The coop de ville.......

[missionsix]

Day one of my chicken coop. It measures 6' wide by 7' high by 8' deep.
It's going to also have 12 nest boxes that measure 16" x !6" x 14". Do I need to seperate each nest box individually?
I have it raised above the ground 2' so they can use the space underneath for a shaded area(it will be enclosed with chicken wire).
It's also going to have a 8' x 8' yard that will be completely enclosed.
I haven't quite decided on the entrance and the size of the entrance.


This is going to be a window for ventilation/natural lighting here.

Left side. (with rough opening for the nesting boxes)

And the door opening.

After I took these pics I worked on it again for a couple hours. The door is built and installed and most of 1 nest box is done. Please share any suggestions. I am new to keeping these things. And a couple pics of my fishtank.

 

[Mahonri]

Great start!

and a beautiful tank. We used to have one and it got to be too much work... and NOW I have chickens!

 

[Cheryl]

you do not need 12 boxes!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not sure what you mean by separating nesting boxes so it is a little hard to answer the question. They can be side by side or stacked on top of each other.

Some people use community nesting boxes where several hens can lay at the same time in the same nest. They tend to do that anyway if they can squeeze onto the nest.

The rule of thumb is 1 standard nesting box bor every 4 laying hens. A 16" x 16" (same size as mine) is a large standard size.

 

[gumpsgirl]

It looks like you are off to a great start on your coop! Might I make a suggestion to you though? You don't have to make your nesting boxes so big. The hens will actually be happier if you make them smaller! They tend to like a nice, cozy, dark spot where they can lay their eggs. A good size nesting box only needs to be 12x12. My big Blue Orpington hens are even happy with that size. You also don't need 12 nesting boxes unless you have a bunch of hens. Just some suggestions for you that will save you $ and space in your coop in the long run.

Your fish tank is absolutely beautiful! Great pics too!

 

[Suburban chick farmer 09]

Nice start. How many chickens are you going to house in there? You only need 1 nest box for every four chickens.

 

[Chickenmaven]

I agree - you don't need 12 nest boxes. I started out with 30 chicks, so I asked my friend to make "some" nest boxes. He had some 8ft. shelving, so he built an 8ft. two shelf unit and placed milk crates on them. That's 16 nest boxes! The hens started using 3 of the 16, plus a nest they made, themselves, on top of a hay bale. I have also seem them crowd and squeeze in order to lay next to one another. I replaced six of the milk crates with 3 old dresser drawers. They love these communal boxes.

 

[wrenheninn]

Yeah, unless you are going to have 50 layers, 12 boxes is too many. 1 box to 4 hens is the rule of thumb.

 

[ranchhand]

WOW! That's Day One? That much done would be more like Week One here! Great job, looking forward to the progress reports.

 

[Acre of Blessings]

I also agree with the nesting boxes suggestions. I have 21 hens and they use 2 nesting boxes that are 12x12 in size.

How many hens are you planning on having?