Questioning now that my coop is too small....

[msmeg26]

I am very much in the planning phase and as I am using mainly salvaged materials I am taking an extreme amount of time to make sure nothing is wasted... To start I was planning a 6x6 coop with exterior mounted nesting boxes... Now as I am working to add in the roosts I am wondering if I have enough space??

I am reading to have the roost bar 24" off the back wall of sorts and that's not leaving a lot of space to stagger a 2nd bar without impeding on the structural supports needed for a run facing door (unless I go down to 1 vs 2) or impeding on the nesting boxes. Purple is the roost bar, shown about 22" from back wall and 12" off the coop floor.

From the run view, I obviously have tweaks to make on the framing structure if I shift everything to accommodate the roost bar.. Based on spacing and whatnot, I need a 2nd bar ideally to accommodate by soon to be 8 hens.

The doors facing the run were in theory to make cleaning under the roost bars easier... But now I am questioning my entire design...

Open to any recommendations on how I can address the roost bar issue at hand.
Thanks guys. You rock.

 

[DobieLover]

I am very much in the planning phase and as I am using mainly salvaged materials I am taking an extreme amount of time to make sure nothing is wasted... To start I was planning a 6x6 coop with exterior mounted nesting boxes... Now as I am working to add in the roosts I am wondering if I have enough space??

I am reading to have the roost bar 24" off the back wall of sorts and that's not leaving a lot of space to stagger a 2nd bar without impeding on the structural supports needed for a run facing door (unless I go down to 1 vs 2) or impeding on the nesting boxes. Purple is the roost bar, shown about 22" from back wall and 12" off the coop floor.

View attachment 1669184

From the run view, I obviously have tweaks to make on the framing structure if I shift everything to accommodate the roost bar.. Based on spacing and whatnot, I need a 2nd bar ideally to accommodate by soon to be 8 hens.

View attachment 1669188

The doors facing the run were in theory to make cleaning under the roost bars easier... But now I am questioning my entire design...

Open to any recommendations on how I can address the roost bar issue at hand.
Thanks guys. You rock.

I too am in the design stage of my new coop.
As long as you aren't housing very large breeds or roosters with elaborate tails you should be fine moving that roost closer to the wall. I will have mine positioned over poop boards with the roost (a 2x4 with 3.5" side horizontal) centered 15.5" from the sheathing.

 

[msmeg26]

I too am in the design stage of my new coop.
As long as you aren't housing very large breeds or roosters with elaborate tails you should be fine moving that roost closer to the wall. I will have mine positioned over poop boards with the roost (a 2x4 with 3.5" side horizontal) centered 15.5" from the sheathing.

I have one Jersey Giant in the mix, a polish, welsummer, etc.. So all full breeds vs bantams..

 

[DobieLover]

I have one Jersey Giant in the mix, a polish, welsummer, etc.. So all full breeds vs bantams..

But not huge. I'd still move the roost closer to the wall. Center the roost at 16" and see how the second one fits in.

 

[Eilsel]

Can you incorporate your run clean out door with your pop door location to give you more wall space? I also think 24" is a very generous amount of space from the wall, you can definitely go closer to give yourself a little more room. Some people say 12" but that's a little cramped to me... 16-18 is adequate, I think mine are at 16" because that's what my framing is set at. I have all full sized breeds and don't have any issues with them pooping on the walls. I even had a few young hens that insisted on roosting on a board that was only attached to the studs- so about 3" away from the wall- for several months! Also, not exactly sure if this is what you meant by staggered but I would recommend building both roosts the same height so one isn't way preferable to the other.

Here are my ideas:

1. You could build a removable support for the second roost that you can pull out when you're using the clean out doors. So when everything is closed, it blocks the door but when you open the doors you can pull it out to move it out of the way.
2. You could do both roosts 24" from the walls, pretty much one under each rafter it looks like, and then just have one 24" door between them.
3. Build the second roost free-standing from the ground instead of attached to the wall. For 8 birds 8' of roost is "recommended", if you make the second roost only 4' long that given you 10' of roost (plenty), gives chickens room to move around the end without having to go over/under, and doesn't effect your wall framing.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Are you still in planning or have you started building?

Clean out door.....bigger is better. A 6x6 will be very difficult to reach the far corners in without basically climbing in.

Roots and nests.....position so birds are not walking through droppings to get to nest. It will keep your eggs cleaner.
Make roosts removable for cleaning roosts and coop.

I am wondering if you have materials to make your walls higher? I am wondering since the roost 12" off the floor makes it very hard for birds to use the space under. In bad weather they may NEED that space.

My roosts are 16" apart and 18" off the back wall. I have Brahmas, Orpington and Australorp in that coop. No poopy walls or mangled feathers.


My personal preference is for a walk in coop. I am not stuck getting rained on when tending them that way.

I also have a 6x8 walk in coop. I have that roost along the back 6' wide section. I can go in, close the door and move around enough to tend them easily.

 

[msmeg26]

Are you still in planning or have you started building?

Clean out door.....bigger is better. A 6x6 will be very difficult to reach the far corners in without basically climbing in.

Roots and nests.....position so birds are not walking through droppings to get to nest. It will keep your eggs cleaner.
Make roosts removable for cleaning roosts and coop.

I am wondering if you have materials to make your walls higher? I am wondering since the roost 12" off the floor makes it very hard for birds to use the space under. In bad weather they may NEED that space.

My roosts are 16" apart and 18" off the back wall. I have Brahmas, Orpington and Australorp in that coop. No poopy walls or mangled feathers.


My personal preference is for a walk in coop. I am not stuck getting rained on when tending them that way.

I also have a 6x8 walk in coop. I have that roost along the back 6' wide section. I can go in, close the door and move around enough to tend them easily.

I also have this front access with a door. So I can essentially access from at least 2 sides.

Walls are going to be 4-5ft height.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Good that you have 2 access points. Your side walls are tall enough that you can move the roosts up to the 24" height.

Another thing ..... My roost is 6' long and has 3 giant cochins, 2 bantam cochins and a barnevelder with room to spare. Maybe try it with one roost and add a second only if needed down to he road?

 

[rosemarythyme]

24" is very generous in spacing away from the wall. I'd say 16"-18" should be plenty. I think mine's maybe 14" which is a bit closer than I'd like, now that I've lived with it a while, only because of poop splashes on the wall, but it's not too terrible.

 

[aart]

My roosts are 12" away from wall, fine for everyone except roosters tail feathers get a bit messed up..not really an issue as he's not a show bird.

Think I mentioned on another of your threads that 6x6 is going to be tough to reach without walking in.