SpicyDisaster
Songster
So..... after a year of discussion (aka me discussing and he overhears), hubby has agreed that I need more chickens in my life and we should build a larger shed/shop to accommodate my increasing obsession with All Things Chickens. Well... he didn't agree on the need part but since I want it we are going to do it.
We were originally going to do two pole barns, a 30x40 for All Things Chickens/Gardens, and a 40x60 for All Things Lavender Farm. Unfortunately with costs up so high we are going to do the 30x40 pole barn for starting and I have to share it with Lavender. Give it a few years though and this baby will be all mine! Now to come up with a name for it....
We are going to be having a builder come out to set it up the pole barn itself as we are in a time crunch with getting 3 acres of lavender planted this spring (that's 8k plants fyi), irrigation systems installed for the lavender and house plot, and getting the garden beds installed for spring 2022 planting. Busy spring/summer!
We live in an arid steppe/high desert meaning we get lots of wind, hot summers, and cold winters. Unfortunately the wind is year round and gets upward of 50mph decently regularly so the coop couldn't be an open concept or the ladies wouldn't have shelter from the wind.
Over the last month I'd come up with the below for the inside of the barn and a rough sketch. I need to get this more clearly drawn out and with some side views. Something to do while on vacation the next two weeks counting down to chick arrival!
Last night I had to sit down and draw a concept design for the pole barn builder of the outside plans for the coop shed. Thoughts so far, we are waiting on feedback from the builder and then work toward getting the engineered plans. We plan to get the building wired for electricity as well as a water source. Another reason we decided to get a builder than to DIY. I've played with electricity enough in my life to know I'm just careless enough to hurt myself accidentally. Yay neurodivergent brains...
West side = Entry side. The majority of our wind comes from this direction. We're doing 18in of hardware cloth ventilation for the 15ft section where the coop will be. Giving it a cleanout door and a window so the girls have something to fight over with roosts.
South side = Coop side. Three more windows to fight over and let in light. Another main direction area and another 18" of ventilation along the width.
East side = garden side. This will actually be run/garden side. Two chickie doors for entry into the dust bath areas. Thinking 10ft of space between the coop shed and the run itself. Nothing too fancy here.
North side = house side. This is about 10ft from the edge of our garage. Putting an entry door here that will allow the wheelbarrow and garden cart to get through. Door will be the general access to the non-coop side and how to get into the coop from inside.
So here's hoping! Now for more conversations with the builder to finesse the exact sizing of windows and doors based on cost. We've got landscapers coming out to level and prep the site the first week of March. Then the irrigation gets installed in March and April, garden goes into the ground... and in May this baby should get started! Hoping to keep this decently documented so others can find it useful for any builds they do. I've truly appreciated all the coop build and review threads on this site to help me learn through others rather than doing it all myself!
We were originally going to do two pole barns, a 30x40 for All Things Chickens/Gardens, and a 40x60 for All Things Lavender Farm. Unfortunately with costs up so high we are going to do the 30x40 pole barn for starting and I have to share it with Lavender. Give it a few years though and this baby will be all mine! Now to come up with a name for it....
We are going to be having a builder come out to set it up the pole barn itself as we are in a time crunch with getting 3 acres of lavender planted this spring (that's 8k plants fyi), irrigation systems installed for the lavender and house plot, and getting the garden beds installed for spring 2022 planting. Busy spring/summer!
We live in an arid steppe/high desert meaning we get lots of wind, hot summers, and cold winters. Unfortunately the wind is year round and gets upward of 50mph decently regularly so the coop couldn't be an open concept or the ladies wouldn't have shelter from the wind.
Over the last month I'd come up with the below for the inside of the barn and a rough sketch. I need to get this more clearly drawn out and with some side views. Something to do while on vacation the next two weeks counting down to chick arrival!
- The Coop will take up a 30x15 area of the barn, giving us 450 sq ft of chicken space. (I drew 30x14 to be conservative but hubby keeps saying 30x15 so I'll take it). I've seen too many instances of going through multiple iterations of increasing coop size so we are taking a go-big-or-go-home approach. I should never hit 70 chickens in here but it leaves room for growing out and keeping the most desirable for breeding projects without worrying about space.
- We will have feeder/water station on one side with the ideal of minimal management needed.
- I'm stealing heavily from The Mulligan by DobieLover for the nest box/brooder design. Will be doing 16 boxes and the brooder will be 3x8.
- Roosts and poop board design... also stolen from The Mulligan (love this build). 3' high poop board with 15" tall roosting bars all at the same level. That should give us roughly 48ft of linear roost bars going around the exterior walls. I have ideas for if we need more but that's a good start.
- Covered dust baths - also stolen. I love this idea after watching the girls hang out under the protected eaves of our house during the wet season. We have regular thaw-refreeze days so the ground has been frozen or mud the last few months.
- Our run is 30x30 with 6' chain link fencing. I'm currently thinking a door to the dust bath areas and another door to the tunnels that go into the run. We'll see what this looks like after the barn is constructed.
West side = Entry side. The majority of our wind comes from this direction. We're doing 18in of hardware cloth ventilation for the 15ft section where the coop will be. Giving it a cleanout door and a window so the girls have something to fight over with roosts.
South side = Coop side. Three more windows to fight over and let in light. Another main direction area and another 18" of ventilation along the width.
East side = garden side. This will actually be run/garden side. Two chickie doors for entry into the dust bath areas. Thinking 10ft of space between the coop shed and the run itself. Nothing too fancy here.
North side = house side. This is about 10ft from the edge of our garage. Putting an entry door here that will allow the wheelbarrow and garden cart to get through. Door will be the general access to the non-coop side and how to get into the coop from inside.
So here's hoping! Now for more conversations with the builder to finesse the exact sizing of windows and doors based on cost. We've got landscapers coming out to level and prep the site the first week of March. Then the irrigation gets installed in March and April, garden goes into the ground... and in May this baby should get started! Hoping to keep this decently documented so others can find it useful for any builds they do. I've truly appreciated all the coop build and review threads on this site to help me learn through others rather than doing it all myself!
