Southern Cali Coop

[JusticeFamilyFarm]

Ok, so- my wonderful brother has volunteered to build my coop on his job site where he has access to left over construction materials and, of course, his crew... must be nice, I know. Gotta love big brothers. I sent him my plans and ideas, and he has thrown in some of his own suggestions. But, now I was reading a post about a FL coop needing to be open-air because of the heat. Am I crazy building an enclosed/walled coop in Southern CA? It's not as humid here as in FL, but it does stay pretty warm. I told him that ventilation is very important and asked for windows that can be open or shut along with vents around the tops of all 4 sides. Will that be ok? Also, the coop will be 8'x12', but the run we currently have and will use for now (from the home's previous owner) is only 10'x12', which I know is on the small side. Will my 14 chickens be ok (if we still have 14 once we know who's a pullet and who's a roo) with that size run? Oh- but we are going to lift the coop as well, so they will have that area added to the run... but only about a foot off the ground. I know I will want to add to my flock, but I will have to expand the run first, I think. Thanks so much for your input!

 

[7L Farm]

Chickens where a down jacket 24/7. They are geared for the winter. The heat is harder on them. I live in really hot temps its close to a hundred right now. I built one 4 sided coop but now I only build three sided coops to cope with the heat. There easier to build no pop door & only three sides. Here's two three sided coops. The one behind the other houses 16 pullets & its 330 sq ft.. Big coops are the ticket. But you know how Texans are everything's bigger in Texas. LOL They say 4 sq ft in the coop per bird & 10 sq ft. in the run per bird. I personally don't go by this rule. I tried it & it doesn't seem to be enough room. Its your call. Maybe the rule is for a certain breed who knows.

 

[ChicksterJo]

The run is a nice size, although a bit bigger would make for happier birds (and a happier you). Believe me, I need to expand pretty soon and I only have 8 large chickens and 4 smaller ones and my run is not as big as yours. Also I would not make a coop like that but rather an open air one much like the run. Cover it with hardware cloth so that there's A LOT of ventilation and maybe make one wall solid so that you can attach nest boxes and roosts, etc.

 

[JusticeFamilyFarm]

Let me add that they can also be let out into a 1/3 acre fenced area (where our goats will be when we get them) that the coop and run are already inside. Obviously that will be when we're home to be observing.

But days when we'll be gone a lot they'll be in the coop/run area. Maybe I should see how far my brother has gotten on the coop to see if we can change our layout...

 

[bryan99705]

Making the coop as cool as possible is your goal cause heat will kill birds long before cold will get them. Aside from foul weather protection ther is no real need for a full blown coop in SouCal, Laying boxes don't need dark so it boils down to only the roosts need to be shrouded / dark. How about a blackout " shower curtain surround" with a top but short and no bottom and large enough for the birds to access it from underneath? Maybe a better description would be a parrot cage cover with a roost set in it.

Just an idea