Sleeping Coop Size

[shaneenbean]

Hello Everyone!
I am trying to construct a little roosting Coop and need some help figuring out how small I can make it.
I have gated in my side yard which will give my chickens about 100 square feet of room to spend most of their time in, when I can't let them in the whole yard. However, it's out of my skill set and budget to somehow enclose the whole side yard by putting a roof on there. The side yard is pretty narrow, only about 3 to 3.5 feet wide, so I'd like to convert some old shelving for them to sleep in (we have coyotes, racoons, etc.).
I'm going to have 10 hens, so would 4'x27"x18" (wxhxd) be okay? Should I extend it to 8'? Could I have two 4' sections stacked (see pic)?
The reason I think keeping them in close quarters at night is okay is because when I used to have chickens a long time ago, who had tons of space, at night they all chose to snuggle together in a tiny area anyway.
Please tell me your thoughts/ideas! Thank you!

Side notes: I plan on putting plastic on the bottom so they don't have to step on wire and will also install a roosting bar.

Here's a pic of the side yard and the partially constructed shelving.

 

[chickens really]

That's pretty narrow....Not much natural light or ventilation ..

 

[shaneenbean]

That's pretty narrow....Not much natural light or ventilation ..

The roost idea or the run? There may not be much light at the moment because it's cloudy, but trust me, we get plenty of sun in Phoenix and both gates (and the roost) are wire, so there's also plenty of ventilation...

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum, glad you joined

You can get some widely varying opinions on this. If you follow the link in my signature below you can better understand what I'm basing my opinions on. I'm not one that believes in magic numbers but that you need to cater to your conditions.

Of high importance, where do you live. What I'm after is your climate, what are the extreme conditions you might see in summer and winter. What you need for them to sleep in will depend a lot on climate. If you stick around the forum, and I hope you do, modifying your profile to show general location can help with a lot of issues. I see you answered that while I was typing.

Another big issue is predators and predator protection. Even if you live in the middle of suburbia you will have a lot of things around that like to eat chicken. Some can fly and a lot can climb. Practically any predator can hunt any time, day or night, but your risk is tremendously higher at night. Having a secure place to lock them up at night is a huge bonus. If you have coyotes and raccoons you probably have a lot of other things too.

How you manage your chickens has a lot to do with it too. Some people put blinders on and talk about coop space only. Chickens don't understand the difference between coop and run space, they just know whether or not they have enough room when they need it. If you leave them locked in the coop only when they are awake then coop space gets pretty important. If they can get outside when they are awake then coop space is not all that important.

Stacking is not a great idea for sleeping. They will all want to sleep as high as they can get. That narrow space is a challenge but I'd make the roosts all the same height. You'll also need nests. You can put nests lower down underneath as long as you can get to the nests and stop them from pooping in the nests from above.

That width is really restrictive, you just can't get in there to work once you put something there. Since most building materials come in 4' and 8' widths in the cheapest versions I'd normally suggest a 4' x 8' coop just for sleeping for 10 birds, but in your case I think I'd restrict it to 4' long and spanning the entire width of that alley. Put two roosts in there 4' long and spread out equal distance so you have them evenly spaced. That should be enough roost space. You might check Craigslist if you are in the USA for inexpensive materials or maybe check construction sites. Sometimes you can get free materials just to haul them away, they use a lot of wood for construction aides. Since I don't know them anyway I'm not even embarrassed to ask.

The problem I see with that is nothing to do with the chickens, you can come up with something that will work great for them. But it will probably be inconvenient for you. You are important too.

 

[junebuggena]

Agree that the narrow space is problematic. The issue I see is maneuverability. Could the birds get up and down without crashing into anything, probably not. Ramps will likely be needed. How are you going to get in and clean things out if you put in ramps? Those are the sorts of things you need to think about.

 

[shaneenbean]

Thanks for he replies! To address some of the questions/concerns:

I'm in Phoenix where we have really hot summers and warm winter's. Shade is very important here. Rain is almost non-existent. Daytime predators are not a huge concern for the run area, but if the chickens aren't cooped at night with padlocks, they will disappear.

The length of the run is 33', the widest part is 4' and the narrowest is 3.5'. That's 115.5 to 132 square feet total, which is 11 to 13 square feet per bird. The "coop" I'm making is literally only for nighttime. They will also have access to the yard once we get a routine established.

The structure will be two levels: one for nighttime roosting and one below that for nesting boxes. The roosting bar will go along the length of the higher one and there will be a barrier on the bottom so no poop falls onto the nesting boxes. There will be a ramp for access (sorry I forgot to mention that in the first post) and I plan on making screen doors that flip up/open so that I can get access to clean.

 

[junebuggena]

The point is, the roost needs to be about a foot way from any wall for head/tail clearance. Which means you're going to have supports blocking you from moving down side, and a ramp blocking the other side. Ten birds means you need 10 feet of roost, which makes reaching in to clean nearly impossible. And you don't have enough space for a roost on either side.