I guess some of you've been where we are now. Flock of 5 initially has grown to 18 and our 5x7x7 coop is no where near big enough even if they just sleep in there. So now that two of our hens have gone broody (yup you read that right we have two of them sitting on eggs at the same time) and have occupied one nest box and the Home Depot bucket "alternate" nest box we figure it's time to start planning for a larger coop.
Plans are to make this next one large enough to be the last one I ever build. We're figuring to have our flock top out at no more than 30 birds.... I've said something similar before. With that space requirement I'm looking for advice on how to maintain that many birds during the heat of South Texas. The winters here are a joke and I understand the need to keep the air in a coop moving during the winter with good cross breezes and ventilation up high. I'd like to go with a 10x20 coop with an 8x10 section of it on one end used to house our feed and tools for the birds. I'll build a chicken wire wall between the actual roosting space and the storage. So 10x16 for coop (160 square feet for 30 birds is about 5 feet per bird so I'm hoping that'll be enough during the summer heat) and they have an entire acre to free range.
Thoughts on number of nesting boxes? I was thinking 4 along one side.
Height off the ground? I'd like to get the coop off the ground a foot or so for underneath breezes.
Peaked roof? I can go with a single angle or peaked although the single angle is easier. Peaked with gables is cooler isn't it?
Roof height? 8 feet? 10 feet? I know the roosts need to be up higher than the nesting boxes but is there any reason not to make a high and spacious interior? Would I need to have multiple levels of roosts so the dominate ones can get up away from the minions?
Thanks in advance for any advice and any help you can give on making sure I don't have to build another coop in three or four years.
RichnSteph
Plans are to make this next one large enough to be the last one I ever build. We're figuring to have our flock top out at no more than 30 birds.... I've said something similar before. With that space requirement I'm looking for advice on how to maintain that many birds during the heat of South Texas. The winters here are a joke and I understand the need to keep the air in a coop moving during the winter with good cross breezes and ventilation up high. I'd like to go with a 10x20 coop with an 8x10 section of it on one end used to house our feed and tools for the birds. I'll build a chicken wire wall between the actual roosting space and the storage. So 10x16 for coop (160 square feet for 30 birds is about 5 feet per bird so I'm hoping that'll be enough during the summer heat) and they have an entire acre to free range.
Thoughts on number of nesting boxes? I was thinking 4 along one side.
Height off the ground? I'd like to get the coop off the ground a foot or so for underneath breezes.
Peaked roof? I can go with a single angle or peaked although the single angle is easier. Peaked with gables is cooler isn't it?
Roof height? 8 feet? 10 feet? I know the roosts need to be up higher than the nesting boxes but is there any reason not to make a high and spacious interior? Would I need to have multiple levels of roosts so the dominate ones can get up away from the minions?
Thanks in advance for any advice and any help you can give on making sure I don't have to build another coop in three or four years.
RichnSteph
