I'm planning a coop and wanted to start a thread for input and documenting my progress. I'm thinking of housing for up to 16 chickens. I want to work with these dimensions because plywood comes in 8 foot sections.
Coop: 8X8
Run:8X16
I'm in the very early stages of planning. I don't really have any particular restrictions since it'll be on our land out in the country. I plan to use hardware cloth instead of chicken wire because we do have predators to be concerned about.
Here's what I have so far.
With a 2x8 brooder how are you going to catch the chicks when you want to? That’s going to be kind of awkward on the floor and that long and narrow. Maybe a net with a long handle?
Will that window over the brooder open? Will rain be able to blow in if the window is open?
How hard is it going to be to clean the droppings out of that sand/PDZ? Won’t those ladder roosts block access?
I’m not sure how high your top nests are but it look like the top ones may be higher than the middle roost? Since chickens like to sleep as high as they can and you only have 4’ length on that top roost there is a reasonable chance you might wind up with some chickens sleeping in the nests.
For 16 hens you only need 4 nests, not six. With outside access you will spend extra fabrication time and materials building nests and openings, plus you will need expensive hardware. I’d suggest only four nests.
Unless you have Silkies that can’t fly you really don’t need a ramp. To me that just takes up space. Instead I’d suggest a perch maybe 6” in front of the top nest for them to fly up to and get rid of that ramp.
What size diameter are those dowels you want to use for roosts? I’d suggest a minimum of 1-1/2”. That should give them enough room to grip and so the roost don’t sag from their weight.
The feed and water is right in your walkway through the coop. That will be an aggravation. In general, floor space is tight for you to work in there. With an 8x8 coop you should be able to get better access.
The doors look wide enough to get a wheelbarrow through, that is good. Do they open in or out? I’d suggest out so you don’t take up any more floor space.
My suggestion for 16 chickens would be to make your brooder 3x6 to give you better access to the inside and use the top of the brooder as your droppings board. Run the 3’ wide droppings board all 8’. Put two roosts the same height above the brooder and all the way across the coop. That should give you plenty of roost space for 16 chickens and it will all be above the nests. I’d also consider moving your doors all the way to the end of the wall instead of in the middle. I think that will give you better flow through the coop. The brooder does not need to be 4’ high. Mine is only 2’ tall but it’s elevated so I have better access to it. With yours on the coop floor I’d suggest 3’ high is plenty. As long as you don’t have Silkies that can’t fly your chickens should have no problems flying up to the top of the brooder and hopping on up to the roosts. Mine fly up five feet straight to the roosts.
Since you are putting a brooder in there I have questions on how you are going to handle integration. You need a lot more room to integrate, especially juveniles, than for a flock to live together after they are integrated. That should be plenty of room for 16 chickens in the coop and run as long as you have no more than one rooster, but it could start to get tight if you try to add more. You may run into problems with integration and number of chickens in the future.
