RAIN & Chickens: beginners build a coop & need your help

[AtholCoop]

Quote:
If you look through my small coop tutorial you'll see how I build my exterior nestboxes.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=16357-small-coop-tutorial

About halfway down. Haven't had one leak yet.

 

[humboldtpeeps]

I too have been a little curious about the strong opinions in regards to using cedar. I'm new to all of this and have no expertise or opinion either way.

I'd like the coop to last. in the end- with the need for something that would hold up, the really strong opinions against, and the price of cedar here, we decided just to do the pressure treated wood on the bottom of the run/coop.
so from our end of it at least, the debate has been solved

We are having a lot of fun - being new to all of this, I am so impressed by all the creative coops out there and have been making lots of friends around town- just say chickens and everyone perks up! its great.

We chose a gabled roof because a friend gave me some really pretty green metal roofing and we wanted to show it off

Goofy, but hey.
I agree- it will be harder... and Ill be honest i am intimidated! I think the end result will be worth it and of course -the roof will be a group effort.
We get TONS of wind here coming off of the ocean-which is another reason why we were hesitant to do the shed style roof on the garden coop. Like CathyM I have had bad experiences with the wind catching roofs and ripping it right off. Yesterday we had 50 mph gusts!
we are a little bit limited by our budget, we are using 'upcycling' reusing lots of lumber, windows etc.. and our roofing supplies necessitate a 5' x 10' coop/run combo. we can go taller but cant really do much more in the way of dimensions.
So lets see- our idea for the coop is a mixture of a bunch of great ones I have seen on the internet, on this forum and the garden coop.
We really like chickerdoodle's coop- https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=39619
and are using it for ideas for ventilation, ease of cleaning and external nest boxes- plus, its purty

Nest boxes! I hadn't thought of putting their access into the run, that is something to think about. We had a vision of using an external nest box, with the ease and convenience of sprinting out to the coop & collecting eggs in a highly efficient manner with minimal fuss. Originally I had thought to have a lift up top on the external nest box, but that could let lots of rain in, and now i'm thinking a more water tight option would be to have the front panel of the nest box open out on a hinge- easier to clean and dry i'm thinking.
or maybe we will just tuck them into the run side of the coop like you suggested patandchickens... it would be much drier, for them and us! Im liking this!

5 chickens = 1 or 2 nest boxes?
If we did two nest boxes, one stacked on top of the other- would this be basically the same to the chickens as two horizontal side by side boxes? will they get up into that top one? our roosts will probably about mid level of the upper nest box, at something like high~18"... i bet they will sleep in the top nest box if we did that...?
ahhh, so much to think about!

 

[fargosmom]

My entire coop and run is built of cedar. No problems, it looks great, is weathering nicely and was easy to work with.

 

[annaraven]

Quote:
They'd probably sleep in the top one. Definitely consider that, if it's raining outside, it's a lot nicer getting eggs out of a nesting box that's under a cover of some sort. I think I've read 1 box for every 3 or 4 chickens. With 5, you might as well do two nesting boxes, for the additional chickens you'll be getting. (And watch out for chicken math!)

 

[Holyhabanero]

Quote:
If you look through my small coop tutorial you'll see how I build my exterior nestboxes.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=16357-small-coop-tutorial

About halfway down. Haven't had one leak yet.

Thanks for that tutorial. That was awesome! I'm making my exterior nest boxes this week, and I wasn't sure how to go about making them, but now I know exactly what I'm going to do.

 

[momsflock]

Nest boxes: sometimes they get leaked onto, or pooped in. Just make preparations to clean regularly. I use small cat carriers for nest boxes, which my girls love. Lots of space when more than one wants to lay at the same time. And that often happens.



I love this idea! This is the first time I read to do this! Dod the hens give you trouble or feel disturbed when you go into the cat carriers for the eggs?

 

[Yay Chicks!]

I'm from rainy Oregon and have an "all-in-one" coop, run. I agree with everyone that says, "Go bigger." Next, cedar is fine for the coop. By the time you built the coop and they are out there, the wood will have off-gassed. My coop is plywood with cedar covering that and cedar strip covering where the boards meet. Wait, I'll attach a picture. Use that black siding/roofing paper stuff. Mine is very, very dry. I use pine shavings for bedding in the coop and clean the poop board daily, scoop any big clumps of poo and add DE to keep things dried out. In the run, I frequently add dried leaves that I've collected in the fall. They pulverize these and just keep composting for me. Keep things dry keeps things smelling sweet. I love my coop/run, but if I had it to do again, I'd go BIGGER!

Edited to say that the nest box is attached to the outside of the coop within the run, so no rain ever hits it.

 

[momsflock]

Yay Chicks! :

I'm from rainy Oregon and have an "all-in-one" coop, run. I agree with everyone that says, "Go bigger." Next, cedar is fine for the coop. By the time you built the coop and they are out there, the wood will have off-gassed. My coop is plywood with cedar covering that and cedar strip covering where the boards meet. Wait, I'll attach a picture. Use that black siding/roofing paper stuff. Mine is very, very dry. I use pine shavings for bedding in the coop and clean the poop board daily, scoop any big clumps of poo and add DE to keep things dried out. In the run, I frequently add dried leaves that I've collected in the fall. They pulverize these and just keep composting for me. Keep things dry keeps things smelling sweet. I love my coop/run, but if I had it to do again, I'd go BIGGER!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/54340_img_0302.jpg

How big is your coop? YOurs is exactly what I am looking to convert and old dog house: 33" wide, 43" long, 33" tall. I would like to place 4 chickens in it. ( I have a post in this section too. ) Thanks

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Quote:
How big is your coop? YOurs is exactly what I am looking to convert and old dog house: 33" wide, 43" long, 33" tall. I would like to place 4 chickens in it. ( I have a post in this section too. ) Thanks

The run is 5' X 10', the coop is about 5 X not quite 3', not counting the nest box. I have 4 birds. I would have gone bigger. I got this coop idea from the coop designs section. If you hunt through there, you can probably find it. Because the coop is so small I had trouble with roost design and placement. But overall, I really like the result.

 

[humboldtpeeps]

Thanks annaraven, Ive decided to scratch the idea of two stacked nest boxes, and instead go with two horizontal ones just to eliminate the potential for the upper nestbox being at the same height as the roost and thus becoming a chicken sleep area.

I think we will put the external nest boxes and access inside the run. The more i think about it the more i like the idea

In fact, now i'm planning on making a storage area on top of the external nest boxes that we can store scratch, egg basket, towels or other misc items in

Yay Chicks! I'm really glad to hear about your coop and run are staying dry in forest grove oregon. I think I will follow your example and use the roof paper as well just to give it that extra layer of protection.
Your coop is the same dimensions as our future coop, 3' x 5' though perhaps your coop is taller- how high is the run under your coop? You wish you had made it bigger- do you feel that a 4' x5' coop with external nest boxes in the run would have been better though it limits the amount of space for the humans in the run to ~ 5'x5' space?