Starting over on coop - design recommendations?

[MROO]

Before you make any real changes to the design, think about your sister's long-term response. Will she push a bit, then see your logic as positive? Will she give into the changes, but regret it later? She's your sister. You know better than anyone else how she will react to being "talked into" something she didn't want. I highly recommend you go through some of the coop pages here with her. There are some really great ideas on BYC. You'll likely end up cobbling pieces together for a wonderful coop and run. Just please, document all of your steps so we can follow the progress. It's so cool to watch things grow!

 

[sonomacluck]

My sister read through this entire thread just now, and there will be NO walk-in run. In fact, no run!

We are going for one giant walk-in coop at this point. So, no hinged triangles and other nonsense ideas from yours truly. The coop will be 20' x 6' - about triple the area her 5 chickens now have.

She laughed a lot reading all of your comments, because she was ribbing me the entire way. SEE! SEE! IT NEEDS TO BE WALK-IN!!!

I was really trying to reduce the work on this by 50% or more. Me and my big mouth - "hey sis, want to read through the thread"?

 

[Folly's place]

Sonoma, you both need to look at the Woods coop designs too!!!
Mary

 

[PirateGirl]

Looks like you signed up for a bigger project that you bargained for Many of us on BYC have lured an unsuspecting friend, family member, spouse, neighbor, etc. into a grande coop build!

 

[IamRainey]

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?

YES!

 

[lazy gardener]

I would NEVER EVER in a million years consider building a coop or run that is not walk in. Can you put your general location in your profile. Climate makes a huge difference. What is the footprint of the available space she has to work with?

IMO, the absolute minimum size for a coop, no matter how few birds would be 4 x 8, walk in style. Shed is easiest to construct. That size would hold at most 8 birds. The minimum size run to go with that would be 80 s.f. to work for up to 8 birds. Ventilation in the coop should be at least 1 s.f. per bird, or an area = to 10% of the floor space. A roofed run would be fantastic. If not putting a solid roof over it, it will at least need netting or fencing over the top to keep raptors/daytime predators out. The coop/run will also need a buried skirt, this can be buried horizontally under the sod, or buried vertically.

If she builds a tall run, she will never have to "clean" it if she does deep litter. But, in order for DLM to work, it should be walk in style, and have a nice wide entry door, preferably large enough for a wheelbarrow.

Deep litter is a composting litter that is very easy to manage: you simply put your spent coop litter, leaves, grass clippings, garden debris, hay, straw, AGED wood chips into the run, with the goal to make a mixture of material that is around 6" deep. The birds will add their poo nuggets and churn the litter into a deep spongy fragrant compost that can then be used in the veggie or ornamental garden. No cleaning, EVER! No odor. Easy disposal of coop litter and yard waste. End product: rich black compost that your neighbors would gladly PAY for! The feed bill will also go down b/c the DL will attract beneficial insects and worms. The bird's will also be healthier b/c the DL will be populated with beneficial bacteria and fungi which will boost the health of the bird's digestive and immune systems. The beneficial organisms will also help to keep pathogens in check.

 

[lazy gardener]

My sister read through this entire thread just now, and there will be NO walk-in run. In fact, no run!

We are going for one giant walk-in coop at this point. So, no hinged triangles and other nonsense ideas from yours truly. The coop will be 20' x 6' - about triple the area her 5 chickens now have.

She laughed a lot reading all of your comments, because she was ribbing me the entire way. SEE! SEE! IT NEEDS TO BE WALK-IN!!!

I was really trying to reduce the work on this by 50% or more. Me and my big mouth - "hey sis, want to read through the thread"?

Sonoma, you both need to look at the Woods coop designs too!!!
Mary

If you are going to go with a giant walk in style... 20 x 6 ish, AND if you are in a warmer climate, you could easily build a modified Wood's style. This would give Sis everything she wants in a single building which is the gold standard for coop design regardless of climate. Woods do great even with winters that have days or weeks at a time with below 0* temps. And, you could turn the coop/run into a deep litter. Both my coop and run are deep litter. DL is easiest to manage with a soil floor.

An other super easy structure to build would be a hoop coop. Check @Blooie 's hoop coop for a super easy build that would work well in a suburban area, without the "tarpy" look that is common to many hoop coops.

 

[JDN]

You really want to be able to walk in the run one way or another. Mine is a few inches shorter than I am, and its just fine, but I have more than once had to walk in there for something, either trash that got in there or a feeder kicked over or a chicken got stuck or hurt somehow or to plug a hole that emerged, access the coop from that side, etc.

 

[JDN]

Thank you all! I hear you on the walk-in run PirateGirl!

We decided on a run that butts up against the existing fence line, in a triangular shape. The whole triangle will lift up flush to the fence, exposing the run area and making it 100% accessible.

I am digging the trench for the coop right now. In terms of zoning - no problemo, she is in Berkeley, backyard chicken paradise. Coop is going to be 10' long, 6' wide, 6' 1/2" tall.

The main predators identified here are raccoons and coyotes. My question is this - and I'm only worried about raccoons - how far down do I have to bury the hardware cloth? I saw some tips about back-filling with stones and whatnot, but how far down will a raccoon go? Her original coop is super protected by a brick patio surrounding the coop (see original pic in first post).

Again, thanks for all the input on this, greatly appreciated!

Don't bury it per se. Lay it flat in an apron and put it down with sod staples. Grass will grow right through it.

I see that you're in the Bay area and doing a big coop. Smart, its mild enough there that they only really need three sides of shelter anyhow.

 

[jthornton]

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.

I clean my coop (roosting area) every morning and clean the chicken yard twice a day... NEVER make a run shorter than the person having to clean it.

I made this 4' tall run thinking that how tall does a chicken need. I totally forgot that I need to get in that thing and clean it. I also didn't know the function of chicken wire is only to contain chickens.


JT