Please Criticize My Coop In Progress

[Happy hen lover]

Things that pop out to me.....

Doors that open inward can become blocked by shaving or worse crush a chicken when being opened. Yup I learned that chicken part the hard way.
I would look at ways to get that run lifted up so you can look at a swing OUT door.

Roost needs to have 1 linear foot per bird. I would make 2 roosts at 5' long that can be removed...lifted out.

Nests behind roosts tend to get droppings tracked onto them. There needs to be a lip on the nest box to keep nest material in.

I totally agree with the swing out door. I also thought about lifting the supports in the run , that would raise the height of roof. ? . Maybe with some wood on top of run panels, then attach supports of roof ( rafters if you will ) to the the boards on top of the run panels . You should definitely add hardware cloth to top . That might solve attachment of run to coop and ducking problem.
Or maybe put run on top of wood base or concrete pavers.? ( Might need some other experts to weigh in on this idea.)
I agree with the roost being way too small and not enough. 2x4s work great once they're bigger.
I would put all birds together at one time if all the same age. They pick on chicks littler than them. The pecking order is real and might as well let them establish that right away. In my opinion. It does look sturdy though . Have fun

 

[BleuSaphir]

I think it perfect for a small flock of chickens.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Thanks. You're going to keep me busy, which is a good thing. I can take care of the roosting bars right away. The roosting bars that are in it are small, round, and about the diameter of a broom handle. Two 5' bars across the coop ought to make it more comfortable for them.

I hope I didn't sound like I was beating up your coop. It's a nice coop! I like it. I mean that.

Roost bar placement tips....
12-14" away from the wall will help keep tails pretty and walls cleaner.
14+ inches between roosts will cut down on night time scuffles.
For every foot high they need 18" of hop down room. A roost at 1 foot up from the floor needs 18 inches of clear landing space in front of it. A roost 2 feet up needs 3 feet of of clear landing space. That may help determine how high to put your roosts.

One other thing I cannot see in the pics is roof overhang....in particular the back above the nest box bay. I see it does have an overhang. I just can't tell how big it is. If you don't have a BIG overhang it would be wise to add a rubber strip over the where the hinge and associated cut are. Wet nests attract mites. No one wants mites....no one.

OH....I had a thought about the opening inward door..... If you were to shorten the door by a foot it would be possible to have a board that drops into a slot in front and the door is above that 1 foot tall drop in.....I hope that is not confusing.

Think dutch door except the bottom section is really low and instead of swinging in with the upper section it lifts out.
Or better yet!! That bottom section is its own door and swings outward completely out of the way!

 

[Geckolady]

I hope I didn't sound like I was beating up your coop. It's a nice coop! I like it. I mean that.

Roost bar placement tips....
12-14" away from the wall will help keep tails pretty and walls cleaner.
14+ inches between roosts will cut down on night time scuffles.
For every foot high they need 18" of hop down room. A roost at 1 foot up from the floor needs 18 inches of clear landing space in front of it. A roost 2 feet up needs 3 feet of of clear landing space. That may help determine how high to put your roosts.

One other thing I cannot see in the pics is roof overhang....in particular the back above the nest box bay. I see it does have an overhang. I just can't tell how big it is. If you don't have a BIG overhang it would be wise to add a rubber strip over the where the hinge and associated cut are. Wet nests attract mites. No one wants mites....no one.

OH....I had a thought about the opening inward door..... If you were to shorten the door by a foot it would be possible to have a board that drops into a slot in front and the door is above that 1 foot tall drop in.....I hope that is not confusing.

Think dutch door except the bottom section is really low and instead of swinging in with the upper section it lifts out.
Or better yet!! That bottom section is its own door and swings outward completely out of the way!

LOL, don't worry, I asked for people to pick at it and tell me how to improve it. I'm going to have to start with the most urgent things first, since it needs to be put into use soon. The door is a security door, so it's easy to see through it and I'm not likely to strike a chicken, but having some sort of easy access for them at the bottom would be great. The perch is something I knew would have to be changed. There's a total of three feet of space on the two perches, which are pretty small for chicken feet. There's not much of an overhang on the roof over the nest boxes, but the top of the nest boxes that lifts up does overhang by about an inch on either side and a little more in the front.

The coop is going to take some tweaking, and I'm learning new construction skills in the process. I appreciate the input.

 

[CKfarm22]

Don't worry about hurting my feelings. I spent a few years teaching at a high school for troubled kids. I can take it, and would far rather you tell me something is a bad idea than lose a chicken to predators.

The main predators here are coyotes, fox, snakes, and hawks. A while back the neighbors saw a bobcat, which their grandkids named Bob, but Bob hasn't been seen or heard from in over a year.

The first picture is the inside of the coop with the door open. Should I add another perch? There are two small ones in the corners. View attachment 2802051

I spent the afternoon putting up the frame for the run. It's getting ready to storm, so I had to quit. The safety door is dirty, but it's just sand. It'll wash off easily. I got it off Craigslist for $25, and thought it would help increase the ventilation over the solid door that was on the coop. Someone I know built the coop for me. It's double walled, and sitting on a concrete slab. On the agenda is adding a deadbolt to the door, and straightening the run. The run also needs to be attached to the coop. Any ideas on how to do that? The run came with a heavy tarp to go over the top, but with the high winds out here, I'm not sure that would be sufficient. I'm thinking of covering the frame with chicken wire underneath the tarp to keep the hawks out and the chickens in in case it should come apart in the wind, and maintaining the tarp as best as I can. Since there is a gap between the top of the run and the top of the door, I plan to cover that gap with 1/4" hardware cloth. I'll have to duck going into the coop, but at least it should be safe.

View attachment 2802052

The coop measures 5' x 6' plus the nest boxes inside, and the run is 4' x 10' long.

I need to finish asap, because I need to move the Dorking pullets inside it so their grow-out area can be used by the Leghorn chicks. I need the brooder box that they're currently in, since I have eggs due to hatch on Sunday. Busy, busy.

Any other ideas for improvements? Here's the view from behind.

View attachment 2802063


Edited to add: There are long ventilation holes covered with 1/4" hardware cloth on the sides. You just can't see them in these pictures.

I’m just thinking about how you are going to clean the coop? With the door being inside the run, how are you planning on cleaning it out? Also, I would add some sort of latch or hook to keep the nesting box open when you plan on cleaning or collecting eggs. We used those I hooks from home depot with a little bit of chain to keep the lid open! With the perches, we used cut 2x4s because it was big enough for them to stand on! I would add a window of some sort so there is more ventilation and sun getting in! I agree with @21hens-incharge with having the door swing open onto the outside of the coop, but then you loose a little bit of run.

 

[21hens-incharge]

LOL, don't worry, I asked for people to pick at it and tell me how to improve it. I'm going to have to start with the most urgent things first, since it needs to be put into use soon. The door is a security door, so it's easy to see through it and I'm not likely to strike a chicken, but having some sort of easy access for them at the bottom would be great. The perch is something I knew would have to be changed. There's a total of three feet of space on the two perches, which are pretty small for chicken feet. There's not much of an overhang on the roof over the nest boxes, but the top of the nest boxes that lifts up does overhang by about an inch on either side and a little more in the front.

The coop is going to take some tweaking, and I'm learning new construction skills in the process. I appreciate the input.

The leak point I am looking at is on the top of the nest box where the hinges are. If you pour a glass of water directly on the hinges (like driving rain would do) then check inside you will know if it leaks.

If the solid door is really solid wood cutting a 1' high or even a bit more off the bottom it could be the chicken door into the run. If you make it slide up in tracks mounted on the door no run space is lost and it should be easy to avoid hitting a chicken with the track legs that come down. A fully removable piece the tracks would need mounted on the coop itself and the piece would need to be removed daily to act as a chicken door and to allow you into the coop with no obstruction/trip hazard.

Just throwing ideas out there.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Edited that last post to include this....

The leak point I am looking at is on the top of the nest box where the hinges are. If you pour a glass of water directly on the hinges (like driving rain would do) then check inside you will know if it leaks.

 

[Geckolady]

Edited that last post to include this....

The leak point I am looking at is on the top of the nest box where the hinges are. If you pour a glass of water directly on the hinges (like driving rain would do) then check inside you will know if it leaks.

OK, I know what you're talking about! Yes, there is a gap there. I can fix that easily. Thanks!

 

[3KillerBs]

It looks like you've got a good base to work with.

I plan to put 4 Dorkings in there to start with, then once they've established their presence there, add 4 Leghorns.

5x6 = 30 square feet. 30/4 = 7.5 so the coop is probably OK for 8 (though the guidelines are generally considered minimums).

The run, however, is WAY TOO SMALL -- only 40 square feet so only half the recommended 10 square feet per adult, standard-sized hen. I get away with having my coop a little crowded because I have a vastly-oversized run.

The run is also not predator-proof. Raccoons can reach through and grab chickens to pull them through the wire bit by bit. Rats and weasels can go right through. So you'll need to wrap at least the bottom portion in hardware cloth.

For 8 chickens you will need at least 8 feet of roosting space. Corner roosts appeal to human ideas of space saving, but they aren't very useful for chickens, who don't scrunch into corners very well. @21hens-incharge has given you good advice on that.

I'm concerned about the ventilation. I see the vent strip you mentioned, but your profile says you're in Arizona. I can tell you that I have 16 square feet of permanent, roof-level, ventilation in my Outdoor Brooder plus 10 feet of supplemental ventilation and I still had to put a shade pavilion over it to keep the temperature under 100F on a 93F day.

I'd suggest replacing the entire door with an outward opening screen door that you've covered in hardware cloth (I often see old screen doors at the Habitat ReStore). You may still need to open more vent area. Ideally, the temperature and humidity inside is the same as it is outside.

This is how I did the doors on my new coop:

If it were mine, I'd use heavy-duty fence staples to attach the run to the coop -- making sure to place them into solid structure. Alternately, that metal strapping with the multiple holes, attached with screws and washers so that they can't be ripped loose.

The leak point I am looking at is on the top of the nest box where the hinges are. If you pour a glass of water directly on the hinges (like driving rain would do) then check inside you will know if it leaks.

That's a great way to test the seal.

We ended up converting to front drop-down nest openings to completely eliminate leakage.

 

[21hens-incharge]

It looks like you've got a good base to work with.



5x6 = 30 square feet. 30/4 = 7.5 so the coop is probably OK for 8 (though the guidelines are generally considered minimums).

The run, however, is WAY TOO SMALL -- only 40 square feet so only half the recommended 10 square feet per adult, standard-sized hen. I get away with having my coop a little crowded because I have a vastly-oversized run.

The run is also not predator-proof. Raccoons can reach through and grab chickens to pull them through the wire bit by bit. Rats and weasels can go right through. So you'll need to wrap at least the bottom portion in hardware cloth.

For 8 chickens you will need at least 8 feet of roosting space. Corner roosts appeal to human ideas of space saving, but they aren't very useful for chickens, who don't scrunch into corners very well. @21hens-incharge has given you good advice on that.

I'm concerned about the ventilation. I see the vent strip you mentioned, but your profile says you're in Arizona. I can tell you that I have 16 square feet of permanent, roof-level, ventilation in my Outdoor Brooder plus 10 feet of supplemental ventilation and I still had to put a shade pavilion over it to keep the temperature under 100F on a 93F day.

View attachment 2802507

I'd suggest replacing the entire door with an outward opening screen door that you've covered in hardware cloth (I often see old screen doors at the Habitat ReStore). You may still need to open more vent area. Ideally, the temperature and humidity inside is the same as it is outside.

This is how I did the doors on my new coop:
View attachment 2802508

If it were mine, I'd use heavy-duty fence staples to attach the run to the coop -- making sure to place them into solid structure. Alternately, that metal strapping with the multiple holes, attached with screws and washers so that they can't be ripped loose.



That's a great way to test the seal.

We ended up converting to front drop-down nest openings to completely eliminate leakage.

The door they have looks to be a screened security door. Good point about Arizona and that insane heat.

New thoughts on the door.....which I know will be a bummer to change.

Upper 2/3rds a mesh/wire screen door with that bottom lift out or slide up run access door.