What would you have done differently?

[IceHax]

We all make mistakes. Sometimes its ignorance, sometimes its truly a blunder. Knowing what you know now, what would you have done diffrently with your coop? What was your great mistake?

not armoring it with plywood. Put my quails inside, and in one day my dogs managed to eat through the wire mesh and took out 3 of them :/, fortunately i corrected that mistake quickly, now my coop is a fortress!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My best suggestion is to read the article posted here about building coops. There is one that is rather lengthy and has LOTS of pictures, from the ground up. It's extremely elborate and probably more expensive than my house, lol. But don't let that discourage you! Read it and learn! Use what you can and drool over the rest. I can't really describe what you need in proper detail, but yes, I wish I had dug down around the perimeter of the building and poured a concrete footer. At the very LEAST I should have put cinder blocks at the corners on sand, leveled, for support - BUT, snakes and/or skunks could have gotten under that where there were gaps. And it's so rainy and soupy here it probably wouldn't have helped much. Let me see if I can find a link to that article. I don't navigate here very well. Anyone wanting to help me out is welcome to do so.

Edited typo.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Okay, it's Fireguy56s Chicken Coop, in the Articles section. I still don't know how to post the actual link, sorry.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Think I've got it

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/fireguy56s-chicken-coop.48317/

I would also agree with those that say, make your coop convenient for YOU. That is, make it tall enough to walk into. Make it easy to gather the eggs and easy to clean. Make it safe for the chickens. Remember it's easy to keep chickens in and hard to keep varmints out. Hardware cloth is better than chicken wire. Screws are better than nails. Measure twice, cut once! Have fun and enjoy you biddies!

 

[Celticdragonfly]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/fireguy56s-chicken-coop.48317/

It's amazing - but I've lived in houses that weren't that well built. That's out of reach.

 

[aart]

Think I've got it

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/fireguy56s-chicken-coop.48317/

Good Job!!

That is a pretty good build article, nice and detailed.
Couple things tho, don't block soffits with wood, use HC....and no need for interior sheathing.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

My mistake is making the perch in the coop to small.

 

[Raptorsgocluck]

Making a modular coop design (easily changed from summer to Winter conditions and easily able to add/take space as chicken numbers fluctuate) while at the same time being easily moved twice a year. First coop design I had was a massive hastle to move and couldn't be built on to account for a growing flock. So I put up with it for a while until I finally got fed up and spent days coming up with a modular design that could be moved easily twice a year, walk in for easy clean up, easily add and remove panels/walls for warmth in winter and better ventilation in summer, and still have the proper predator protection needed. Basically I did what was quick and easy in the beginning instead of looking toward future needs and taking the time and extra effort to engineer a custom coop to fit my needs.

 

[Blooie]

In a,l honesty, not a darn thing. I like our setup - we can walk around in it, it was relatively inexpensive to build, has required no repairs at all, and it’s very attractive. Snow loads haven’t fazed it, nor have our heavy winds bothered it a bit.

 

[TheRusticRebel]

Only regret I have is that it's not bigger, and only so isolation section could be bigger.
Oh...ETA...wish run had a solid roof.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-coop-page.65912/

How high are these ? And how is it atrached to the wall is it just like shelf brackets? I really like this anf just went out to my coop and it would work great.