So do I REALLY need a walk-in coop?

[TBF86]

You’ve definitely gotten some great feedback from people with alot of good point to consider so far! I also wanted to share my experience with you. (I’ve had chickens & my coop for about 2.5 years) I have 10 chickens and do not have a walk in coop. I use the deep litter system with hemp bedding and clean when needed as far as walls/roosting bars go. Very easy to do. It’s elevated off the ground similar to some of the Carolina coops you see. I don’t regret it at all! The floor is probably around 4 ft or so off the ground and everything inside is easily accessible as the entire backside is two large doors. I do not ever keep food and water inside unless they have to be closed in during negative temps. Their food/water is in their covered run (which is walk in height). They also have an additional large fenced area outside the run, all of which is in my fenced in back yard as I live in town. I’ve been very happy with their set up so I think it all depends on what works best for them and you

 

[Chickylongstocking]

It sounds like a reasonable plan to me. I would just make sure the pull out drawer is built very sturdy so it doesnt get caught up in bedding. Are you using sand? I think that would be a good choice for your situation... My coop is not walk in so in winter (past -20°f some days) i use the deep litter method and it works great. Don't let uncertainty hold you back, there's only one way to find out - you gotta trust in whatever method you think will work best for your situation and just do it!

 

[Terry Scott]

My first coop wasn’t walk in. But It did have some sort of access to everywhere the chickens went. A side door opened so I could crawl in on my hands & knees to get the food/water bowl and clean anything out. The enclosed roost area was about waist height with a door to open that would allow me to scoop out the poop and replace bedding. And the nest box area had a door that folded down for easily getting the eggs and whatnot.

This was a Tractor Supply pre-fab coop (not recommended). So no, a walk in coop is not REALLY necessary. If you don’t have the space or funds then you can certainly make due without one. Just be prepared to bend and crawl for cleaning & feeding purposes. And make sure you have access to everywhere the chickens go because there will be poop to clean at some point.

A walk in coop only makes things easier on yourself. Your birds don’t care.

I also purchased a Tractor Supply pre fab supposedly built by Amish tradesman. No Amish tradesman would claim it, however after my skilled modifications it went together pretty solid. I later added several venting additions to combat the north Texas heat which are working well. As to inside height, I do have to duck my head going in when I need to and forget occasionally which hurts, but, I rarely need to go in anymore. I have 5 bielefelders. The coop came with 5 nesting boxes, size wise. I custom cut two identical size tarps, at cleaning time I do not enter the coop. I just pull out the tarp, put in the backup tarp, and hang the dirty tarp on the fence, wash it off and wait til next cleaning date. I put 110v power in the coop for fans as needed and just use a leaf blower for the bedding that doesn’t come out on the tarp. A stand up would be nice but not absolutely necessary for 5-6 chicks.
Terry

 

[Pghelp]

Everyone seems to talk about the benefits for you as the caretaker, I love my walk-in run because it allows my birds such freedom. We have a shrub and a small tree growing inside the run with multiple perches going all the way to the tip top. My birds don’t need to have wings clipped because they can fly all over the place. Even my 2-month old pullets will fly up or walk up to the highest perches and it is a delight for them and me. I have two prefab coops inside the run. One becomes the brooder when needed. I started with 4 chickens but chicken math means I have 11 now. Not sure how that happened!!

 

[Ben Lynnsy]

You should build according to your needs and comfort for sure. In Louisiana, we have to consider lots of summer rain and hurricanes or at least strong storms. So we added our coop to connect to our shed to keep it from moving. We also reversed it to have the run behind the coop so it would be furthest away from any neighbors. (We live in a neighborhood with large lots.) We put the nesting boxes to the front and made the doors open down for easy access and cleaning. Our coop is just tall enough that we can stand and do what we need to do but we also created a shelf under the perches so that we can use a long rake that my husband made from wood so I can just scoop everything into a bucket for easier cleaning. So, I can stand on the outside if I want to when I clean the shelf. We also put sand on the floor and I use a long-handled cat litter scooper so that I can reach in without entering. Sometimes I need to go in for deep cleaning but otherwise, I can clean by standing outside. Our run is much taller so we can easily go in and fill the hanging feeder and suet cage. It is also large enough that I can separate a chicken if necessary which I had not prepared for so I am glad we made it larger. The reason our run is taller is that we needed the coop to be off the ground due to heavy rain so we have to step up to go in. The run is on the ground but we were able to raise the ground and slope it to drain. We are newbies so we learned by watching youtube videos about how people built their coops and why. Then we took all that info and created the best coop for us. So, don't be intimidated, and don't worry if your coop is different compared to the others you see. Just make sure it works to your advantage and your environment. I would definitely prefer a walk-in coop and I am very agile. Good luck.

Good points!! Thanks!!

You’ve definitely gotten some great feedback from people with alot of good point to consider so far! I also wanted to share my experience with you. (I’ve had chickens & my coop for about 2.5 years) I have 10 chickens and do not have a walk in coop. I use the deep litter system with hemp bedding and clean when needed as far as walls/roosting bars go. Very easy to do. It’s elevated off the ground similar to some of the Carolina coops you see. I don’t regret it at all! The floor is probably around 4 ft or so off the ground and everything inside is easily accessible as the entire backside is two large doors. I do not ever keep food and water inside unless they have to be closed in during negative temps. Their food/water is in their covered run (which is walk in height). They also have an additional large fenced area outside the run, all of which is in my fenced in back yard as I live in town. I’ve been very happy with their set up so I think it all depends on what works best for them and you

Thanks! That sounds a lot like my plans, and I think that will work for me, too.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We have one of the little tools sheds you can buy for your yard and converted it so half is chicken coop and half is used for storage with an insulated wall dividing them. The chickens love it and we can access it easily, we also installed a nesting bot on the side with outside access and a fligh pen protected from predators. My only regret is the fligh pen can only be accessed through the chickens door, it’s a tiny fit when I need to get in there.

Picture?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My elevated coop is about four feet above the run. There are three large doors (you can see two of the doors in this photo and a partial). It contains four nesting boxes which are open into the coop (kinda hard to reach) and also accessible via flip doors built into our garage wall. I turn (rarely) the litter with a 3-4' long fork. There are also two perches and two vents (unsure if they are visible in this photo). Another aside; one or two hens perch on the inner vent hole with a half inch edge. Intriguing how they get into the triangular vent.

Um. I think you forgot to post your picture(s)?

 

[Melissa67137]

At some point I'll write up a coop page. (Looks like I'm already too late for this contest round.) I wanted to be sure I liked it enough myself before I was sharing everything.

I bought these plans off of Etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/688674271/small-flock-chicken-coop-plans-simple

I made a number of modifications. It's a shade bigger, my roof is much bigger with a saltbox style overhang ... I went with way more ventilation than it originally had. I added some extra windows (that I still have to finish) Plus, I put the doors on the back side compared to the instructions. There are a number of reviews that show pictures with modifications that people made. I guess there are some other odds and ends I did differently.

Here's the website for the etsy store owner:
https://oldworldgardenfarms.com/2019/03/07/small-flock-chicken-coop/

If you're handy enough, just by looking at what they did, you can just put something like it together.

Also, I improvised a platform to raise it up based on some different things I saw here and elsewhere.

Thank you for the heads information.

Earlier today I just picked up several used pallets from the local co-op discard pile......and I got lucky with a pallet already assembled with a solid floor....AND a pallet liner out of laminated plywood so my chickens will have a hardwood floor lol. Now to disassemble and reassemble to make a coop......then disassemble and paint, then move the old cabinet coop I made last year so I can assemble the new one in place........ughhh remind me why I am building a coop again lol. I am disabled so it all has to be done in sections.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thank you for the heads information.

Earlier today I just picked up several used pallets from the local co-op discard pile......and I got lucky with a pallet already assembled with a solid floor....AND a pallet liner out of laminated plywood so my chickens will have a hardwood floor lol. Now to disassemble and reassemble to make a coop......then disassemble and paint, then move the old cabinet coop I made last year so I can assemble the new one in place........ughhh remind me why I am building a coop again lol. I am disabled so it all has to be done in sections.

Good finds!

You are doing this so you can watch chicken tv in your back yard and have a fresh egg for your breakfast every morning! Oh yeah, and so you can throw away that obnoxious alarm clock!

 

[beloges]

If you build the coop so the floor is at 3-4 feet, you don't have to crawl anywhere and the area below the coop is automatic shade inside the run area. there are plans online that describe features that allow for easy cleaning of the coop floor.