Requesting assistance to design the interior of my Coop!

[3KillerBs]

You are asking very sensible questions.

Not all of them have definite answers -- because there are many right ways to keep chickens -- but they are good questions.

Exactly! I need to measure my wheelbarrow to see how wide it is. Do you ever bring yours inside?

Yes, I have a huge coop, 16'x16' and I do bring the gorilla cart in sometimes. It depends on what I'm doing.

Great point. Can quickly grab the eggs. Are you supposed to change clothes when you go inside the coop?

Also, for 12 chickens, how many nesting boxes do I want and how high should I place them?

I'm not a very tidy person so I tend to get messy when working in the coop. Also, I work in food service so if I'm grabbing eggs before going to work you certainly don't want me inside the coop with the poop dust flying around and getting on my uniform.

I bought a nurse's scrub jacket to use as smock sometimes when I'm collecting eggs before cooking dinner at home or otherwise needing a quick cover over something that doesn't need to get shavings stuck to it. I also have a good pair of rubber muck boots.

As for nests,

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

Chickens are considerably less fussy about their nests than chicken keepers are.

I was thinking of keeping their food and water inside the run since it’s enclosed. That way, they sleep and lay eggs inside the coop and drink/eat outside of where they sleep/lay. What do you think about that idea?

That's a matter of personal opinion and convenience. I like to have food and water in the run myself, but in the big coop I have room for it and, since with a larger flock it's good to have multiple feed and water stations, I have them both in and out.

Also, what about setting up the inside? Do I want a table all the way around? Just a few nesting boxes, etc? Not sure how to design the inside.

My preference is to have the nests handy to the door and the roosts opposite. There are many possible layouts, all of which work.

I suggest you look at a bunch of coop pages and think about how you'd like or dislike working in the coops shown. Here are some links to get you started:

Medium Coops

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-barn-red-and-white-coop-complete-build-photos.75458/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop.74322/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/egg-song-music-factory.74019/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/perkolators-modern-chicken-estate-2019.75345/

Large Coops

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/alaskan-woods-coop.75752/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop.76267/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/post-and-beam-styled-coop-run.76181/reviews
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/le-palais-de-poulet-the-chicken-palace.67196/
https://countryliving.blog/2021/06/15/my-coop/

Shed Conversions

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-mulligan.74743/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-coop-page.65912/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-scoop-on-a-rubbermaid-big-max-coop.76444/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/toy-shed-conversion.64879/

Some people love to have a poop board, and they scoop the droppings every day, so their coop stays nice and clean and does not smell.

Some people prefer to have no poop board, and the droppings land in the deep bedding where the chickens scratch it all around and mix it up. More bedding is added at intervals, and every year or so the whole thing gets cleaned out. Done right, that coop doesn't smell either. This is the style I prefer.

As you see, there are many ways to manage litter. This is my article on Deep Bedding: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

If you like the Deep Bedding idea be sure to design human doors and pop doors so that the litter can pile up without spilling out.

As long as the coop does not stink and the chickens are healthy, any method you like is fine. But it is something to consider as you plan the inside of your coop.

Good advice here.

I forget the usual recommendations for spacing roosts, but the basic idea is that chickens should not bump their heads or tails on the wall, and should not peck chickens on other roosts. I'm thinking about a foot from the wall and about two feet between roosts, but I may be off a bit there.

Those are the numbers I remember too.

Wait, with deep bedding, you only have to clean it out once a year! Won't they be walking around in poop all the time?

In my smaller coop I might have to clean every 6-8 weeks. The giant coop with the active composting Deep Litter system should go along fine until I want the compost.

With Deep Bedding -- the dry system -- the poop gets mixed into the abundance of dry bedding, dries out so that it doesn't stink or grow bacteria, and is thus neutralized.

With the moist, actively-composting Deep Litter system the composting action neutralizes the poop.

How high do you recommend putting the roost? As far as the windows, what size do you recommend? Do you recommend buying them locally, or is there a website that allot of BYC users use?

Nests and roost can generally be placed for your own convenience. I put my nests at elbow height so I could gather eggs without bending because I have arthritis and have to think about that. I put my roosts at shoulder level so that I could easily take birds off the roost for exams, etc.

Here's one very simple way of setting a removable roost. The branch fits firmly against the sides of the coop:

Would I want the nesting boxes under the roost or on an opposite wall?

Sometimes people put the nests under the poop board to make their coop more space-efficient. I don't like bending under the roost to get to the nests myself. It's a matter of personal preference.

 

[Sally PB]

Some people love to have a poop board, and they scoop the droppings every day, so their coop stays nice and clean and does not smell.

That's me. No smell unless someone has dropped a fresh cecal poop. Or it's warm and I have the poop bucket open.

With Deep Bedding -- the dry system -- the poop gets mixed into the abundance of dry bedding, dries out so that it doesn't stink or grow bacteria, and is thus neutralized.

Some poop ends up in the bedding anyway, even with a poop board. Still no smell because it is all dried out. I clean out the coop once a year, then refill with a bale of pine shavings. I add a second bale when the first one is all spread out. The coop is about 47 sf for 6 chickens.

My coop door opens out into a covered run, so no snow issues with that. The run door opens out as well. I shoveled out about 3" of dirt outside the door, and laid pavers there, low enough that the door clears easily. The pavers give me a hard surface to shovel against when I need to clear out the snow.

 

[curlyp]

It depends on how deep you let it get, and how many chickens you have in how much space.

They scratch it around and the poop gets mixed in.
And you toss in more bedding whenever you think it's needed, or just when it's convenient.

So yes, it can sometimes go a year or more, but not everyone does it that way. It's one of those things that different people do in different ways.

If it smells bad, you need to either get the poop mixed in (toss some scratch grains to encourage the chickens to do it, or turn the worst area yourself with a pitchfork), or else add more bedding over the top, or else clean it out.

Makes sense. For the coop, I am going to have several inches to cover the floor.

For the run, I am going to install composite deck boards over the gravel, and install a 1x8 mud board all the way around to have about 8-10" of bedding. Main reason for composite is it will last much longer than deck boards and it maybe a one and done install for it.

Do you see any issues using deck composite boards for the run?

I use the pine shavings with low dust from Tractor supply. Is this good for the deep bedding or should I look into something else?

If you're bumping your head on the roof, it's time to clean it out.

Haha, that's one good way to know! I hope I don't have that much I am bumping my head!

Or you could divide off a 2-foot or 3-foot section. Two feet is wide enough for raising chicks, or for any one chicken that needs to be separated for some reason (broody, bully, sick, etc.)

Or make a right-angle divider that attaches to two walls, so the small place might be 2 or 3 feet square.

Good point! I am definitely going to mark them to keep this in mind. Maybe the next set of chicks I get, I can keep them in the coop sectioned off to raise.

At least 2 feet up (so chickens can walk underneath) but not higher than 6 feet (because of needing enough space for the chickens to fly down.)

I'd probably decide on the nest height first, then put the roost a little higher than the top of the nests.

Thank you. 6 feet is out of the question for my coop! The height of the walls are just above 6' 3"!

I'll figure out the nest height first, then work on the roost.

I would go with whatever is available locally, that isn't too expensive.
So if one size is cheap and a slightly larger or smaller size is expensive, go with the cheaper one

Sounds good. I called a few places and the aluminum windows seem to range from $75-$100

For broody hens, floor-level is good (but a cardboard box or wooden crate can be fine for a broody hen.)

Thank you.

For normal use, I prefer raised nestboxes for several reasons:
--they do not take up floor space
--deep bedding never blocks the entrance of the nestbox
--I don't have to bend over so far to reach the eggs

Great points! Looks like that would work for me as well. I'e had back surgery so the less bending over is better.

If the nestboxes extend outside the coop, I would go with any height that is convenient for you to collect the eggs.

If the nestboxes are inside the coop, I would make their bottoms at least 2 feet off the ground, so the chickens can easily use the space underneath. Or maybe 3 feet, if you intend to let the bedding pile up nice and deep.

Noted. Thank you!

You can use pretty much anything shaped like a U that hold the ends of the roost.

Thanks for the links, I will look at them and see what works best for the roost.

Chickens poop a lot while they sleep, so I would put the nestboxes on a different wall to keep them cleaner.

makes sense.

I use my chicken poop shoes only for the coop and run. I look for flat bottom soles for this. Then I in come and off they go at back door. With avian flu it's a good idea to have shoes that don't go to farm supply stores ( around new chicks , etc.) or in general public to make sure you don't bring any virus back to your flock.
I like the outside run to gather eggs( I wish I'd done that) . I am short so others can't stand in my run. They would have loved to have nest boxes access from outside run. .
I do like food and water outside coop in run idea.
Divided coop?
I started my new chicks in storage ( divided )area of my coop and I loved it. I gave it up to expand so I may regret in future. Even if it's a small corner wired off from rest but you have a big run so there's that.
Those are my limited suggestions as you have the "wise ones " chiming in here.

Very great points! I appreciate the advice. I will do the same so I minimize the trasnfer anything to and from the coop to store and vice versa.

You are asking very sensible questions.

Not all of them have definite answers -- because there are many right ways to keep chickens -- but they are good questions.

Thanks for the kind words. This is all new to me and I want to make sure I am doing the "right" thing to take care of them. Plus it shows my kids how to be responsible and care for them the correct way.

I'm not a very tidy person so I tend to get messy when working in the coop. Also, I work in food service so if I'm grabbing eggs before going to work you certainly don't want me inside the coop with the poop dust flying around and getting on my uniform.

haha Good point! Thanks for doing that!

I bought a nurse's scrub jacket to use as smock sometimes when I'm collecting eggs before cooking dinner at home or otherwise needing a quick cover over something that doesn't need to get shavings stuck to it. I also have a good pair of rubber muck boots.

Ohhh, that's a good idea. I wlll check out the local scrub store and see about picking up a couple. Something quick to slip over, go in, take care of the chickens, and come out.

I don't have a pair of muck boot, but they are on my list to get one!

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop (.37 square meters)
• 10 square feet in the run (.93 square meters),
• 1 linear foot of roost (.3 meters),
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot (.09 square meters) of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

Chickens are considerably less fussy about their nests than chicken keepers are.

Thank you very much!

You mentioned 1/4 of a nest box...does this mean two chickens will go into a nest box at once?

That's a matter of personal opinion and convenience. I like to have food and water in the run myself, but in the big coop I have room for it and, since with a larger flock it's good to have multiple feed and water stations, I have them both in and out.

Thank you. Maybe during the winter time, I can keep some inside the coop as well.

My preference is to have the nests handy to the door and the roosts opposite. There are many possible layouts, all of which work.

I suggest you look at a bunch of coop pages and think about how you'd like or dislike working in the coops shown. Here are some links to get you started:

Thanks for the links and I will check them out.

As you see, there are many ways to manage litter. This is my article on Deep Bedding: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

If you like the Deep Bedding idea be sure to design human doors and pop doors so that the litter can pile up without spilling out.

I will check it out. Thanks for putting it together.

In my smaller coop I might have to clean every 6-8 weeks. The giant coop with the active composting Deep Litter system should go along fine until I want the compost.

With Deep Bedding -- the dry system -- the poop gets mixed into the abundance of dry bedding, dries out so that it doesn't stink or grow bacteria, and is thus neutralized.

With the moist, actively-composting Deep Litter system the composting action neutralizes the poop.

Nests and roost can generally be placed for your own convenience. I put my nests at elbow height so I could gather eggs without bending because I have arthritis and have to think about that. I put my roosts at shoulder level so that I could easily take birds off the roost for exams, etc.

Here's one very simple way of setting a removable roost. The branch fits firmly against the sides of the coop:

I will do the same. As I mentioned to @NatJ I had back surgery and the less bending over is better.

Sometimes people put the nests under the poop board to make their coop more space-efficient. I don't like bending under the roost to get to the nests myself. It's a matter of personal preference.

I agree. I want to keep poop away from their nesting boxes.

Some poop ends up in the bedding anyway, even with a poop board. Still no smell because it is all dried out. I clean out the coop once a year, then refill with a bale of pine shavings. I add a second bale when the first one is all spread out. The coop is about 47 sf for 6 chickens.

My coop door opens out into a covered run, so no snow issues with that. The run door opens out as well. I shoveled out about 3" of dirt outside the door, and laid pavers there, low enough that the door clears easily. The pavers give me a hard surface to shovel against when I need to clear out the snow.

Do you find it difficult and /or tedious to clean out the poop daily?

 

[3KillerBs]

You mentioned 1/4 of a nest box...does this mean two chickens will go into a nest box at once?

Hens have been known to crowd in at the same time (and even to lay an egg on top of another hen), but generally they take turns.

They always want to lay in the same box -- it's part of their instincts. That's why we put fake eggs or golf balls into the nests to teach them that it's a safe place to lay.

 

[curlyp]

I forgot to ask, is there a typical height recommended for coop door or is that a personal preference?

 

[3KillerBs]

I forgot to ask, is there a typical height recommended for coop door or is that a personal preference?

What kind of door can you source?

I used old screen doors covered with hardware cloth for Neuchickenstein.

 

[NatJ]

For the run, I am going to install composite deck boards over the gravel, and install a 1x8 mud board all the way around to have about 8-10" of bedding. Main reason for composite is it will last much longer than deck boards and it maybe a one and done install for it.

Do you see any issues using deck composite boards for the run?

Most people just leave the ground exposed.

But I suppose the boards would be good protection against burrowing predators.

I don't know about composite vs. other materials.

I use the pine shavings with low dust from Tractor supply. Is this good for the deep bedding or should I look into something else?

That should work fine.

My own preference is for a mix of materials: dry leaves, pine needles, maybe a bit of shredded paper, carrot peels and apple cores, dried grass clippings, wood chips or shavings, a bit of hay or straw on occasion, etc. I have only bought bedding materials on very rare occasions, because there are so many things that can be chicken bedding once I got in the habit of looking for them.

The materials need to mostly be dry, but things like carrot peels and apple cores and even watermelon rinds will dry out eventually, if you don't add too many at once. I am more likely to put dry things in the coop and wet things in the run, but that's not a hard-and-fast rule. I've always treated "compost" and "chicken bedding" as a single category of things, that all get tossed into the coop or run. (There are a few genuinely toxic plants I will not offer to the chickens, but chickens are pretty good at choosing what to eat when offered a pile of stuff. I've never yet had a chicken get sick from kitchen scraps or weeds, and I've been doing this for several decades by now.)

Haha, that's one good way to know! I hope I don't have that much I am bumping my head!

It's mostly a matter of how much bedding you put in, and how often you like to clean it out.
Some people would be happy to pile it 4 feet high and remove it once every five years, while others would rather change it every few weeks and have much less material each time.

Thanks for the links, I will look at them and see what works best for the roost.

They're a bunch of links to the same thing, from different places. I sometimes have trouble with links, so I figured that would have a good chance of at least one working.

You mentioned 1/4 of a nest box...does this mean two chickens will go into a nest box at once?

Sometimes they will go in at the same time.
But it's usually more like people using bathrooms: you only need it for a certain amount of time each day, and someone else can use it when you don't need it.

1 nest for every 4 hens usually works out about right.

The main exception is if hens go broody. Then it's best to have one nest for each broody hen, plus at least one nest for the hens that are still laying. Most of the year, with most breeds of chickens, broodiness is not a big deal. There are many hens that never go broody, some that go broody only in the spring, and a few that seem to be broody almost constantly. Silkies are known for being very broody, but I've had some Old English Game Bantams that were pretty bad too. (They would lay a dozen eggs, go broody, hatch & raise the chicks, and start the cycle over again. NOT good if you want a lot of eggs!)

I forgot to ask, is there a typical height recommended for coop door or is that a personal preference?

Personal preference. I have a strong preference for not bumping my head on doors

The height of the walls are just above 6' 3"!

Then that's how high I would make the door: just under the top board of the walls.

If you had much taller walls, I would go with your own height, plus a few inches for boots and hat in winter, plus whatever depth of bedding you expect to be standing on. Or if there is someone taller in the family who might need to go into the coop, use their height instead of yours.

 

[Hermits Garden]

I second the poop deck idea. Full disclosure: I just got my first chicks, and they're only a week old, so I can't attest to the efficacy of the poop decks, but they're 3 ft from the ground, and have a roost about 10" above them. So lots of space underneath, and none of it will get nearly as poopy.

Here are pictures of my coop interior before any birds were in. The last photo shows a pen with its own pop door, to use for a broody hen & chicks, new purchased chicks, roosters who need time out, or for an injured bird.

Forgive the fingerpainting--I get a little crazy sometimes.

 

[aart]

But I suppose the boards would be good protection against burrowing predators.

Or provide shelter to them.

 

[curlyp]

What kind of door can you source?

I used old screen doors covered with hardware cloth for Neuchickenstein.

I planned on building my own barn door from wood. Do you knot recommend it? I can go to the hardware store and buy a new exterior door.