*UPDATED* Building a new coop - New pics on Page 8

[GeneJordan]

Quote:
I like your design...

 

[Hottchick]

What I did with my coop is build the nest boxes inside and under the roost. The top of the nest boxes is the poop board. It's covered in linoleum so I can clean it every day when I let the chickens out. It works great except when someone is in the boxes I try not to clean it and disturb them. My boxes are elevated enough for the girls to walk underneath them so they don't take up so much floor space.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
That's what Patandchickens has. She also has some excellent pages on ventilation and cold weather coops which are linked on the page below. Sooner or later she is likely to find this thread and post; then you will have some excellent advice. Certainly makes great space saver sense:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Probably not, as you are going to need to get under there sooner or later. Also if it is high enough for the chickens to go under, it makes a great shady and hiding place. I'm not the person to suggest materials here; I have a dirt floor coop and am no expert.

 

[elmo]

What about a single "U" shaped roost arrangement, running from the doors on both sides and all along the side wall? The side wall is 8 feet and the usuable parts of the other two walls have got to be almost 8 feet, so that would get you up in the neighborhood of 24 feet of roost width. Underneath, you could put a poop board all around, and scrape the pooey shavings into a bucket or even a wheelbarrow. This way, you wouldn't have to mess with building an external poop door. Adding another door to the coop is just another vulnerability to secure from predators, too.

Underneath the poop boards all around the side of the coop would be usable floor space, too. You could even put a row of nestboxes right there.

I spend a lot of time just watching my chickens interact with each other. I call it my chicken soap opera. One thing I noticed is that they do squabble as they settle in on the roost at night, and certain chickens just seem to rub each other the wrong way. I have only 9 bantams, but I'd imagine in a flock as large as 25 there will be more of that kind of thing. Parallel roosts seem to me to increase the likelihood for these kinds of evening interactions. Each chicken is not only next to one on her right and left, but also in front of her and in back of her. I suppose if there was plenty of space between the bars (longer than a chicken's pecking range), there wouldn't be that issue.

You may laugh at me bringing up something like chicken contentment, but I remember my father telling stories about keeping chickens on the farm he grew up on in Vermont. As a boy, he took over care of the chickens from his mother on the deal that he would split the profits with her from selling the eggs. He immediately went about pampering the chickens and seeing to their comfort. They started to lay like crazy! He was making so much money, his mother got jealous. She took back care of the chickens from my dad.

Of course you can guess what happened. Without the additional care and attention that my father had provided, the egg production went back down.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You have a lot of good opportunities with that building. There is not a lot of overhang on the sides, so those covers/baffles Elmo has look like a great idea.

I put outside access to my nests and find I just don't use them. Some people do and love them, but I find it easier to just go inside and get the eggs. Besides, I like to look inside the coop to make sure everything is OK. I found a possum in there once. Another time, I found a dead chicken in there. Then there was the time the black snake was in there. A big black snake. I do like to look inside when I gather eggs.

Remember that space under the nest boxes is measured from the top of the bedding, not the coop floor. They will scratch a lot and maybe raise the level of bedding to where it is not useable. A nice dark cozy place under there might look like a good place to lay eggs. And if it is not accessable to chickens, it makes a great safe place for Mommy Mouse to raise her young.

As great as that poop board design looks, with your number of chickens, you might want to consider if it is the right design for you. I agree you need plenty of space on the roosts. It is not that they take up a lot of space once they are up there. They don't. They like to snuggle up with their buddies and really don't take up much room when they are up there. But they spread their wings when getting up there and need space for that. They also move around a lot sorting out who gets to sleep nest to whom. That takes space. I also find that my chickens are really vicious enforcing their pecking order rights when on the roosts. The ones lower in the pecking order need room to get away from the ones higher up.

I also have a dirt floor with aprons around to stop digging predators. If you do elevate it, you will either have to get under there at some point (chickens laying under there, sick or injured chickens, something) or if access is denied, it is a great place for Mommy Mouse, Mommy Rat, a snake, something, to set up residence. If you elevate it, I suggest you elevate it enough.

 

[Stevenson]

This is exactly why I wanted to show my design before I built! I appreciate the comments!

I do really want access to the nest boxes from the outside so that my wife can access the eggs when I am out of town without going into the coop due to health concerns. Modifying them so that they don't stick out as much or at all is certainly a possibility. I'll have to think about it. I will still be entering the coop everyday to get eggs when I am around.

What is being said about my poop board design makes sense. I had hoped to be able to scrape them off from the outside directly into a wheel barrow so that I could haul it off easily, but with 25 birds that may not make sense. I will rethink that as well. I do like the idea of the roost that wraps around from door to door.

This is making me think!

 

[THINGUM]

So, 4 sq. ft. per chx with 96 sq. feet available = 12 chx. and you are wanting to build another coop any way. My first thought after going thru all these posts is that I would build another coop equal to this one and place them side by side with one common wall. cut a BIG door in the common wall. You've got enough room to the left of what i see as the front. if you start out with with 10 or 12 then you'll get some experience concerning the needs of both you and your chx. A hasp would secure the external egg door. You'll figure out the poop board thing. Either they need to be half as long and twice as many, under parallel roosts, slide out the end instead so they're easier to scrape into some container or a wheelbarrow. No access under the coop, 'cause that's where they'll be really difficult to retrieve. Don't know how you'll ever stop mice. My intention is to build an coop based on the posts to "What do you like most about your coop? And I see the poop board as a shallow tray, covered with formica that I can scrape into a removable container at one end. Sorta like the fry grill in a restaurant ...

I'm from a restaurant and construction back ground so all my experience is either cooking or eating them. Hopefully someone like Elmo will stop me before i build the "Remington of Chicken Houses".

Build her hell for stout, "pretty" always takes care of herself. ... Charlie Settlemeyer.

 

[Stevenson]

Quote:
4x12=48 sq ft
96 sq ft would give 25 chickens about 3.8 sq ft each. I suppose I could reduce down to 24 chickens without hurting anything. 25 was just a round number I was using.

I can't really build another coop this year because of the financial side of things. I am putting a lot more money into this than I had originally intended and what I really should....but dang it, I am already addicted to chickens!

 

[darkmatter]

Great start, I have a 8 X 12 Coop, see my BYC page for pics. I'm not a fan of wooden/concrete floors and poop boards, I prefer the Deep Litter method in a Pit with dirt floors. I would, if starting with a shed like that, place it on a brick/stone/concrete foundation to keep the wooden parts above ground, add ventilation and windows. Orientate the Coop to maximize solar input for winter and have shade for summer. Your plans for nest boxes access from outside is similar to mine, works good for me. Another thing I did with the Run was to have it adjoin the fenced garden to have the chickens glean and clean it up in the fall and winter. I don't have water or electricity run to my coop, I collect the roof rain into a stock tank and use that for watering. Good luck with your endeavors.