can untwist the joints by pulling on it. If you have these permanent openings, they do let in some more light, even under the overhangs.

To attach hardware cloth, many people use screws with fender washers. That will work, but I do it differently. I use strips of wood maybe 1/2" to 3/4" thick to cover the edges of the sharp wire, then attach those wooden strips with screws. I drill a pilot hole for each screw so I don't split the wood and make sure the screws go through a hole in the hardware cloth. This will hold as well as the screws with washers but it has the advantage that it covers the sharp edges of the wire. As clumsy as I am, I don't need any additional opportunities to scratch my hands and snag my clothing. Since cute is part of your criteria, this might look a little neater too.

 

[BigRedNZ]

Great advice all round, I'm jealous and can't wait to build my own.