Hi all,
I've currently got 5 hens, am planning to build a new shelter for them, and to accommodate a possible (modest) increase in number. I'm open to suggestions on design and layout from those more experienced than I.
For a large flock, the traditional walk-in type coop makes sense, but for a small (<10) home flock, I'm thinking that's less practical, but I still want to be able to access the entire interior, only from outside.
Is there anywhere a guide to sizes of the various components of a chicken house? I'm thinking of things like spacing of roosting poles, square footage needed, and ideal heights and other measurements. Nesting box dimension recommendations seem especially varied. I've seen everything from 10” cube through 16” cube (also a recommended height of just 9”). Based on my limited experience, I tend to favor nesting boxes that are deeper (meaning, horizontal depth) than they are wide, and with a little extra height to make room for bedding. I've also been making the entrances wider at the bottom than the top (i.e., a rounded triangle shape). BTW, chickens seem to like the nesting and brooding boxes I've made out of cardboard boxes at least as much as the built-in ones in the tractor
I am unsure whether it would be best to have a raised finished floor, or have the house rest directly on the ground (so that the coop can be moved instead of cleaning the bottom), or to have a floored coop above a mini-run.
Here is a list of features I'd like to have in a chicken house. (ordered by priority -- maybe I'm asking too much):
Portability – it should be possible to move it around as needed. (In some jurisdictions, portability also means no building permit is needed.
Access to nesting boxes from outside for cleaning and collecting eggs..
Access to floors and roosts for cleaning, and also for catching birds if needed.
Built-in feeders and waterers that can be filled from outside and also removed for cleaning.
Adequate and adjustable ventilation.
Windows for light inside, except near nesting boxes.
Peepholes or windows to see inside, especially whether nesting boxes have birds or eggs in them.
Insulation -- not so much for warmth as to prevent dampness and condensation.
A way for the chickens to get on the roof
I'm interested also in knowing what features others would like or have found useful.
I currently have two A-frame type tractors that I built 3 years ago before I had experience with chickens. For a number of reasons,, I do not recommend A-frame tractors. If I were doing this again, I would build something similar, but "house-shaped", with a sloped roof above vertical sides. The main problems are:
The geometry of the shape puts lots on constraints on design..
It is complicated to make a weather-proof lid or doorway in the sloped sides, and using openings in the sides involves inconveniently leaning inwards.
The sides of my tractors are covered with hardware cloth with polyethylene sheeting over. In the winter, snow blocks the light and needs to be brushed off. Snow also piles up at the angle between the sides and the ground. This would be less of a problem if the sides were straight.
The other problem I've found with chicken tractors is making them light enough to move while still having everything the flock needs. Maybe a solution would be to have two separate tractors that can be joined, one for housing and nesting, and another serving as the daytime enclosure when they are not free-ranging. (I free-range my birds most of the time, except when I'm away and someone else is taking care of them, or when it is very snowy.)
One book (Gene Logsdon 1985. Practical Skills / A revival of forgotten crafts techniques and traditions) suggested a walk-in coop partitioned into two rooms with separate doors to the outside and a door between, one room for grown chickens and the other for young ones. That's for several dozen chickens. I did something similar by making two tractors of different sizes. The smaller one has proven very useful, not just for raising chicks, but also when a chicken "hospital" (or even "jail") is needed, so I'll still keep it even if I build a new main coop.
Poppy
I've currently got 5 hens, am planning to build a new shelter for them, and to accommodate a possible (modest) increase in number. I'm open to suggestions on design and layout from those more experienced than I.
For a large flock, the traditional walk-in type coop makes sense, but for a small (<10) home flock, I'm thinking that's less practical, but I still want to be able to access the entire interior, only from outside.
Is there anywhere a guide to sizes of the various components of a chicken house? I'm thinking of things like spacing of roosting poles, square footage needed, and ideal heights and other measurements. Nesting box dimension recommendations seem especially varied. I've seen everything from 10” cube through 16” cube (also a recommended height of just 9”). Based on my limited experience, I tend to favor nesting boxes that are deeper (meaning, horizontal depth) than they are wide, and with a little extra height to make room for bedding. I've also been making the entrances wider at the bottom than the top (i.e., a rounded triangle shape). BTW, chickens seem to like the nesting and brooding boxes I've made out of cardboard boxes at least as much as the built-in ones in the tractor
I am unsure whether it would be best to have a raised finished floor, or have the house rest directly on the ground (so that the coop can be moved instead of cleaning the bottom), or to have a floored coop above a mini-run.
Here is a list of features I'd like to have in a chicken house. (ordered by priority -- maybe I'm asking too much):
Portability – it should be possible to move it around as needed. (In some jurisdictions, portability also means no building permit is needed.
Access to nesting boxes from outside for cleaning and collecting eggs..
Access to floors and roosts for cleaning, and also for catching birds if needed.
Built-in feeders and waterers that can be filled from outside and also removed for cleaning.
Adequate and adjustable ventilation.
Windows for light inside, except near nesting boxes.
Peepholes or windows to see inside, especially whether nesting boxes have birds or eggs in them.
Insulation -- not so much for warmth as to prevent dampness and condensation.
A way for the chickens to get on the roof
I'm interested also in knowing what features others would like or have found useful.
I currently have two A-frame type tractors that I built 3 years ago before I had experience with chickens. For a number of reasons,, I do not recommend A-frame tractors. If I were doing this again, I would build something similar, but "house-shaped", with a sloped roof above vertical sides. The main problems are:
The geometry of the shape puts lots on constraints on design..
It is complicated to make a weather-proof lid or doorway in the sloped sides, and using openings in the sides involves inconveniently leaning inwards.
The sides of my tractors are covered with hardware cloth with polyethylene sheeting over. In the winter, snow blocks the light and needs to be brushed off. Snow also piles up at the angle between the sides and the ground. This would be less of a problem if the sides were straight.
The other problem I've found with chicken tractors is making them light enough to move while still having everything the flock needs. Maybe a solution would be to have two separate tractors that can be joined, one for housing and nesting, and another serving as the daytime enclosure when they are not free-ranging. (I free-range my birds most of the time, except when I'm away and someone else is taking care of them, or when it is very snowy.)
One book (Gene Logsdon 1985. Practical Skills / A revival of forgotten crafts techniques and traditions) suggested a walk-in coop partitioned into two rooms with separate doors to the outside and a door between, one room for grown chickens and the other for young ones. That's for several dozen chickens. I did something similar by making two tractors of different sizes. The smaller one has proven very useful, not just for raising chicks, but also when a chicken "hospital" (or even "jail") is needed, so I'll still keep it even if I build a new main coop.
Poppy
?
