- Sep 17, 2014
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If you won't stop at 22, are you SURE you will stop at 30?
In any case, as Ken said, I would go with something that is a building (*) that is EASY maintenance. The more chickens you have, I think the more space per bird you really need so they don't go nuts on each other when they are confined. 2 sq ft is NOT 2 ft sq and a large fowl will occupy a square foot just standing around. Think of a checker board with every other square occupied. Not a lot of space to "hang out". Less space is OK if they are NEVER confined to the coop other than when sleeping at night.
Well ventilated with lots of windows and just high enough off the ground to be sure you won't have water problems. You can put your location in your profile so we know if there is need to plan for some amount of snow as well. That would require a bit more elevation. With that many birds you want to be able to walk into the "coop" and rake around the deep litter ('cause I am SURE you don't want to scrape 30 chickens worth of poop off a board every morning). With that in mind, put a removable 1x6 in front of the people door, you need the board to keep the litter in but if you want to change the litter, it can be raked out rather than having to be lifted out.
Plan the roosts (2x4 on the flat or 3" round fence rails) along the back wall. You need minimum 1' per bird. If you run 2 parallel (18" apart so they can't peck at each other with the one closest to the wall no closer than 12" so they don't run their heads or tails into the wall) and at the same height, you shouldn't have a "you can't come up here with us" pecking order problem, everyone can roost high. It also gives you a place to put the wire "broody buster" box up off the ground. Make the roosts easy to remove because if you don't you just KNOW there will be a time when you wish you had
Nipple waterers in a PVC pipe along an inside wall with a 5 gallon source container on the outside of the wall. EASY to fill and no carrying water into the coop. I have an old 4' galvanized feed trough (came with the barn) under mine to catch drips. 3 birds per nipple is the suggestion, put a screw cap or drain cock on the end in case you ever need to clean the pipe. To that end, enclose the 5 gallon container in a wood box (ventilated if you live where it is hot) to keep ALL sun off of it. You shouldn't have any algae problems if it never sees the light of day and won't likely have any need to clean the pipe or the water source. Also, put a shutoff between the water source and the pipe in case any of the nipples fail. Still don't know why but I had 3 of 5 draining out the night before Thanksgiving 2 years ago.
You can find many plans for feeders here on BYC. The easiest to fill are PVC tubes with the vertical part outside the coop. But if you have a coop big enough to walk in to, filling any feeder isn't a problem. Like Sylvester, you might want to check into treadle feeders. I know I am feeding more wild animals than chickens in the summer when the girls spend most of their day foraging or hanging out under the deck or a bush. There are always several wild birds in the coop when I go down during the day not to mention chipmunks, the groundhog (last year, don't know if we will have one again this year) so I'm leaning toward treadles as well, soon as I get time to make one or two. The kind Sylvester got look really nice but are out of my price range. Plus, there are plans all over the place and I have the woodworking tools and WAY more than enough old wood to make my own for free other than hardware.
* never really thought of "coop" and "building" as distinctly different but yeah, I can see that.
How big will the run be? You might need to cover it with avian netting. Most chickens can clear 4' with ease, 6' will likely be a barrier for some heavy breeds. Some chickens can clear 8'.
Looks kinda heavy. Use big pneumatic wheels. You might need to find the balance point and mount an axle about that point so you don't need to lift much weight. Your profile doesn't list your location. If you are in a hot area, it might be worth making some sort of hinged or easily removable screen for the front so you can leave the access doors open in good weather.
50# of feed fits nicely in a 10 gallon can and they are a lot smaller than I would have guessed. I got some at Aubuchon that have a bail handle that locks the lid down. Not "no animal can open it" lock down but it keeps out the mice ... as long as "someone" remembers to put the lid on EVERY time it is opened.
Since there is that thing called "Chicken math" perhaps you might consider making external nest boxes to gain space inside. You can frame them up and put plywood on the sides, bottom and top (hinged to open for collection but make sure there isn't any way for rain to get inside) and screw the framing of the open back to the outside of the coop. Cut access holes in the coop wall from the inside. Maybe an "accessory shed" (attached to the back, out of sight) to store the feed and other "stuff"?? I'd just hate to lose the inside space for the chickens, especially if they will have to spend "non roosting" time in it. The more room the better!
Chicken feet aren't really designed to grip while sleeping like songbird feet are. I suggest you change those roosts to 2x4 on the flat unless you have bantams.
I will make my run about 25 ft by 35 ft. Is that enough? And I have an old garden shed that I could use. It is about 8 ft long, 5 ft wide, and 10 ft tall? Will this be good for the hen house? Also, I live in south Arizona so snow wont be a problem but rain might because we hve a big monsoons!
