What Do You Wish You Had Known Before You Bought/Built Your First Coop?

[Sally PB]

I wish we could have foreseen the INSANITY of lumber prices so that we could have either built bigger to begin with, or just bought 4 extra sheets of 4x8 and a dozen 2x4s. We would have had a use for it all, and we have space to store it.

That being said, I know now that I want to "modularize" my run so that it is easier to move, which we do 2x a year. And then maybe it would be easier to add on to.

I am so very grateful that DH planned a walk-in coop from the beginning. And that my neighbor had an unused greenhouse frame she wanted to get rid of.

 

[3KillerBs]

I wish we could have foreseen the INSANITY of lumber prices so that we could have either built bigger to begin with, or just bought 4 extra sheets of 4x8 and a dozen 2x4s. We would have had a use for it all, and we have space to store it.

I think we're all wishing that now.

I discarded my original run, hardware cloth and all, and some moderately ratty garden trellises that I wish I had back now.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I wish we could have foreseen the INSANITY of lumber prices so that we could have either built bigger to begin with, or just bought 4 extra sheets of 4x8 and a dozen 2x4s. We would have had a use for it all, and we have space to store it.

Oh that reminds me, my MIL has a bunch of different wood boards behind her shed (left behind by previous owner). She's planning to move this summer. We should go through and see what we can salvage for future projects before she moves - she'll be leaving us a table saw and other tools too.

 

[linguini]

As I look at the 4x8 structure that I'm about to convert to an outdoor brooder and thinking of how uncomfortable it will be to hunch down in there (it's between 4 1/2 and 5 feet tall), I remember the backbreaking agony of the half-height run that was originally attached to my Little Monitor Coop.

We made it easy to detach, thinking that we would be able to pull it away to clean out.

NOPE. Not even considering the annoyance of moving the blocks, once the run litter started to build up it would have taken a team of strong men with prybars to get it loose and move it -- which is what happened when we needed to take it off to move the coop to the new property.

Cleaning in there was awful! I had to shovel and fork bedding while bent almost double. Backache doesn't being to describe it. Additionally, not having room to really turn around and pitch the used litter out the door but, instead, having to move it in stages, meant that cleaning took longer than it needed to.

I wish I had known that the cost of the extra lumber and hardware cloth for a full-height, walk-in run would have been paid for in ibuprofen and time saved.

I wish I had known to really THINK about how I would clean under less than ideal conditions -- walked through it step-by-step looking for problems in the design.

What do you wish you'd have known before you bought or built your first coop?

I wish I had known about BYC before I bought my first coop, AND second coop!! Luckily our run is 8x8x8 (we don't have a proper saw, only power drill and VERY limited skills). And I have only 8 chickens - so picking up 8 piles of poops from the coop everyday wasn't too much work, and so far I only had to clean the run once - poop just turned into compost, and I save the compost for my garden.

But don't beat yourself too hard - your set up seems lovely. Perhaps you can consider adding height to the run? If you add 2-3 ft on top of the rectangle run, you'll be able to walk in the run.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I have no regrets, I use the rule of twos...

Make it twice as big as I think I needed
Plan on it costing twice as much and taking twice as long as I thought it would.

Like @aart I spent a lot of time figuring it out ahead of time, this forum is like chicken college.

 

[3KillerBs]

But don't beat yourself too hard - your set up seems lovely. Perhaps you can consider adding height to the run? If you add 2-3 ft on top of the rectangle run, you'll be able to walk in the run.

That run is long gone -- though I'm doing it to myself again by converting another half-high run into an outdoor brooder (with plans to later use it as a tractor or field housing for grow-out). It was given to me (on long-term loan but unlikely to be retrieved), so I'm making use of what I have available now when it's needed.

This is the new coop in progress: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/large-open-air-coop-in-central-nc.1443812/

Over time I'll probably find out more things that I'll have wished I had known when building it.

 

[Chuckie chicken]

I'm quite happy with my set up thanks mostly to scouring BYC. The changes that I've made are either minor ones that were to be expected, or done because I wanted to, not because I had to.

The PROBLEM is that I planned and built for 8 RIR hens, and we ordered and received 8 RIR hens, which are fantastic. NOW I'm looking at Marans, Easter eggers, Australorps, Leghorns, Welsummers, Orpingtons etc .... not to mention roosters! You get it....

PS: Four months ago I thought chickens came with breading, not feathers!

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm quite happy with my set up thanks mostly to scouring BYC. The changes that I've made are either minor ones that were to be expected, or done because I wanted to, not because I had to.

The PROBLEM is that I planned and built for 8 RIR hens, and we ordered and received 8 RIR hens, which are fantastic. NOW I'm looking at Marans, Easter eggers, Australorps, Leghorns, Welsummers, Orpingtons etc .... not to mention roosters! You get it....

Just remember that there does come a point where your household and nearby family members can no longer eat all the eggs so that you have to either sell eggs or limit your flock.

I'm intending to go the "sell eggs" route.

 

[Chuckie chicken]

Just remember that there does come a point where your household and nearby family members can no longer eat all the eggs so that you have to either sell eggs or limit your flock.

I'm intending to go the "sell eggs" route.

I've gone the "give away" route. So far, it's working.

 

[Hermits Garden]

Y'all keep making me paranoid about how big to build ours this fall...but when I look at the plans (several tablets of graph paper I have gone through...) I realize I have absorbed all the lessons from BYC over the years I've been a member and reading, reading, reading.

My coop will have 84 sq ft, the run (6' chain link dog kennel panels) will have 240 sq ft, and because my design is a shed-roof with a foot of overhang front and back, I'll be able to use 1/2" HWC at the eaves for 20 sq ft of vent. We're in the mountains of eastern Arizona at 7100 ft, so we get snow half the year, but temps only down to single digits on rare occasions.

I've built in contingencies for plenty of nesting space, a brooder for either a hen w/ chicks or a new set of purchased chicks to be reared outside from day one with the Mama Heating Pad in full but safe view from the adult chickens. The run has shade for a good part of the day--we do get into the mid-nineties, but very little humidity--from tall pines and junipers all around the run.

But I do have one question to ask those of you experienced chicken tenders concerning light requirements. I don't mean artificial light for laying, but just natural light through windows. I have a 1ft x 4ft sliding window our house contractor purchased in error (and couldn't return), so between that and a storm door with a tall window in it, is this enough natural light so the place isn't cave-like?

Cheers--and here's to the best chicken-peeps ever.

Edited to add: We really only need maybe 7 or 8 chickens to keep us in plenty of eggs, but I'll likely have ten or even twelve.