Rearranging Current Structure and Next Coop Build

[Ezana4CE]

I’ve been looking at some of your coops on here and there is a lot of variety. In another thread someone mentioned snake proofing my coop. It never occurred to me to do that. My hen house looks old-timey like my grandmother’s. In fact, I had an entirely different plan for my hen house when I tore the old one down to the frame and expanded it to make room for additional chickens. Below is a picture of the one I built about 13-14 years ago after clearing the vines out to use it again. I didn’t know what I was doing when I initially built this, but it held up until I let it go unused for a time. Termites eventually destroyed the wood. I had a handful of RIRs in there sharing 2-3 nesting boxes IIRC.

Before I finished expanding the hen house, my grandmother asked if I wanted her old nesting box since she is no longer able to raise chickens. Using a machete I hacked my way into her henhouse to take a look at it and figured I could use it. It’s got to be 40-50 years old. What I didn’t account for is the size of the box and how it would alter my plans for expansion. Initially I wanted nesting boxes on one side. And I wanted the chickens to roost along the back wall.

Don’t laugh too hard, I was never really good with making things using my hands. My dad got that gift, I think I took after his dad; we both did what we could. I don’t think I used a level on my first try. The new wood is obviously the expanded area. I also had to replace what rotted or was badly eaten by termites. I wanted to build it back further, but ran into a stump.

I tried to repurpose as much material as I could. I retrieved old tin from collapsed sheds that family members had rusting on the ground. I used broken telephone poles and thick limbs from snapped cedar trees recovered after storm cleanup. You can see the doors on the ground as I tried to figure out how to hang them. That took a couple of days. I bought a decent amount of wood and tin.

To shorten the story, I fit the nesting box in there and altered my plan on the fly. It takes up just about the entire rear wall of the hen house, but I put doors on the backside of the upper rear wall that I can open to collect eggs. I hardly use these doors, I usually just walk in the front door of hen house. The ten-hole nesting box is bulky, but of good quality. I only had to replaced some of the individually removable bottoms that had rusted through.

They used to be bunched up on their roosts, then I changed the orientation of one post on the left.

View after reorienting one roosting bar.

It’s not so crowded anymore as I’ve lost 6 pullets/hens since I started with this group.

After reviewing some of your setups, I’m wondering how I might at least rearrange what I have within this structure. Any suggestions?

As for the other structure, I’ll likely stick to some plans I drew up if I ever get around to building it. I saw a guy in the area selling some old ones I may take a look at. I also started expanded the fence to make space for other areas I intend to use for future projects. Maybe I’ll get around to finishing some of it this year. Anyhow, I’d like to read your thoughts.

 

[perkolator]

Looks like a great project! I like that you're reusing Grandma's old nest boxes.

The only suggestions I have currently might be to add a horizontal rail/bar in front of each nest box row, so the chickens can more easily get in/out of the boxes - I would just screw them into the wall 2x4s on either side.

Roost bars look like they're crowded due to not much linear space, and you may have poop issues due to wall proximity and being positioned directly over chickens on lower roost bars. Not sure the best solution for this, but perhaps instead of angled bars try just two long roosts going left/right across the whole coop, both at the same height up nice and high (less fighting). Don't know dimensions but looks like positioning them at the high side should leave plenty of room for them to jump down safely toward the nest boxes.

 

[Ezana4CE]

Looks like a great project! I like that you're reusing Grandma's old nest boxes.

The only suggestions I have currently might be to add a horizontal rail/bar in front of each nest box row, so the chickens can more easily get in/out of the boxes - I would just screw them into the wall 2x4s on either side.

Roost bars look like they're crowded due to not much linear space, and you may have poop issues due to wall proximity and being positioned directly over chickens on lower roost bars. Not sure the best solution for this, but perhaps instead of angled bars try just two long roosts going left/right across the whole coop, both at the same height up nice and high (less fighting). Don't know dimensions but looks like positioning them at the high side should leave plenty of room for them to jump down safely toward the nest boxes.

@perkolator Thanks for the suggestions. To go horizontal across the right wall means to place a roost on bar across the sliding door. What concerns me here is poop getting on top of the door or the part of the frame above the door. I’d contemplated finishing the interior walls. That would make Thais a little easier had I finished the walls with plywood. Since I already had a round with termites I decided not to. I also don’t want the structure to hold to much heat in the summer considering the outside is metal. Can you see a work around to this?

Initially I wanted to place a ladder across the back wall. I still need to place a plank or bar below the top row of nesting boxes. I was trying to g to measure to place a cedar branch across it yesterday but a hen in one of the boxes fussed me out, so I left her to her business. I left the bottoms out of a couple of boxes because they kept crapping in them. Currently it just falls through to the floor.

The current height is about 6’3” in the front and approx 4’8” in the rear.
I thought about something like this, but with the bar leveled. Again, the door is there and I’d have to move their waterer likely beneath the nesting box. I don’t like the idea of their waterer placed below the box.

 

[perkolator]

I just quickly drew up some ideas, but I don't know your dimensions or how that front wall is framed, etc. I'm leaning toward idea 1 and 3, as 2 has them jumping down the short direction into a wall. You can add anti-poop boards over the doorway/waterer, or add obstruction on top of the roost bar so nobody can perch over them. I wouldn't add wood walls, you'd want to make sure the cavity is 100% sealed from rodents taking residence there.