I am *only* asking for opinions on the LAYOUT of the roost bars, etc. as far as space goes. I am *not* looking for comments on sqft/bird, or doing structural changes.
OK. I'm taking the plunge into poop boards, AND re-doing my coop interior in the process (roost bars, better location for food/water, and building a roll-out nest box)
Coop specs: in a shed, coop area is 8x10. 8ft walls.
Layout orientation: Human entry into the coop is on at "10" side, and the pop door is directly opposite it. Pop door faces west (not ideal, not able to be changed, so don't bring it up). One south-facing window, and one window above the pop door.
Coop contents: I house a maximum of 20 birds in the coop in the winter, and they are locked in because of how much snow we get my unwillingness to shovel when I know it'll just drift back up in an hour. I have not had "bad behavior" issues with this number.
If I set up the roost bars in the version where they are on the left, I would only have 16ft of roost bar, and that's not enough. If I added a 3rd bar (the "wall" bar being higher than the other), I am concerned that my poop board will have to be too wide to easily clean. With this location I would also have the poop board going across the window about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom (of the window.) On the plus side, I would only have to buy 8ft lumber, and rip a sheet of plywood down for the poop board.
In version "2" where the roost bars are running left to right in the picture, I would have [likely] enough roost space. I would NOT be framing across a window. Cons are that I would have to buy 10ft lumber and piece together the poop board. I was also considering putting the feeder and waterer under the poop board, but if I located them under it with the roost bars here I am carrying everything further to refill them.
I'm not crazy about putting in an L shaped roost system, but it's not off the table.
OK. I'm taking the plunge into poop boards, AND re-doing my coop interior in the process (roost bars, better location for food/water, and building a roll-out nest box)
Coop specs: in a shed, coop area is 8x10. 8ft walls.
Layout orientation: Human entry into the coop is on at "10" side, and the pop door is directly opposite it. Pop door faces west (not ideal, not able to be changed, so don't bring it up). One south-facing window, and one window above the pop door.
Coop contents: I house a maximum of 20 birds in the coop in the winter, and they are locked in because of how much snow we get my unwillingness to shovel when I know it'll just drift back up in an hour. I have not had "bad behavior" issues with this number.
If I set up the roost bars in the version where they are on the left, I would only have 16ft of roost bar, and that's not enough. If I added a 3rd bar (the "wall" bar being higher than the other), I am concerned that my poop board will have to be too wide to easily clean. With this location I would also have the poop board going across the window about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom (of the window.) On the plus side, I would only have to buy 8ft lumber, and rip a sheet of plywood down for the poop board.
In version "2" where the roost bars are running left to right in the picture, I would have [likely] enough roost space. I would NOT be framing across a window. Cons are that I would have to buy 10ft lumber and piece together the poop board. I was also considering putting the feeder and waterer under the poop board, but if I located them under it with the roost bars here I am carrying everything further to refill them.
I'm not crazy about putting in an L shaped roost system, but it's not off the table.
