This interior design is not working. Help in fixing please.

[Mel281]

So one hen typically sits in the pop door, blocking the others and forcing them to sleep in the run. That combined with tight roosting space is making this not work on multiple levels. I have been working on this, and I'll post pics of my current design, but I need help knowing hat can I do to make it more roosting friendly.

The interior dimensions are 40"x40." It's a little tight for 5 birds, but only 4 were meant to survive.
The pop door is now about 12" off the floor. We designed it with the intention of doing the deep litter method, but not really doing in anymore.

If we lower the pop door to just off the coop floor, will that help? How can I lay out the roosts to make them usable and easily accessible. Getting a mid-height roost seems to be a problem with the big opening door and the nest boxes.
Exterior view


view from pop door. Shows one 40" roost, another about 12".


The view from the clean-out door. Here are the 5 chickens in at night, put there by me.

 

[Folly's place]

I agree that your coop is too small! Your best fix might be to enclose the run so it's all coop; you could do it with plastic or tarps, with six to twelve inches open at the top for good ventilation. I have found that pop doors can be too guardable, and so my coop and pen doors are human sized instead. I've got about five sq. ft. of coop per bird, and 40% of my birds are bantams. It's still a bit crowded for them in winter when they don't want to range in the snow. More space will solve your problems, IMO. Mary

 

[JanetS]

I agree, your coop is to small. We expanded our coop. Here's some pictures.

Phase 1

Phase 2

Done. We moved out the nesting box wall. Went from a 3' x 6' to 6' x 6'.

 

[JanetS]

Inside pictures.

From this.

To this. Our chickens love the extra room.

 

[Mel281]

Thanks for the tips. I'm not sure how hubby would feel about me telling me the coop is too small..."It's fine." is what I expect. It was a lot of work- insulated so everything is that much more complicated. He has been super busy at work, so there isn't much motivation for "extra" projects.

Here is a side picture of the coop. I wonder if just expanding the left wall as pictured would help at all. Otherwise the idea of turning the run into coop for the winter might work. Or one less chicken...
.

.

 

[Mel281]

Well, we settled on closing up the run for the winter, leaving about 8-12 inches open around the top for ventilation. There are plenty of "leaky" spots, like around the door, so it won't be perfectly draft free, but it certainly will help. Hopefully they don't eat the insulation. They haven't shown an interest in it so far.

Now that I'm looking at the picture, I'm realizing the 8-12" open space might not be necessary (and possibly make it too drafty??) since there is a peak that is open...Hmm... I guess if they get cold enough, they'll go into the hen house, right?

 

[Amberjem]

good luck

 

[Folly's place]

Hope this works out; they will have more space. My birds will eat any type of insulation happily, so watch and be ready to modify things if they start in on it. Mary