From a design perspective, in an urban area. My first thought was to be inspired by some of the notable urban architecture. Urban architecture tends to have a common problem: fitting a lot into a small ground footprint. You can build up, but only to a point with chickens. They need space to fly down from a roost, for example. They also need space to get out of each other’s way. Some breeds are light and good at flying (Leghorns), but others are heavy and large and can be injured if they have to jump down too far.
Assume there will be some givens: you are designing for 6 chickens (females only) for an urban backyard in the N district (maybe this gives a tip off to your inspired style) as an example.
if you design a raised coop with ground space underneath for chickens, it needs to be 2.5-3’ above the ground. If it is reach-in style, then it would need to be somewhat shallow so a person can reach to the back for clean out. Most people wouldprefer a walk-in coop (unless you need to give this thing a price tag and stay within some kind of cost parameters). A walk-in style allows you more flexibility with design and more space as you are not limited to arms length.
roost space: you should assume 12 inches per bird. A very common style is a roost bar over a poop tray that usually has sand or similar non toxic material spread out on it to make scooping poop easier. Some people just spread out old feed bags and up/toss when covered or they stink. Basically a perch bar centered over a narrow table with a lip. The table will be about 20-24” wide x whatever length needed or available. This offers useable space for storage under the poop tray (poop table). Another style is a ladder roost. Yup, like a ladder leaned up against a wall. We use this ladder style, but the “ladder” is on an approx 45 degree angle to the ground, with the lowest rung about 12-18 inches above the floor.
Space: always helpful with birds. Don’t go narrow, when passing each other, birds need some space and are not so well behaved as to not harass another flock member that is in easy reach. So, never restrict any areas to be really narrow. We have less than 4sqft per bird bc they have so much roost space inside, plus the floor area, and a lot of covered run area, so we don’t typically have any space behavior issues.
Good luck with your project.
