We are building a coop.... Looking for smart investments, and helpful additions.

[Ada06]

My dad and I are building a chicken palace this year. It is going to be two sided for my two different flocks. The silkies on one side with the rest of the hens on the other. Each will be 8x8 with a large run like (16x16?) plus fenced in free range area (Which will come a bit later). The coop will be raised a couple feet with sand underneath for both dustbathing and a roofed in area. Not entirely sure where the roosting and stuff will be placed but I know the inside walls will be plywood underneath this: https://www.menards.com/main/floori...843p144/p-1552372161171.htm?primaryMeas=144.0
I am not sure what the siding material should be, recommendations would be great! The roof is going to be made from extra metal siding from our pole barn. We are thinking about doing a slanting roof so the coop is going to be around 8 feet tall at the peak and 4 ft at the lowest point. This way snow and rain will wash off. The coop will have electricity, running water already hooked up nearby, and so on.
Any suggestions/ add ons to help design this would be great. Thanks!!

 

[Ada06]

My dad and I are building a chicken palace this year. It is going to be two sided for my two different flocks. The silkies on one side with the rest of the hens on the other. Each will be 8x8 with a large run like (16x16?) plus fenced in free range area (Which will come a bit later). The coop will be raised a couple feet with sand underneath for both dustbathing and a roofed in area. Not entirely sure where the roosting and stuff will be placed but I know the inside walls will be plywood underneath this: https://www.menards.com/main/floori...843p144/p-1552372161171.htm?primaryMeas=144.0
I am not sure what the siding material should be, recommendations would be great! The roof is going to be made from extra metal siding from our pole barn. We are thinking about doing a slanting roof so the coop is going to be around 8 feet tall at the peak and 4 ft at the lowest point. This way snow and rain will wash off. The coop will have electricity, running water already hooked up nearby, and so on.
Any suggestions/ add ons to help design this would be great. Thanks!!

Also I should mention my budget is like $2,000.

 

[Chipper Chicken]

What a fantastic project! I like that flooring, I never knew you could get it 12’ wide and cut to length, that’s great.

Since you’re up in a colder climate ventilation is just as important a factor as protection from weather. May I suggest you and your dad look at the Woods style coops? It’s what I have, although we’re usually not as cold in the winters we can get rain, and lots of it, any day of the year. That means wet, damp conditions which can cause frostbite unless there is gentle air movement displacing all that ammonia rich air with fresh air. In an even colder climate like yours it’s still that removal of ammonia thats so important. The Woods design is rather ingenious in its passive air movement and was widely used in the northern states and Canada starting in the early 1900’s. It was also widely used nationwide just about everywhere except the South, which he had a different version for.
There are many examples here on BYC, i have a few listed on my coop page but there are several terrific new ones I haven’t linked yet. @JackE (who I do have a link to on my coop page) has one of the first (and best) ones on BYC, and both @Howard E and @Ted Brown have wonderful build pages/threads and are a wealth of information.

Good luck and enjoy the journey!

Chipper

 

[Ada06]

What a fantastic project! I like that flooring, I never knew you could get it 12’ wide and cut to length, that’s great.

Since you’re up in a colder climate ventilation is just as important a factor as protection from weather. May I suggest you and your dad look at the Woods style coops? It’s what I have, although we’re usually not as cold in the winters we can get rain, and lots of it, any day of the year. That means wet, damp conditions which can cause frostbite unless there is gentle air movement displacing all that ammonia rich air with fresh air. In an even colder climate like yours it’s still that removal of ammonia thats so important. The Woods design is rather ingenious in its passive air movement and was widely used in the northern states and Canada starting in the early 1900’s.
There are many examples here on BYC, i have a few listed on my coop page but there are several terrific new ones I haven’t linked yet. @JackE has one of the first (and best) ones on BYC, and both @Howard E and @Ted Brown have wonderful build pages/threads and are a wealth of information.

Good luck and enjoy the journey!

Chipper

Awesome idea!
I had my fair share of frostbite this winter (coop kit)
So with the ever increasing number of chickens I own and that experience, we are building a coop. I just want to make sure stuff like frostbite isnt a major problem anymore.
Thank you!

 

[TJAnonymous]

Posting this and then coming back to this post from my phone.... But here is a Woods inspired coop that is very similar to my own. However, I had never heard of a Woods coop until I saw this thread...ha ha.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/8-x-12-woods-coop-design-plan.1221551/

I just built a new Silkie coop over the past 2 weeks. I used pallets covered with plywood to get it off the ground and added sand/screenings substrate over the plywood. I treated the plywood with deck sealant to protect the wood from moisture and to seal against splinters, etc... Mine also will have a covered porch surrounded by hardware cloth leading to a covered run although that part isn't completed yet. We also used 2x2s because it was cheaper than 2x4s. We used leftover metal sheets for the roof, similar to what you are doing. We also added an automatic chicken door. Total cost of our materials is $400. The only thing I haven't bought yet is the welded wire fencing for the 10' x 24' run which will cost us another $70.

Btw, our little coop stands 4' at the back and 5' 8" at the front.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Oh, I almost forgot....on the plans you see the Broody Boxes. These are not totally completed yet either. We created sliding barn doors with plywood and hardware cloth so a box can shut if a broody hen needs privacy to sit her clutch. It will allow us to keep the other chickens out. Those roosts that are above it can also be lifted off to access the broody boxes from above if the sliding doors are closed.

 

[Ada06]

Posting this and then coming back to this post from my phone.... But here is a Woods inspired coop that is very similar to my own. However, I had never heard of a Woods coop until I saw this thread...ha ha.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/8-x-12-woods-coop-design-plan.1221551/

I just built a new Silkie coop over the past 2 weeks. I used pallets covered with plywood to get it off the ground and added sand/screenings substrate over the plywood. I treated the plywood with deck sealant to protect the wood from moisture and to seal against splinters, etc... Mine also will have a covered porch surrounded by hardware cloth leading to a covered run although that part isn't completed yet. We also used 2x2s because it was cheaper than 2x4s. We used leftover metal sheets for the roof, similar to what you are doing. We also added an automatic chicken door. Total cost of our materials is $400. The only thing I haven't bought yet is the welded wire fencing for the 10' x 24' run which will cost us another $70.

Btw, our little coop stands 4' at the back and 5' 8" at the front.

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Super cool! What kind of siding is that? We are building a two sided coop for my two separate flocks. How could I rework these blueprints to do this model of coop? The ventilation with this style coop REALLY interests me. A fresh smelling coop all the time would be awesome!

 

[Ada06]

Oh, I almost forgot....on the plans you see the Broody Boxes. These are not totally completed yet either. We created sliding barn doors with plywood and hardware cloth so a box can shut if a broody hen needs privacy to sit her clutch. It will allow us to keep the other chickens out. Those roosts that are above it can also be lifted off to access the broody boxes from above if the sliding doors are closed.

That is smart! I might have copy that idea......

 

[TJAnonymous]

Super cool! What kind of siding is that? We are building a two sided coop for my two separate flocks. How could I rework these blueprints to do this model of coop? The ventilation with this style coop REALLY interests me. A fresh smelling coop all the time would be awesome!

It is engineered wood siding panels. This was probably the most expensive part of our materials... We purchased 6 panels which was enough to do our coop. Also, I had intended for the interior part of the coop to be 5' x 6' with a 3' x 6' covered porch. However because we built it on a pallet base, it ended up a little bigger. I think the interior is around 74" x 79". The porch is still 3' wide by the entire width of the front.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/SmartSide-...tual-0-315-in-x-48-563-in-x-95-875-in/3058153

Using these wood panels for siding made our lives SOOOO much easier and provided good thickness to the walls.

As for ventilation, we have 3 different ways that it is ventilated. We left some gaps at the top between the roof joists and the walls. I covered these gaps with hardware cloth to keep out any critters....but we live in the south and it gets really HOT in the summer. Heat rises so I wanted a way to ventilate near the roof to keep the air movement. We also added two 8x16 screened vents on the front above the covered porch. Might add 2 of these same screened vents on the back too in order to create a cross ventilation. Lastly, we added the little window by the door. That window cost me $30 at Lowes but it lets in light and can be opened for more ventilation in summer or closed as needed.

 

[Ada06]

It is engineered wood siding panels. This was probably the most expensive part of our materials... We purchased 6 panels which was enough to do our coop. Also, I had intended for the interior part of the coop to be 5' x 6' with a 3' x 6' covered porch. However because we built it on a pallet base, it ended up a little bigger. I think the interior is around 74" x 79". The porch is still 3' wide by the entire width of the front.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/SmartSide-...tual-0-315-in-x-48-563-in-x-95-875-in/3058153

Using these wood panels for siding made our lives SOOOO much easier and provided good thickness to the walls.

As for ventilation, we have 3 different ways that it is ventilated. We left some gaps at the top between the roof joists and the walls. I covered these gaps with hardware cloth to keep out any critters....but we live in the south and it gets really HOT in the summer. Heat rises so I wanted a way to ventilate near the roof to keep the air movement. We also added two 8x16 screened vents on the front above the covered porch. Might add 2 of these same screened vents on the back too in order to create a cross ventilation. Lastly, we added the little window by the door. That window cost me $30 at Lowes but it lets in light and can be opened for more ventilation in summer or closed as needed.

Awesome!! This is a great idea! I really like the wood paneling idea, no need to paint and is a bit insulated. Thank you!