Starting over on coop - design recommendations?

[sonomacluck]

Hello all!

My sister has enlisted me to build a new coop. Backstory: she's had 5 chickens for approx. 6 months. Things are great, but the dust isn't. The main outdoor eating area is close to the coop, and with her three kids, she wants a coop that is further away from the patio area (due to dust).

The first pic attached is what she now has.


The other three pics are the proposed site of the new coop. She would like a basic coop, walk-in, the laying box (sorry if I don't know correct terms here!) will be moved to new structure.

Here is the core of the question I have - walk-in run, or a smaller run extending from the main coop - with a lid that she can open to clean? She is ADAMANT about having a run that is minimally 7 feet tall for ease of cleaning. My understanding is that cleaning only takes place every 6 weeks.

Corner:

Since she has a small area of the backyard as available space, would it make sense to make a large coop in the corner, with two short (in terms of height) runs connected to the coop? I think it would be ideal to have 2 runs that are only a few feet in length connected to the coop, but NOT walk-in.


Any input would be greatly appreciated to resolve this design choice.

 

[Latestarter]

She is ADAMANT about having a run that is minimally 7 feet tall for ease of cleaning.

Since this will be her coop, and you are building it "for her", it seems to me that following/providing what she has asked for is the only alternative. If unable/unwilling to do so, then let someone else build it for her. Just MHO.

 

[sonomacluck]

Since this will be her coop, and you are building it "for her", it seems to me that following/providing what she has asked for is the only alternative. If unable/unwilling to do so, then let someone else build it for her. Just MHO.

Very good point, but I am her only option right now. I am wondering the following - is it a pain to clean chicken runs that are 2 - 3 feet in length, that aren't walk-in?

 

[Nardo]

On a tangent, that is a pretty nice set-up. Is there a way to move this to the new spot? Is that equal to or ? the pricing for building a new coop/run?

 

[sonomacluck]

On a tangent, that is a pretty nice set-up. Is there a way to move this to the new spot? Is that equal to or ? the pricing for building a new coop/run?

It wouldn't be an option to move the existing structure - she has plans to re-purpose it for other things. I think her budget for the new coop is anywhere between 1000 - 1500, I will be building everything.

The new coop in the corner would be approx 4X8 or even 4x10 feet, right in that corner. I just talked with her after a quick brainstorm - would it make sense to make a triangular run (ie just framed wire cloth coming down from the fence to the ground), and then "lift" up this cover in order to clean the run area?

She sees my point on not having a walk-in run. So she is no longer ADAMANT about it, lol.

 

[Nardo]

With a budget in that range and with that amount of room, your options are wide open. I, personally, wouldn't like to crawl inside a chicken poopy run to clean it out. That's why most people prefer walk in runs. Or at least where you can get a rake in there. The parameters that may narrow your search are these:
Climate (hot, dry, cold, wet, snow, humid?)
How many chickens (big ones, bantams)
Any reason to keep some birds separate (illness, broody, hatchlings)?
Type of predators ( owls, coyotes, feral cats, raccoons)
Enviromental/eco-friendly materials or?

Then you can tweak as you go. Have you looked at the coops pages? I know for certain that there are well over 2000 coops posted.

 

[sonomacluck]

With a budget in that range and with that amount of room, your options are wide open. I, personally, wouldn't like to crawl inside a chicken poopy run to clean it out. That's why most people prefer walk in runs. Or at least where you can get a rake in there. The parameters that may narrow your search are these:
Climate (hot, dry, cold, wet, snow, humid?)
How many chickens (big ones, bantams)
Any reason to keep some birds separate (illness, broody, hatchlings)?
Type of predators ( owls, coyotes, feral cats, raccoons)
Enviromental/eco-friendly materials or?

Then you can tweak as you go. Have you looked at the coops pages? I know for certain that there are well over 2000 coops posted.

That's great food for thought. I'll do a bit more research, and build it. Will post a pic in the next few days so you guys can see what I came up with! Thank you!

 

[Latestarter]

Good luck and I hope you can make her happy with the end result!

 

[Nardo]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/biddys-barn-our-first-coop.49138/

Just one option.

 

[SavKel&RynKel]

Could you build a narrow run with a lift-able lid? That was our plan before we switched to free range. You can dado hardware cloth into a 1x2 frame, and put hinges on (with plenty of securing devices) then its a short run, bit lids can be lifted and anyone can clean it.

Ryn.