Roosting layout for kennel coop

[3KillerBs]

This is an old pic, pre hardware cloth upgrade. Plan was to install something back left to provide winter roosting. Temps go to around -5C at worst. Winds tend to come from left and back of the picture, so they're protected from brunt of it. They're allowed to roam the garden too.

That entire structure would make a good Open Air style coop with something solid across the bottom 2/3 to 3/4 of the windward end.

Your winter low temperatures seem to be much like mine and my birds did fabulously well even on the worst storms last winter (see here).

Unless you need it as a second layer of predator-proofing, chickens don't really *need* an enclosed coop for the night, especially in a mild climate. They just need to be dry and out of the wind.

 

[Shadrach]

This is an old pic, pre hardware cloth upgrade. Plan was to install something back left to provide winter roosting. Temps go to around -5C at worst. Winds tend to come from left and back of the picture, so they're protected from brunt of it. They're allowed to roam the garden too.

The coop in the picture is fine for 4 chickens. My only concern is will the structure be strong enough to cope with a strong wind. I see it is well sheltered on one side and has a fence while pallisade style will help break up the wind.
That chicken wire is now replaced with hardware cloth I believe?
Spend your money on making the run bigger.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

This is an old pic, pre hardware cloth upgrade. Plan was to install something back left to provide winter roosting. Temps go to around -5C at worst. Winds tend to come from left and back of the picture, so they're protected from brunt of it. They're allowed to roam the garden too.

This would have been invaluable in your first post to this thread, lol! You would have gotten much different feedback!

You had me thinking you were going to stuff 4 birds into 6.5 sq. ft. All of your additional info makes a world of difference!

 

[Arnie_101]

The coop in the picture is fine for 4 chickens. My only concern is will the structure be strong enough to cope with a strong wind. I see it is well sheltered on one side and has a fence while pallisade style will help break up the wind.
That chicken wire is now replaced with hardware cloth I believe?
Spend your money on making the run bigger.

It's secured at enough points to walls/the ground that it should withstand our local weather. It's often windy but never the extremes other places can see. The cloth went around as a second layer, rather than replacing, as it was easier to do. Still secured to the frame rather than the wire though, so it cannot be ripped away. Expanding could be hard as it hits a natural end point where the garage on the right stops though!

 

[Arnie_101]

This would have been invaluable in your first post to this thread, lol! You would have gotten much different feedback!

You had me thinking you were going to stuff 4 birds into 6.5 sq. ft. All of your additional info makes a world of difference!

Think everything I've seen has always made it seem like a secure building = coop and anything outside even if fenced = run. I was really struggling to put the 4 square feet area together with the 8/10 inches of roost space!

 

[3KillerBs]

Think everything I've seen has always made it seem like a secure building = coop and anything outside even if fenced = run. I was really struggling to put the 4 square feet area together with the 8/10 inches of roost space!

Yes, the enclosed building part is the 4 square feet part and the outside, fenced area -- which might be roofed but not walled -- is the run where the 10 square feet comes in.

Open Air setups, combining coop and run together -- which you *almost* have already -- are a little more confusing and flexible. It's nice to have the full 15 square feet in there if possible, but it's not *entirely* necessary -- especially if the birds go out to range or to use another run.

You may find that chickens have an entirely different idea of what constitutes a good roost in bad weather than we do. I figure that -- assuming that the setup is secure from predators -- as long as I've given them the option to sleep in a more sheltered area they can figure out how much weather they want to deal with.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Assume 2 bars would be maximum, and would be best to maybe do 8" from front and back with 14" between them? Potentially 12" off the floor?

We have 4 chickens at present- unsure if 2x 32" bars would enable future expansion to 6?

Others have addressed the space concerns and your photos have helped with that.

As far as the original roost specific question, 2 32" bars should be enough for 6 birds that all get along. My guess is if you're starting with 4 and add 2 later on, the 4 will stuff onto one roost and the new additions will have to start on the other one.

I would place the roosts no closer than 12" from a wall, and 14" between will possibly be adequate... if you can bump it to 16" it'd be even better. Keep in mind roosts should to be higher than nest boxes, so if the roost is 12" from the floor, your nests need to be at ground level to encourage the chickens to roost rather than sleep in the nests.