Things you've learned while building your coop...

[WallyG74]

Incorporate the brooder inside or attach to the main coop. I built mine separate and after raising my first batch of chicks, I have a new project. Move the brooder.

 

[catballou]

The only thing I don't like about my coop is the door swings in. It's a small coop. The door will be fixed this summer to swing out. What pita.

Mine swings out and they mob me trying to escape when I go in.

 

[catballou]

Quote:

My golden laced wyandotte is huge. 2 square feet is NOT going to be big enough for clean happy birds. The prevailing wisdom is 4 sq feet inside the coop and 10 sq feet in the run per bird. I have just a smidge over that and it seems a bit crowded.

Agree. I have three of those, two buff Orpingtons and 5 other good size hens. Thank God I can let them run inside my barn when it's snowy outside.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Abundance is a social lubricant. Multiple waterers, multiple feeders, multiple roosts, plenty of space, multiple in run sources of entertainment will all help to promote good behavior - **AND** the failure of any one waterer (tipped/frozen/leaking), feeder (tipped/clogged/empty/spoiled), etc becomes a much less critical failure.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Make sure if it has trays, you can pull them out. I had to move a coop that was built and occupied because it was too close to another one and I couldn't pull the poop tray out.

Make sure snow isn't going to jam doors open. My cull pen is currently open at night because snow and ice have made it impossible to latch

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I should of put mesh under my pen i only used dog kennel size for raccoons at etc now I have rats digging in

 

[Chzikken]

I had this 8'' x 10' garden shed built and delivered a couple of years ago. Installed insulation/plywood to walls. Added another window on backside. Since it gets hot during the summer, I added a solar fan above the door to help the vents at the peaks.