Super Cute Coop I designed and built

[fresheggsdaily]

Items for sale must be in auction format and must be for a tangible item here on BYC and listed in the proper BSA section.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Like most advertised coops, this one is too small for the number of chickens it recommends. A 4' x 6' coop for 12 to 15 chickens! I personally would not try it.

I'll make no other comments on the coop itself, but I will give this warning.

 

[scooter147]

I've seen this coop before and others very similiar to it. The one thing I don't get is why don't they put windows or some other means of venilation in them. Where I live my chickens would be roasted on any particular July or August morning.

 

[fresheggsdaily]

The coop has double vent doors on one side. Two smaller vents above the nesting boxes and a round vent above the front door. The rule of thumb is a 1 to 5 ratio between solid walls and windows, which this coop has.

The coop has plenty of room. My hens are in it from dark to sunup. That's it. And their run is HUGE. They have 1600 square feet to run around it. Noone steps into the coop except to sleep and their body heat keeps it warm in the winter. Far better than those other coops advertised, like the chicken arks, that allow 3 hens a 6 sq ft coop and a 4x8 run. Now THAT's not enough room.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you use it for nothing but a safe palce for them to sleep and nest, yes, it can work for 12 to 15 chickens. But if you like to sleep in on a Saturday, have weather that does not allow them access to a lot of room outside 365 days a year, talke a vacation and have problems getting someone reliable to open the pop door at the crack of dawn, or have any other issues that does not give them a lot of extra room from when they wake up until they go to bed, you risk real behavior problems, let alone the extrta poop handling you have to do.

With the way you manage your chickens, it has plenty of room, but for the vast majority of people on this forum, they would be flirting with disaster to try to house chickens in those densities.

I look at it like when someone posted that they use chicken manure on their vegetable garden. A few people came back and mentioned some risks of doing that. The original poster then came back and said, well, yes, I compost it first. Details matter. I don't see anywhere in that add where it mentions the considerations of housing chickens in that density.

 

[Luke13:34]

I love it!! Good job and good for you for helping re-"coop" your losses by selling the plans.

 

[dkvart1]

Looks like you would have to hire elves to give the inside a good scrubbing...unless the top flips up... didn't read the details, just my first impression. Could see it working for 4 or 5 birds though.

 

[Katydid2011]

Quote:
X2

 

[fresheggsdaily]

Hi. The top is hinged as is the nesting box roof. Its super easy to clean, in fact I just did my spring cleaning and it took no time. Its great because I can prop the roof open in the summer when its really hot to let the heat out so by dusk the coop is not baking.

It has almost 20 feet of roosts inside so my 14 hens are very comfortable in it. I happen to work from home so yes, I am here to let them out each morning and when we go on vacation we have a friend who comes by to let them out. I suppose an automatic door opener could be added...but I don't feel the need.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I didn't see the extra vents in the pictures, just the one above the nest boxes. Do you have any pictures of the coop, showing the other vents? Having another vent added up high on both ends, as you describe, could help a lot with ventilation, depending on the sizes.

When you mentioned double doors on the side as a vent, do you mean the service doors on the side? That would work great during the day to cool it off or vent more moisture, but not at all when they're cooped up at night or in the morning. Sometimes people need to have their chickens locked in the coop temporarily during the day for various reasons, too. So, I think the other ventilation openings are extremely important. Many people also build the run coming right off the pop door, instead of having the entire coop inside the run. In that case, the open service doors would let the chickens out. These are just considerations for anyone wanting to go with this design.

It looks like it's sturdy, which is a big plus, compared to a lot of the little prefab coops.

Spacing issues, well, that's pretty much a problem with every coop and plan being sold.