Simply Salvaged Coop by Tractor Supply - anyone built it?

[WAJackalope]

I'm wanting to build a lean-to type coop against a fence for my 10 girls. With a few modifications in the coop width, I think it'd work. The plans are on the Tractor Supply site. Has anyone built one? Any comments or thoughts?

 

[aart]

Make the coop portion ALOT bigger...read up on space for chickens,
there's an excellent article linked in my signature below.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

Looks WAY small for 10 chickens. Can the plan be expanded?

 

[WAJackalope]

Absolutely, I was planning on adding about a foot to the width. If you look closely though (or view the website), you'll see that the coop has 3 levels. I kind of liked the concept of using the vertical space - that's what attracted me to the plan. Do you think it work that way?

 

[WAJackalope]

Here's the link to the plans: http://t.tractorsupply.com/know-how_Chicken-Coops_simply-salvaged-chicken-coop-design.html

 

[WAJackalope]

Great info in this reprint! Thanks! I was planning on widening the coop section by a foot and then utilizing the coops vertical space as it actually has 3levels (see the plans at this link: http://t.tractorsupply.com/know-how_Chicken-Coops_simply-salvaged-chicken-coop-design.html). The 3 coop tiers is what attracted me to this plan. They are free ranging each day though there may be some snow days in the winter where they may choose to not go out. Do you think it will work that way?

 

[aart]

I don't seem to be able to make that link work, and could not find that plan on TSC's site.

But, regardless.... yes, vertical space is essential and 3 levels already kind of exist(floor, nests, roosts) but the floor space is still important.

Oh, finally figured it out, had to do a google search! http://www.tractorsupply.com/know-how_Chicken-Coops_simply-salvaged-chicken-coop-design

It says it's 2 1/2' x 3'...pfft ...even adding 1' to that is still no where near big enough for 10 chickens.

That would only be about 1 sqft per bird, even below CAFO standards......I wouldn't put more than 2-3 chickens in a space that small.

Do some reading about space https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-much-room-do-chickens-need
and ventilation https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop
and you'll see why we are saying it's too small.

 

[WAJackalope]

Ah! You're probably right! I just wanted it to happen! Thanks so much for your advice. . .

 

[yyz0yyz0]

It is an interesting concept but as was mentioned above, in practice I don't think it will work as you hoped.

chickens are pretty dumb, to have enough room in this coop you would need the chickens to work together to establish "shifts" for everyone. 1st is up and eating, 2nd shift is in the nest boxes and 3rd shift is sleeping. It will be more a case of everyone trying to do the same thing at the same time. They'll all want to sleep during the night, they'll all want to get up and eat at dawn, etc etc.

If you want to keep the run/coop footprint as small as possible then you can make the coop bigger but all up high enough so they can use the space underneath for run space. That is how mine is setup, it's a 4x8 coop that gives them 4x8 space under as well as the rest of the run.

In my 4x8 coop the numbers say I should be able to house 8 birds in there. I have 7 now(had 8, lost one) and I'm thinking that I could expand my flock to contain 10-12 birds in that same coop space. Part of the reason for that is that my coop stays open to the run 24/7, so birds can always say "I'm outa here" if things are crowded in the coop.