What should I do with this? Opinions needed

[jettgirl24]

Ok, so I guess I'm going forward with finishing what I've got. I would rather pull it apart and do the shed row coop but I can't really figure out how to cut the base in half without either wasting all of the materials I've already purchased or smashing myself underneath the darn thing! On the upside I do have help now so I think I'll be able to pull this thing out

See the thread below for what we got done today!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6528851#p6528851

 

[RichardB-SETN]

Hello from Tennessee!
I would encourage you to go ahead and make the change to the row-shed style if you think it will be best for your future plans. There's been little work done on the walls; more work has been done on the floor and foundation. But this is a great opportunity for you to modify your original plan. Don't be discouraged about inexperience in construction. You can buy a book about shed building and teach yourself everything you need to know.
One suggestion I'd make if you do decide to go with the row-shed style: don't cut it right down the middle. From your pic it looks like there's a row of supports running down the middle of the current floor. I would measure and cut so that you could use them in your coop's new incarnation.
Good luck. You can do it!

One thing I'd add: I would hesitate to use pallets for your outer (roof supporting) walls. You could use them as dividing walls or take them apart and use the materials for siding, nest boxes, POP doors or whatever.

 

[Carols Clucks]

Here is what I would do:

First divide up your 12x12 foot print in half (out your roof ridge line at this point so it is over your original center support for your floor) One half of this new 12x6 section can be for your regular laying flock.

The other 12x6 section I would divide in 3rds [4x6][4x6][4x6] I would plan one side for each of the breeding birds you plan to keep and the center as a feed storage area. You can also plan nest boxes or coop access-your call.

I would do a light roof of tin-light as in weight not as in the thickness of the tin, in Seattle your bigger issue is rain not snow or ice.

I would save those pallets for the strips of wood that you can paint and use as lap siding. It may not last forever, but if you get a good coat of paint on it before you put it up you can lap one over the other and save your money for the wood for the framing.

You might want to think about the best place to gather eggs from, might be the outside might be better from the inside via the feed section (think about mud and rain)


I would keep the terraces for veggies, you can always plant things your chickens like to eat.

something like this

 

[jettgirl24]

So since I'm moving forward with the big 12 x 12 coop I need some ideas on how to set up the run area. I re-measured the area after my first post and realistically the run should only be 14' - 16' wide rather than 18' to leave enough room for the horses and for access to the barn entrance. I think my options are kind of limited to what I've devised below but if anyone can think of some other ingenious solutions to my run conundrum I will be forever indebted to you

Carols Clucks - I REALLY like that layout and I will definitely do something like that on the interior of the coop. Where I'm running into a problem is with my area is with run space. I wish I could take an aerial shot of the area but see the basic layout of the area below.

Unfortunately things are a little confined in the barn/coop area. To the south of the coop is my horse barn and paddocks, as well as the pathway to the barn. I can't build any kind of run area on that side of the coop and it can't extend too far out from the edge of the coop as it is devoted to the horses for mounting/dismounting, pasture gate access, and for the vet, farrier, hay trucks to access the barn entrance. To the west of the coop there is about 5' of space before the vegetable beds start. I *could* conceivably take over one of the vegetable beds for run space, but I really hate to do that as it's the only spot on the property that isn't already devoted to the animals that gets full sun all day. I suppose it is still a possibility if I can find an alternative location for the vegetable bed though, it would just be a lot of work and my mom and I have spent years cultivated some AMAZING soil in that location. To the north of the coop is a terrace, about 2' tall and 3' deep that runs the entire length of the barn area from the pasture fence to the garage up above. The main run will be on the east side of the coop but I would really like a secondary run. Does anyone think it be worth doing a smaller run, maybe for the Silkies, in the 5' wide area to the west of the coop?

As far as coop layout, I'm not averse to building some extra walls so I'm thinking of dividing it into three areas: Layer pen, Silkie pen, BR pen. I don't really neeeeeed a feed area because I have the feed room in the horse barn. I'm currently storing chicken supplies in the feed stall anyway and it works just fine. With the auto feeders and waterers I'm planning to install in the new coop it should be even easier. Inside of the coop the layer area will be the largest, followed by the BR area, with the Silkies having the smallest area since they are bantys and need a little less space. The front door will open into the BR pen and I will make additional doors into the other pens for feed and water access. If I make a small run on the east side of the coop it should be large enough for the Silkies and then I can divide the main run in two for the BRs and the layers. I can make things flexible so that as my current layer flock shrinks I can eventually expand the two breeding pens to be larger or I can maintain the layer flock numbers if I decide to do that in the future. What do you guys think about this for the layout: