Please Critique the Plans for My First Coop -- Specific Questions Added

[3KillerBs]

Thank you all. Your help is invaluable -- all the book knowledge in the world can't compare to real-world experience.

Raising the run height to 6 feet to allow human access would approximately double the cost of the lumber and wire, which would be a problem for us. I know many people have good luck with finding cull lumber -- my late brother-in-law was amazing about it. But the Lowes here is much stricter about what they cull -- if its cull its essentially unusable. We've never found a single 2x4 in the cull pile that we'd willing to use for anything we actually intended to stand up straight. So all lumber has to be purchased full price except for possibly getting short boards off pallets.

I will add an access panel in the middle of the yard-side of the run so we can get in with a rake.

I put in the top access panel for the food and water on the assumption that chickens would try to get out a side door any time you opened it. Am I wrong about that?

I'll think about some form of awning for the vents. Blowing rain is rare here except for hot weather thunderstorms and the occasional tropical storm. Is it worse to have a little rain blow into the coop or to have the coop shut up with covers over the vents in 90+ degree weather? The backyard is rather sheltered by large trees and the two houses -- I rarely have to shut the windows on that side of the house to keep rain out.

 

[cosbackyard]

I feel your pain with the cull lumber. I am terrible at finding salvage. Our local habitat restore doesn't have framing lumber or siding or much of anything useful unfortunately. Craigslist hasn't been a big help either. Hate to use fresh wood for my build but that's what I'm doing.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I am just starting to build my coop/run and I'm also planning on doing a short run. I figure 4ft hw cloth with 1.5ft in ground would leave me 2.5ft tall run area. I'm planning on some of the run cover being solid panels and some fencing so that they can have shade and sun if they want it.

I was worried about cleaning access so my thoughts are to make the run top out of removable panels. the run will be 8ft wide so I plan on making 8x4ft panels to cover the run. If I just need to get in to a single spot I can just flip one panel over onto the next panel and if I'm doing a big cleaning job I'll just remove a bunch of the panels and do the cleaning the replace them over the run. Depending on the weight of the panels I'm not expecting to even have to secure them to the run, they should just stay in place on their own(unless the solid panels want to take flight on a windy day).

These are my thoughts anyway, right now I just have some stakes and holes in the ground.

 

[3KillerBs]

I'd secure the panels somehow -- even if only to tie them in place with a twist of wire.

Knowing how cleverly cats can get into kitchen cupboards and how hard it is to keep raccoons out of garbage cans I'd be concerned that panels held by gravity along could be shifted open just by pushing on them.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

I'd secure the panels somehow -- even if only to tie them in place with a twist of wire.

Knowing how cleverly cats can get into kitchen cupboards and how hard it is to keep raccoons out of garbage cans I'd be concerned that panels held by gravity along could be shifted open just by pushing on them.

Yes, I am keeping my options open in respect to the removable panel tops. I'm thinking of blocks mounted to the run frame that will keep the top panels from shifting or being able to be shifted. I can also use these blocks as a place to secure the panels with screws if required, I figure I won't be going in there that much so if I have to get out the screw gun a couple times a year to get in there that's ok.

 

[jimmywalt]

You could use these safety hook and eye to keep the panels on. They are $.98 at Menards. I'm planning on using some of these in my build.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

I got lucky with lumber when I stumbled on to a sawmill in our region. Found him on Craigslist. It is a small operation and the guy had a shed of one inch thick oak boards that had been sitting around for a while. He let us have them for a song as compared to what even plywood would have cost. It will become the walls of the coop we're building.

You might want to check the internet and Craigslist for a sawmill in your area. Even if you have to transport it a distance, the savings and the difference in the quality of the wood might be worth it.

 

[4 the Birds]

If you have an ample roof overhang then you may be able to get away with not having storm flaps for your vents. In my area the storm flaps are essential! It can rain sideways and blowing snow would pile up deep in the coop! I spent a lot of time Yesterday just shoveling the snow out of the run. No way would I want snow or rain in the coop.

 

[3KillerBs]

Snow is almost never an issue here. In the 6.5 years we've lived here we've had snow once a year on average with one year having snow twice and another having no snow at all. I think the heaviest fall I've seen was 3 inches and the longest it lasted was 2 days. The very worst year we had a few days of single-digit lows in the same week and the top couple inches of the ground actually froze. The cabbages and collards in the garden survived.

The weather that worries me most is humid heat -- we regularly get 8-12 weeks of high 90's to 100+ daytime temps with nighttime lows in the mid to upper 80's.

 

[4 the Birds]

Unfortunately we get the worst of the weather extremes here in the Midwest. Summer days can be over 100 and Winter days can be below 0 degrees. If you were to make your run roof as high as your coop then it would serve as an awning. The below picture shows a three sided area in my coop that is protected from the run roof. It is open downwind (East) from 95% of the storm direction (West). This provides a lot of shade and open ventilation. Flaps can be opened on the West side for air flow. You would be amazed how easy and cheap it is to build a simple three sided walk-in. You could even use wood pallets for the floor.