Totally new: Planning coop would like opinions and ideas

[Underwhere]

Let me preface this by saying that I just found this site and a friend of mine turned me on to owning some hens.
Please excuse my stupid questions.

I have a 2 level garden which isn't being used. I was thinking of using the lower level to house the coop and the run.

Here is the design:
The large grayish panel (3 car garage) is where I'd like to harvest the eggs from.
The coop is 5 feet long and 3.5 wide. I forget how tall it is.
The square garden area it is on is 12x12.
The entire garden area is 1.5 feet off the ground.
The bottom of the coop is 2.5 feet off the ground and is level with the higher garden plot.
The fence behind is 6 feet high but angles downwards.

So I have a ton of questions and some are so basic I don't think they are discussed in here. So please bear with me. I appreciate any feedback and/or opinions. I want to do this right the first time around.

1. What exactly goes inside of a coop? Is it just a wide open space and then some nesting boxes? I see other people's designs and am not sure why they designed certain things.
1a. What is a "roost"?
2. Why are nesting boxes in other coops always located halfway up the coop? Is it a problem to put them on the bottom like I have planned for mine?
3. The coop and run are located on soil that was going to be used for a garden. It's not dirt. Is this an issue?
4. Exactly how noisy are the chickens going to be? I have neighbors on the other side of the wall maybe 30 ft away.
5. I was planning on covering both the coop and the entire run with a roof. Is this necessary? I live in the Northeast and it snows. It will also block a lot of light. Is that an issue? There are trees around and it is shady.
6. I read about people putting in removable floors. Is that sort of like a false floor? I can pull out the entire bottom of the coop to clean it and there would just be a gigantic hole in the bottom?
7. Should I make this coop multi-level? I'm not sure why.
8. How many windows should I put in this thing? Are the hens going to have an issue with too much light/too little light?
9. I saw someone had hooked up some automatic door opener/closer. Do the birds need to be in the coop at night with a locked door or can they manage by themselves in the run? (Provided it is secure from animals)

Any other convenience tips would be great.

 

[wildorchid053]

i am in upstate ny and we have an insulated coop.. we get tons of wind on a hill top.. you don't need to insulate if you have a sheltered spot out of the wind.. in the winter they need to be free of drafts on them.. they can get frost bite on their combs and feet. make sure you have good ventilation so the air can circulate above them, not on them. this helps remove the moisture that causes frostbite, they enjoy the sunlite from windows.. lite is what makes the production of eggs more.. not enough lite can stop them from laying..we have a roost bar that is a 2x4 and they roost on the 4" side of the board.. this way their feet are flat and their feathers keep them warm when they sleep and help protect their feet from frost bite. the nest box we have is close to the floor and the roost should be higher than the nest box.. they will go to the highest spots to sleep on. the nest box should be out of a busy area.. and more private. you might need electrical power to your coop if their water will freeze. they each drink about 2 cups of water a day and it is a pain to keep filling it up with warm water everytime it freezes. they sell heated waterers that plug in . good luck with your coop and run.. your ideas look good.. and most of all enjoy those chickens and welcome to byc

 

[cdawson41]

I also am quite new to the BYC, that being said this is an awesome site for information you are looking for and just reading up and finding out about things you may have no clue about. I've learned tons already.

You ask about the roost, this is where the chickens go to sleep most generally, I have one that sleeps in a nest box. My suggestion for the roost is to make it with a hinge system. DH designed mine and when I got in to clean the coop I can actually lift the roost from the bottom and hook it to my ceiling therefore getting it out of the way to clean as opposed to cleaning around it.

I believe he said he used "lag" bolts to make the hinges with. Very nice option in my opinion.

You ask about how much noise they will make. I have to say that other than the roo we have who sometimes can be quite vocal I don't hear the girls during the course of the day. I know they are out there "talking" to each other, but as I sit here and type I have the window open and can not hear them. However, when I go outside or call the girls, especially Lucy is quite vocal and doesn't stop til I pick her up, but even at that I don't think she is loud enough that she would bother a neighbor, if I had any close enough to be concerned about. I really think the honest answer to this is it's going to depend on what type of birds you have and their own personality.

Do enjoy them, I'm having a blast with mine and so look forward to next summer when I will be able to do more with them. Waiting on the first egg was so exciting, and now I make about three trips a day out there checking for eggs just because it tickles me that much.

 

[Underwhere]

Quote:
Thanks!

Ok so if my nesting area is the 3 car garage I'll plan on putting a simple 2x4 at the opposite end of the coop as a roost.
I'll put in a bunch of windows as well. Ventilation up top and not below. Got it.

 

[GrandmaAnn]

First off, I have to congratulate you on your awesome graphic.

You can go to a library and check out a nice book on coop design and chicken care. That would be a great way to start.

I'll try to answer some of your questions.

Yes, you should have a roof over the run. It does not have to be solid, but the chickens will get out and predators will get in if you don't enclose the roof. You can use any type of fencing material.

Nesting boxes about 2' above the floor will help discourage the hens from laying eggs on the floor, where they'll get dirty and broken.

A roost is a perch. Chickens like to sleep up off the floor. They'll also use them during the day.

Type of ground doesn't really matter, especially since it is raised. That will help it drain well.

I think a flock of crows is noisier than a flock of hens. Hens just cluck about quietly until it is time to lay an egg. Then they make more noise. Roosters crow early morning and off and on throughout the day.

Multi-level increases floor space so that you can have more chickens per cubic foot. It also makes cleaning it out harder. Some people think it may encourage pecking order problems, others disagree with that thought.

Yes, you need some windows. They won't lay without light. You may decide to add some light in the winter time if you want your hens to lay during the winter. # & size of windows may depend on what you have available.

I really don't have anything to say about a removable floor.

An automatic door is a dream of mine, something that will probably stay that way. If your run is strongly secure, they could be in it all night. They will just go into the coop on their own. We have a secure run, but we live in the country. We have bear, raccoon, coyote, even had cougars twice. So, we lock them up tightly at night.

Only convenient tips I can think of is give some thought to where and how you will store your feed, what you will do with the litter when you clean out the coop, and installing electricity.

 

[Underwhere]

Thanks GrandmaAnn

Another stupid question.

How come most of the coops I see are above the ground and have some space underneath. Is there any particular reason for that?

Ok so I gotta bring the nesting area up off the floor somehow. That will screw a bit with my garage door but it is do-able. (I really wanted to be able to open the garage door to get the eggs but I guess I can't force the hens to lay in the garage)

And then I have to have a roost that is higher than the nesting area.

If my coop is only 3' high then that will pose a problem.

if I put my nesting area 1' off the ground and the roost 2' off the ground then it's going to be difficult to get ventilation above the hens so the breeze isn't on them.

 

[Underwhere]

Quote:
Are they quiet at night? During the day I'm not too concerned. It's nighttime if my neighbors feel like sleeping with their windows open.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Elevating the coop gives the chickens more ground space than they would have otherwise. By elevating your coop, your birds would gain 17.5 sq feet of extra space to roam. So, if you put your nest boxes in the garage with a hen access hole to the coop, the big garage door won't open? Do I have this right?

 

[AnnainMD]

A roof over a run is necessary for predator protection. I would recommend something permeable over something solid if you get a lot of snow. If you use solid materials, you need to be very good about cleaning the snow off to prevent collapse. I believe shade cloth is very popular.

Elevating the nest boxes keeps them cleaner I think, otherwise a lot of the floor shavings would end up kicked into the boxes. They should also be fairly well darkened to encourage egg laying IN the nest boxes.

The roost should be higher than the nest boxes, otherwise they will roost in the nest boxes and poop all over them. The nest boxes are the one place I DON'T have any poop.

Shade is VERY important if you have a sunny yard. Deciduous trees are ideal as the leaves will shade the coop and run in the summer and be leafless to allow warmth for the coop/run. Chickens have poor heat tolerance but good cold tolerance. You could build your coop with the option of insulating if needed, I would measure the temp in the coop during the winter and if it remains above freezing then you're fine. The kicker is keeping the water from freezing.

Consider a poop board or tray. It will make the coop so much cleaner.

The hens are very quiet at night, no noise at all unless something attacks them. A rooster can be noisy at all hours. If you want quiet I suggest no roosters.

Make the floor cleanout level with the wheelbarrow to make bedding changes easier. Also make the door to the run large enough to let in the wheelbarrow.

Last bit of advice: read The Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow. It's the Bible of Chicken-Keeping.
Good luck.

 

[Schultz]

Quote:
Are they quiet at night? During the day I'm not too concerned. It's nighttime if my neighbors feel like sleeping with their windows open.

Chickens will sleep through the night. If you don't want to disturb your neighbors then definetly don't get any Roosters. The hens stay fairly quiet unless they spot something that they see as danger (i.e. predators, etc..) or when they are laying eggs which with our girls, they usually lay in the late morning and early afternoon. They can be quite vocal when they are singing their "egg laying song"