Should I build my first Coop?

[AGeese]

Those are super cool!

Probably the simplest to build next to a box is an A-frame. I didn't start with a plan and over complicated mine which set me back in time and money. Good luck!

 

[aart]

Probably the simplest to build next to a box is an A-frame.

Simple, but not conducive to good ventilation and weather protection.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Echoing the excellent advice from @3KillerBs and @Krugerrand , I suggest a hoop coop. Require few skills, quickly assembled, not NEARLY as price inflated as lumber right now (can barely build a 4x4x8 shed right now for $500), and if it turns out you hate chicken keeping, they are quite easily repurposed.

Here's a raised garden bed and arch I made one afternoon earleir this week for my wife and her climbing Valentines roses. 2x10x8 PT are $23/ea for me right now, the panels were $35 ea. 2x10x12 PT are $36/ea

So an 8' wide x 12' long hoop coop is going to run you about $100 in lumber, $10 in good deck screws (use 3 1/2" deck screws), almost $200 in cattle panels and hog rings, a tarp (not as cheap as they used to be), and hardware cloth. The HC is easy another $100). Your remaining $100 can go to nesting boxes, clutter, feeders, waterers, etc. That's plenty of space for your proposed flock size and some chicken math in addition. and if it doesn't work? 8x12 makes for a nice greenhouse...

 

[AGeese]

Simple, but not conducive to good ventilation and weather protection.

I think that's a matter of design options regardless as you've already pointed out. My A-frame is intended to stand up to high winds we get out here. I'll make sure it has the ventilation it needs.

 

[3KillerBs]

Probably the simplest to build next to a box is an A-frame. I didn't start with a plan and over complicated mine which set me back in time and money. Good luck!

A-frames are one of those concepts that *sound* good but which turn out to be horribly impractical in use.

Because of the slope you have to carry the roof all the way to the ground -- which screws up the ventilation mightily.

Because of the slope at the top you lose effective roost space.

Because of the slopes at the bottom you loose effective floor space (anything lower than what a chicken can walk around it doesn't count).

By the time you've made it big enough to compensate for the loss of space to the slope and figured out a way to add ventilation to the roof-walls you've probably spent as much in materials and time as you would have to build a more traditional structure that makes better use of the footprint allotted.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I think that's a matter of design options regardless as you've already pointed out. My A-frame is intended to stand up to high winds we get out here. I'll make sure it has the ventilation it needs.

A-frames are also the least resource efficient structures you can build. By far. Simple math.

 

[AGeese]

All dependent on chicken size, number of birds, your level of attention, and what you have on hand or willing to buy to adjust for it. I have big breeds, they're not high roosters they're fine low roosting already. That said, I realize some of these things both of you have brought up and I'm going to be using it instead for my geese because it will suit them better.

I have an old poultry house that's on it's last leg and we can get some pretty severe wind out here so that was my reasoning for going with it to begin with, not for cool factor. The wind rolls right off it unlike everything else out here that either snaps or blows away.

I accept any specific flaws and recommend people to account for them in their application, but if you need simple it's certainly quick to asemble. I don't think there's a coop out there you can just set and forget. That's simple math.

 

[aart]

That said, I realize some of these things both of you have brought up and I'm going to be using it instead for my geese because it will suit them better.

Yes, Aframes would work better for ground 'roosting' birds.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

All dependent on chicken size, number of birds, your level of attention, and what you have on hand or willing to buy to adjust for it. I have big breeds, they're not high roosters they're fine low roosting already. That said, I realize some of these things both of you have brought up and I'm going to be using it instead for my geese because it will suit them better.

I have an old poultry house that's on it's last leg and we can get some pretty severe wind out here so that was my reasoning for going with it to begin with, not for cool factor. The wind rolls right off it unlike everything else out here that either snaps or blows away.

I accept any specific flaws and recommend people to account for them in their application, but if you need simple it's certainly quick to asemble. I don't think there's a coop out there you can just set and forget. That's simple math.

A-frames are popular around me as shelters for individual chickens, or dogs, or goats, or whatever wants to hide in one during inclement weather on properties with no runs, "houses", or other secure shelters for their animals whatsoever. Usually nailed together from a pair of wooden pallets. They serve a purpose, yes - but its a rather different style of management than most of us practice with our flocks.

 

[3KillerBs]

A-frames are popular around me as shelters for individual chickens, or dogs, or goats, or whatever wants to hide in one during inclement weather on properties with no runs, "houses", or other secure shelters for their animals whatsoever. Usually nailed together from a pair of wooden pallets. They serve a purpose, yes - but its a rather different style of management than most of us practice with our flocks.

I have a few of that sort of thing in my setup as part of the "clutter".