Started Framing our First Coop

[BakingNana]

Started work this week on our first coop. Planning for a max of 8 birds, no roosters. This will be a combined coop and run, with the coop (on the right in the photo) measuring 8 feet by 4 feet and elevated off the ground 22 inches. The coop faces east. On the east side will be the nest boxes and two fully-functioning plexiglass covered windows 20 x 24 inches each to let the morning sun in to hopefully get them going. Adjustable vents on north and south sides (south side is inside run and where the ladies will exit coop and enter run). Large clean-out door in rear, as well as an adjustable vent above the door. We will have 11 square feet of vent not counting the ladies' door. There will be a full-sized door into the run next to the coop. Using half-inch hardward cloth on run (we have 'coons, opposum, fox, and a resident hawk that likes to cruise the skies above our house) and planning on 18 inches of anti-dig wire buried around outside. With the coop elevated, the run is 8 x 10 feet. There will be a shingled roof over entire structure and R-19 recycled denim insulation in the coop walls and R-10 foam in coop roof section. Planning on deep litter in coop and sand in run. We have electricity should we need it. Will paint the inside with glossy paint for (hopefully) easier cleaning, and the coop itself will be painted and trimmed to match our house.

Our winters can be challenging, to say the least. On the north the coop is shielded by the large spruce tree, so with the insulation, wind breaks on north and west, fully adjustable venting, and electricity if we need to add a heat lamp or heated waterer, I'm hoping we have our bases covered. I'm looking for suitable natural branches for perches both in the coop and in the run. Now....what am I forgetting?!?

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Looks great, sound plans. If you insulate they won't need a heat source. Maybe just your water will.

 

[BakingNana]

That's what I'm hoping. The health dept inspector was obsessed with knowing how we planned to keep them warm in the winter, but I told him I was much more worried about keeping them cool in the summer. We had WEEKS of !00+ temps this year.

Is it better to have a heated waterer or to suspend a heat lamp over the regular waterer? I know some people bring the waterer in at night to prevent freezing, but that sounds like a pain.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

No idea since we are FL, hopefully someone up north will chime in for you. As far as your inspector, most don't know that poultry don't need heaters in the winter. Those down coats protect them very well.

 

[mickey328]

We're just over here in northern Colorado

This will be our first winter with our chickens, so I think we're probably in fairly similar circumstances. We too were more concerned with the summer heat than the winter cold. We didn't put in as much insulation as you did, but I did notice that on these hot, hot days we've had, the inside of the coop stayed cooler than the outside. We put a white rubberized paint on the roof, which seemed to reflect a lot of sun.

Our feed/water setup is pretty simple..a plastic tray with screw on quart jar for food and a large, flat 4" tall plastic dish for water. We've kept both outside for the summer. We plan to use a heated dog bowl in the coop during the winter, and will likely have one outside as well. Our chickens are red sexlinks so they're very cold hardy and while we'll put a thermometer in the coop to keep an eye on the temp, I think they'll do fine. They generate an amazing amount of heat and their feathers are great insulation.

We do have a light in the coop which just now we have coming on about 2 hours before dawn, just to give them a little extra daylight time. It will double for heat during the winter if we need it. We have a round (tree branch) 2.5 inch roost available for them and also a flat one so they can cover their feet if necessary...that way they have the option if their tootsies get cold. At this point, there's only one that seems to like to roost...the others sleep in the nesting boxes or cuddled together on the floor.

Sounds to me like you've got a great set up already! You'll likely make modifications as you go, finding things that might work better or easier for you.

 

[Nicole01]

Since heat rises the heat lamp will not work, not in our case. We are in MN and our winters can get down to -30F. We 100% insulated our coop and we cover the run in plastic all winter. It's worked beautifully. For me, I use a radiator heater on a very low setting. We can touch it with our hands and not get burned. It keeps our water from freezing. Also with the heat lamp, it makes it light in the coop 24/7, which in our case, they would peck each other and the feathers out. A heater is not necessary, but very nice. If it goes out, we'll buy a new one. They are available in many stores. We put the heater under their roost and put shelving over it. My hubby did build a cage around the heater, so the dial doesn't get bumped on high.

The only reason I use a heater is for me. The birds in a well insulated coop will do fine without heat. I sit in there for a long time with my flock on my lap. Our coop is also built inside our garage. I don't have to walk through snow to get to my flock luckily.

A lot of people use a heated water bowl.

Like you said, summer is much harder on them then winter. In the summer, I've left a running hose under the tree they sit at and they will sit in the running water. They love to drink the constant cold water that comes out of there too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm about 2 states south of you so my winters are not the same. The coldest I see is a little below zero Fahrenheit. With that, I have no need to heat the coop for them.

There are lots of different ways to handle the frozen water problem. Think real hard about fire risks. Most of our coops have a lot of flammable materials in them, especially the bedding. You'll soon see posts on here of coops burning down. Happens every fall/winter.

I use those black rubber bowls for water in the winter. Just turn them over and stomp on them when they freeze. The ice comes out and the bowl does not break. if you have a sunny day and leave it in the sun, it will keep the water thawed pretty well, but we don't always get sunny days in the winter.

 

[BakingNana]

Thanks, everyone! It's such a comfort to have support from experienced chicken keepers!! It would be so scary to go at this just relying on information in books. I think I could start a chicken-book lending library with all the reference books and magazines I've collected.

Ridgerunner, the health dept. inspector said the only problems he's seen in Omaha with chicken keeping were two -- one lost their flock to dogs and one guy burned his coop down when his heat lamp fell over, so you are definitely on the mark with that warning. I don't know why it wasn't suspended from the roof, but even then accidents happen. I guess I am not going to add heat to anything unless I have some sort of problem. We will have a light bulb for stretching daylight, but I'm guessing it would not add much heat. We normally (whatever normal is anymore) have two weeks in January that are well below zero. The coldest I remember was about -15 F.

Our Ace Hardware store carried a really neat mister hose this summer. Maybe that would help in the heat. Be nice if they had some left and put them on sale about now.

Just finished reading the thread on PDZ and it sounds wonderful. Now I'm not sure if I want to do deep bedding or not. Decisions...decisions...decisions. It just occurred to me...I don't think I put this much prep into having my kids!!!