So do I REALLY need a walk-in coop?

[U_Stormcrow]

Yeah it's me again, the hesitant, coopless newbie. I do "get it" about chicken math, and my intent is to have 3 or 4, but the math says I could double that, altho I really don't want to. My space is limited and I am working with a 9x9 area that is bounded by a tree on the right, my "barn" on the back and a ramp from the barn on the left. There will be a predator protected run that extends out in front of the coop for another 8 feet. The space is small, and the overhanging of the tree limits me even more. I do not want to trim my tree, but there is a nice niche between 6 o'clock and 11 o'clock where a 4 ft roof would fit. I was thinking a flatter style would allow a bigger horizontal space, and a nice pull-out drawer for cleaning would work. For those few chickens, do I REALLY need a walk-in coop?

My first coop was a raised coop, attached to the back of my barn to save materials, with an attached run which has been twice expanded and is now left open at all times. I did a lot of things wrong, and I hate it. What makes it tolerable (and full disclosure - its a good bit larger than yours, at 8'x12', is that when I open it up, there is no place I can't reach with a rake to clean it out, or a shovel to refill it with leaf litter. What my back loves about it is that the nesting boxes ore roughly "nipple height", so I open the door to those (hinge on bottom), look right into the nests, and gather all the eggs w/o stooping, or bending). The ducks lay theirs on the ground, and several years in, it sucks. Doesn't get any better, the back just gets older.

Do you have to have a walk in coop? No.
Does it make many things easier and more comfortable? Yes.

After ventilation and space for the birds, the most important (my view) is that you be able to access all of the coop easily. If you aren't building a walk in, then if at all possible, raise it to a comfortable height for you, and make sure one side opens in a way that allows you to easily access all of it with a tool with a handle. Does no good to be able to reach in with a push broom or a shovel if you can only move it a foot or so before the handles smacks into something. Smaller coops, at least you can uise things with shorter handles, which can help. I need a full size tool to reach the back corners, 4' from the colosest location I can access.

 

[Shadrach]

Deep Bedding rather than Deep Litter -- the difference being that it's a dry system.



I'm so glad to hear that. I'll happily answer questions or get my husband, who did the building, to answer them. I can even take more photos of tricky places -- though it's currently awaiting some rehab right now.

I suggest putting it up on concrete or some such thing because the legs haven't lasted.



That's the one thing I don't like about Neuchickenstein (my current coop). I have to fend off eager-to-escape chickens to get in.

Yup, it's a problem I hadn't come accross before having only dealt with free range chickens in the past. I'm working on a solution but it's not so starightforeward because the run has to stay secure.

 

[3KillerBs]

Yup, it's a problem I hadn't come accross before having only dealt with free range chickens in the past. I'm working on a solution but it's not so starightforeward because the run has to stay secure.

I haven't thought of a solution for a feeder that is both accessible and rain-proof -- especially in an area subject to tropical storms with sideways rain in the summer and fall and subject to winter storms from any point on the compass.

So I have developed my skills at using my foot and my skirt to fend off chickens at the door.

 

[Kidwantschickens]

I don't have a walk in coop but I can walk into it fairly stooped over. It isn't exactly "easy" but also not hard. (about 4.5' tall and I'm 5'4) but I haven't gone through a winter yet. My run is also only 4' tall. It sort of sucks to go in there but I do it all the time.

Long story short you make due with what you have. For only 3-4 chickens? I personally wouldn't worry too much.)

 

[Folly's place]

As we get 'more mature', that bending over gets less pleasant. Just sayin'.
Mary

 

[Happy hen lover]

I don't understand why I'd be crawling around in chicken poo and dust, if I have a slide out tray, or if I have a big access door where I could rake out the "stuff" into a bin. I must be missing something.

You are correct Ben if it's small enough to reach too which for 3-4 chickens it would be. I could reach eggs from outside, except the occasional ( 3 times a year) egg laid in strange place. I would just sift out poo from opening into coop.
The slide outs have there drawbacks as most aren't tall enough for the Big ol' piles those girls can lay from roost once full grown.

 

[rosemarythyme]

That's the one thing I don't like about Neuchickenstein (my current coop). I have to fend off eager-to-escape chickens to get in.

Try something like this?

The white wire in front is just a closet wire shelf that's kept in place with bungee cords. It's about 16" tall so I can easily step over it. It's not that chickens can't get out by jumping it, just that most won't bother. I've accidentally left the run door open for a few hours and the chickens have always stayed inside.

 

[Ben Lynnsy]

Try something like this?
View attachment 3203660
The white wire in front is just a closet wire shelf that's kept in place with bungee cords. It's about 16" tall so I can easily step over it. It's not that chickens can't get out by jumping it, just that most won't bother. I've accidentally left the run door open for a few hours and the chickens have always stayed inside.

Brilliant!

 

[Ben Lynnsy]

Deep Bedding rather than Deep Litter -- the difference being that it's a dry system.



I'm so glad to hear that. I'll happily answer questions or get my husband, who did the building, to answer them. I can even take more photos of tricky places -- though it's currently awaiting some rehab right now.

I suggest putting it up on concrete or some such thing because the legs haven't lasted.



That's the one thing I don't like about Neuchickenstein (my current coop). I have to fend off eager-to-escape chickens to get in.

Thank you SO MUCH for your willingness to coach me. My neighbor, who I am going to *BEG* to help me, won't be home til Aug 9, but I am going to talk to him them. I want to get him to build the frame for me and place it in "THE location", and then getting him to cut the wood to the proper size for me, I will try to do the rest myself. I only want 4 - 6 chicks, but I might try to make the coop a little larger and enclose the nesting box in the main part, up against the wall, instead of adding it onto the side in a separate box. So I'd have more square footage, and yet the width of the coop would not increase. Do you think that would work OK? Would I need to increase the amount of ventilation, if I made the coop "box" a foot wider from side to side??

 

[Folly's place]

You can't have too much ventilation! And light inside. Here the nest boxes are about 24" above the floor, with a bar in front for the birds to walk along while they pick their box. You only need maybe two nests, not like mine.
Mary