we built a coop(mostly). Is this enough ventilation? Missed anything?

[Jayson745]

So, I had a piece of a deck, and a broken utility trailer I took wood from, so the coop is half scrap wood. Anyway, its 4 foot by 8 foot. We are going to make some kind of eaves over the windows yet, and still have to shingle the roof and make boxes and a few other things. I'm just making sure we aren't missing anything huge. I'm in michigan and not sure if I have to much ventilation for the winter, or not enough for the summer. The coop is under a big tree and shaded most of the day. The 2nd picture is from inside the coop facing the back which we haven't put on yet. I think I'm going to leave the gap under the back of the roof and put hardware cloth in there too. We haven't decided on whether to make the exit hole in the front, or a trap door kinda thing. The boxes will be along the back with a door to get to the eggs, and the roosts will be in front of the boxes but below the windows so they aren't in the wind all night. There is also a door on each side for cleaning and stuff. The run will go out the front of the coop, and we are planing to put sand inside the coop. Oh and the 3rd picture is of our corn, sense I was out there with the camera anyway, and its about chest high in the tallest part The corn is the only thing that got planted on time sense the rest was lawn this spring. Next year will be easier

Anyway, sorry about being rambly. The main thing I'm not sure about is how much ventilation is to much or not enough. I think a trap door would end up causing a lot of up and down air exchange during the day, which may be good.

Oh and how many hens do you think could live comfortably in there assuming that most are bigger breeds? I'm not sure how big the run will be yet, maybe 8ft by 16ft. I was also thinking about putting 2 roost bars across the 8 foot length. I think we're going to go with one row of laying boxes so there should end up being 7 of those.

 

[chfite]

My chickens fight for the roosting bars in front so they can look out the windows until it gets dark. Then they crouch down to sleep.

Chris

 

[aart]

8 chickens.....4 nests.......I'd add more ventilation for summer, maybe with hinged wood panels too close in the winter.

 

[teach1rusl]

I agree...more ventilation for summer time! That box will probably heat up pretty well on hot summer days - folks lose more chickens to heat than to cold. Simple fix -cut out two sizeable "windows" and wire them for safety. Hinge the pieces you cut out so that they can be closed in winter time. Or better yet, screw pieces of plexiglass over the windows in winter to allow winter sun/light through...

 

[Jayson745]

hmmm. Maybe I can figure out a way to put removable screens in the side doors for summer. They are pretty big. Its hard to see in the picture, but if you look close you can see it on the closest side sense its not fitted closed yet. The other side is the exact same. Thanx for the help

 

[mommyoftwo]

Where in Michigan are you from? The average is 4 sq ft of coop size and 10 sq ft or run space so you cod have 8 chicken inside if you built your run 8 ft by 10 ft of or whatever area you have as long as you have 80 sq ft.

 

[Jayson745]

We have 6 little ones already that are probably wishing I'd hurry up and finish this thing. I was hoping to add a couple americanas or easter eggers for some different colored eggs. So that should work out ok

Oh, and I'm in Riverdale, which is a little west of Alma, and south of Mt. Pleasant

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I would add more ventilation for summer. Otherwise, I think it will be really hot in there. If it was me, I'd probably make the top half of the front doors open, covered with hardware cloth. You could cover that up in the winter.

I don't know how it will be having ventilation openings on all four sides in the middle of winter. Especially if they will be roosting close to that height. Which way does your winter weather blow in? Be prepared to cover the vent(s) on the side that bad storms or blizzards blow in from. A hinged cover can be handy.

 

[jimmywalt]

I live just west of you along lake Michigan. Here's what my coop looks like (built about 6 weeks ago).

Vents above the front window, plus window opens as you can see in the first picture. Side window opens as well (above the clean out door in first picture).
Also vents in the back above the egg box.

It's been fairly cool in Michigan so far this summer so I don't expect your design to have any problems, but if we get a hot August that's another thing.

My coop is 4x4x4 and I have 6 chickens in it. Run is 8x3x3 (not including under the coop).

 

[mommyoftwo]

We live in a small town called Sherwood, which is south of Battle Creek. I have 5 little chicks now and plan on picking up 5 or 6 easter eggers next week. I found a place in IN that has 12 week olds for 5.00. And their a girl down the road that has a rooster for me she ended up with 6 roos out of a group of 30 pullets.