Sooo many question (Not sure where to put them)!

[Smccau3]

I would definitely add a run. Chickens love to be out and digging through the dirt.

I have 4 hens in a small tractor, and they free range during the day. We also got them for the eggs, and they are fantastic pets. We did not get a rooster, as we didn't want our neighbors to hate us with the noise. I am happy without a rooster.

We do sprinkle DE in the bedding in the coop, to help with bugs. I clean out the coop as much as I can and throw the poop in the woods. Once I get a compost bin started, the poop will be going there.

 

[eksulli]

That's what I figured! Originally I only wanted 4 - 6 birds anyway, so I'm really just happy that I've got room to do that!
I don't want to make a huge interior coop, most of it I'd like to be run area, but with the winters being so nasty, I want to make sure that I can get them in an leave them in for a couple days without them going nuts! lol.

I keep going back and forth on the rooster thing. Sometimes I think I might like one, then other times I worry that it would make such a fuss and be loud and the neighbors would then complain. lol.
There is a guy a block away that has chickens and every once in a while I hear his rooster. So what's the skinny? How much noise does a single rooster really make?

ps. my compost is just in a sterilite container right now, it will be going out into a small raised bed by my garden, my hunny doesn't know it yet, but he's going to make me that too. lol!
I wouldn't put the chickens down in a plastic barrel or anything, promise

 

[eksulli]

Ok, so everything in the light blueish color would be coop/nest area, the rest would all be run area. That was my original thought anyway, it just wasn't very clear, not that a stick figure really can be. lol.

 

[salt and pepper]

I agree that chickens would rather have a run then be in a coop all the time. if you only want 4-6 hens then why don't you make a coop that's 16-24 square feet, and make the rest of the space a run? If you are worried about weather, you can always put a roof or tarp on the run to keep out snow and water.

 

[eksulli]

It will most definitely have a roof over the entire coop, I guess I wasn't sure how small of a coop chickens could stand being cooped in during times they can't be let out in the run. We get some interesting weather here

 

[salt and pepper]

if your run would have a roof over it then I would give them the chance to be out, no matter what the weather is. you will be surprised what they'll be out in! the average number is four square feet per bird in the coop, and ten in the run. the four square feet is so if they decide to stay in, they won't get cranky.

 

[eksulli]

Awesome! Thanks!

 

[eksulli]

No that's wonderful! I appreciate all the input, even the wordy one

I never thought of sloping it to the side, that would make more sense.

Ideally the base will end up being something like 6" off the ground, because we have swamp issues here anyway; I was thinking about maybe then moving some dirt (I have a pile outback I want to move) into the coop and then covering that with a sandy mix that they'll enjoy. I'm not sure yet... I just know I don't want them to always be wet.. no good for anyone and I would like to try the method with multiple layers of stuff (ugh... I can't think of the name, and I'm seriously too lazy to open another browser)... deep sand method... no...... oh posh.

I will look into sloping the roof the other way and possibly moving around the access points.
I was thinking that the "window" by the large door would actually be a door itself to allow me to access/clean the coop area.

Oh I like all this planning, so fun! All the input is REALLY helping! I will see what else I can come up with.
The worst wind seems to hit out Western side because of the way we are surround/protected by the neighbors and the hills here. We live in the Valley "Cow Valley" as they call it. The coop will be protect by the garage to the West and to the North by our house, so I'm hoping they won't get the worst of it

Alright I'm burning supper, more later

 

[salt and pepper]

I agree on sloping the roof the other way, and pea gravel, and sand are great at keeping the mud level down. Do have rodents/snakes in you area? If you do you might want to raise the coop more so those critters don't move under the coop.

 

[CarolynF]

This is interesting.... the first half of my post got deleted. I must have done something weird. And I should have used "preview". Dang.

The part about making it wider was speaking about my own pen. Mine is long and narrow, only 5' wide. Even with a roof (6' high) the rain and snow will blow in. An overhang that's that high doesn't keep the ground dry. It's not standing in water, but it's not dry. I have to give them a tub of dry sand/dirt for dust bathing during the wet weather. The overhang would have to be probably 4' to effectively keep out the rain and snow. Like a front entry/porch on a house.

One thing I wrote was about the terms COOP and PEN. Sometimes people use them interchangeably and it gets confusing. If we use COOP to mean the building, and PEN to mean the fenced in area outside it's a lot easier to stay on the same page, imho. When you're figuring space, these two areas are calculated differently. COOP = 3 sq. ft. per hen (more for a rooster), PEN = 10 sq. ft. per hen (more for a rooster). These are minimums. When they don't have enough space they'll start pecking each other. And the PERCH is 12" per hen.

When you say your birds will be in the coop most of the time, do you really mean the pen? Most birds only go in the coop to lay their egg or sleep. Mine run outside at the first glimmer of day and don't go to roost until dusk. Their pen is covered with translucent roofing so they're out there even if it's raining. I also keep their food and water outdoors since they don't eat when they've gone in for the night.

Another thing was.... my coop is 3' above the ground and I love, love, love it that way. It's so easy to reach in and clean, and it leaves enough space under the coop for the chickens to run around, and for me to get underneath if I need to clean or retrieve a stubborn animal. Before I put a roof on the pen I kept their feed under there to stay dry, too.

And also.... the inside of my coop is only about 3' from floor to ceiling. I wish it were 4' so the birds would have more head room when they fly up onto the roost. The roost is 18" off the floor.

You mentioned "deep litter" method for the coop. I prefer using coarse sand in my coop and in the pen. It's super easy to keep clean with a litter box scoop. Takes me about 5-10 minutes each morning to clean the coop and the pen. I just bought 1/2 cubic yard for $7.50 last week which we used for the new 5' x 5' addition to their pen. The sand is the coarsest we could get and it's about 5" deep. The extra I keep in a couple of big plastic tubs for later use. If you have a pickup truck to haul the sand, this is SO much less expensive than shavings. Inside the coop the sand is about 1" deep. I add more as needed. In the nest box I use straw that I pick up for free at any of the feed stores. They call it "sweepings". It's the stuff that falls off the bales of straw when they're loading and unloading. They love getting rid of it so they don't have to deal with it themselves. Pea gravel is too big for my litter scoop. Sand doesn't work if the pen isn't covered. It's fine in dry weather, but when the rain and snow turn the ground to mud you can't clean it well. It turns to stinky muck.... I know.... it happened to me and I had to cover my pen with tarps the first winter. Rookie mistake. Shavings would have similar problems I think. Slope the ground you build on, you'll be very glad you did.

I also mentioned (in my first draft) that Ridgerunner's information is great. He knows what he's talking about. Discussing DE can sometimes be very controversial. But I like to include it in their dust bath and nest box bedding. I also sprinkle it on the floor of the coop to discourage bugs of all sorts. We get a lot of earwigs, but I notice the girls think they're yummy!