simple coop design questions...

[ginger c.]

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Roll Tide! (Or are you one of those other peps?

) We're in N. AL too. In Decatur. How 'bout you?

 

[patandchickens]

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Can I suggest that you just don't DO the floor-hole thing. As you say, it takes away quite-unnecessarily from your already very limited indoor floorspace, while not actually adding anything and tending to make you lose a lot of bedding onto the ground. Make the door thru the WALL (preferably up above the coop floor a little, to help keep bedding in) works a big lot better.

i often have found it odd that volume isnt really referenced often, just sqft. seems that if a bird can hop/fly upwards than it can make use of more space in a smaller footprint.

But they don't, really, in actuality. They are really pretty much ground-dwelling critters by nature. Yes, they will hop or flap up onto perches or shelves or whatever but they don't use 'em THE SAME WAY (behaviorally) as they use floorspace, and having extra shelves or whatever does not really do a lot to alleviate social issues due to crowding, except in the crudest sense of providing a few more places to escape to.

So, really, square (not cubic) footage IS the most relevant thing.

anyhow, my wife is concerned that i havent planned for enough venting. currently we have 3 door which can open and a roof vent (apprx 4'' wide by 4.5' long) Seems like it is more than plenty for summer but when we close them up for cold days in the winter is the roof vent enough? i was considering some eave vents as well just under the roofing but dont want the venting to send drafts right by the roosting chickens.

I think that sounds pretty reasonable, assuming your "roof vent" is something that can actually open to 4" wide (as opposed to being a ridge vent or soemthing like that). OTOH if you are concerned, it never ever HURTS to build in more ventilation, I mean you don't always have to ahve it all open at the same time in cold weather

how much higher does the roost have to be than the nesting boxes?

I'd suggest "enough so that a chicken does not have to have surveying equipment to be clear on which is the highest place to sleep"

Really, as long as it is very conspicuous to you that it's higher, it is likely to be conspicuous to the chicken.

forgot to add, i've decided on PT plywood for the flooring since my wife wants to do the "deep litter" method. I was debating whether to overlay the PT plywood with rubber or plastic to make the droppings not rot it out... opinions?

I don't think it matters b/c you are exceedingly, exceedingly unlikely to be happy with any sort of DAMP deep litter management strategy in such a tiny coop. So you can have 'deep' or 'old' litter but if you don't also have it be real DRY you're likely to find yourself wanting to change things around so that it *is* dry. Thus, just priming and painting the plywood should be quite adequate

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​