This is my current set up except I took the boxes out and put in a large dog kennel for my new pullets. I'll be takingg it out soon. And doing external boxes. Its 6 x 12. And modeled loosely after the woods open air design.
What would you have done differently?
- Thread starter Killlakilljoys
- Start date
Boards are about 34" from floor.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/poop-boards-7-14-17-2.7896339/
My greatest mistake was having my coop built too close to a young sycamore tree...growing tree plus world's best fertilizer equals exponential growth rate!
I lost a hen when I moved them to what I thought would be a great coop with a ventilation fan, and had no idea how much actual ventilation was needed in the summer.
I always regret that loss, it was completely my fault.
I always regret that loss, it was completely my fault.
Wow. Read through more of Fireguy's coop. Apparently my mistake is not having a contractor in the family. His coop is amazing. I was reading about it to @Purple Rose , telling her it was wired for electricity, house door and windows, automated chicken door, he has a sink out there for clean-up, and that he set up an a/c blower - she said she wanted to live in that coop, and started making "bawk-bawk!" noises at me.
This thread does have me wondering if I'm going to be ok doing the half-height coop with more run space underneath it, or if I'm going to regret not doing a walk-in coop full height. What are pros and cons of the full height?
This thread does have me wondering if I'm going to be ok doing the half-height coop with more run space underneath it, or if I'm going to regret not doing a walk-in coop full height. What are pros and cons of the full height?
Petroschickens
Chirping
I understand your pain
We bought a 10 x 10 wooden shed and modified it. It is placed on a sloped part of our property, so we have a walk in coop with space underneath it for the chickens to get under to get out of the heat. I can crawl under it ( when I have to to get an errant chicken or chick that didn't go in at night) but I don't like too because it is usually snowy or muddy when a chicken decides to stay out all night.
In this coop we put in interior nest boxes ( my hubby wanted exterior nest boxes but I said no). Our other coop has exterior boxes. We only have 2 windows. I wish we had either made the windows larger or put in more of them. We have added a ventilation fan on the roof. I wish we had put poop boards in under the roosts too. We did have a friend that wired the coop for electric, so we have lights and during winter I can use a heated dog water bowl in there. In the summer, I also use an oscillating fan to get the air moving. I used a waterproofer on the floor and insulated the ceiling and walls. Mice have gotten into the walls though, so I wish I had done something that would have kept the mice out.
I wish I had an automated pop door!!Also, more ventilation would be great!
Our 2nd coop, my hubby built from scratch. It has a dirt floor. 2 large windows and a lot of narrow ventilation under the eaves. It has an attached small ( 5 ft x 5 ft or so) run. I
that aspect of it!! That way when the weather is bad and we don't let them out into the fenced in chicken yard, they still get some "outside" time. One mistake that we made was that on the attached run we did not use hardware cloth. We used hog fence (or something) that has bigger wholes. We have had raccoons reach through and try to pull chickens back through the holes 
and have tried to grab them off the roost when they decided to sleep in the enclosed run.
Another coop we built, but have since quit using and are in the process of dismantling, was built on a lovely flat concrete pad. We thought that would be great, but we were very wrong!! The chicken droppings just stayed were they fell. Water didn't run off either. The only way to clean it was to hose it down but that made the dirt part gross & muddy. The coop smelled all the time (except in the winter when everything was too frozen to stink).
In this coop we put in interior nest boxes ( my hubby wanted exterior nest boxes but I said no). Our other coop has exterior boxes. We only have 2 windows. I wish we had either made the windows larger or put in more of them. We have added a ventilation fan on the roof. I wish we had put poop boards in under the roosts too. We did have a friend that wired the coop for electric, so we have lights and during winter I can use a heated dog water bowl in there. In the summer, I also use an oscillating fan to get the air moving. I used a waterproofer on the floor and insulated the ceiling and walls. Mice have gotten into the walls though, so I wish I had done something that would have kept the mice out.
I wish I had an automated pop door!!Also, more ventilation would be great!
Our 2nd coop, my hubby built from scratch. It has a dirt floor. 2 large windows and a lot of narrow ventilation under the eaves. It has an attached small ( 5 ft x 5 ft or so) run. I
that aspect of it!! That way when the weather is bad and we don't let them out into the fenced in chicken yard, they still get some "outside" time. One mistake that we made was that on the attached run we did not use hardware cloth. We used hog fence (or something) that has bigger wholes. We have had raccoons reach through and try to pull chickens back through the holes and have tried to grab them off the roost when they decided to sleep in the enclosed run.Another coop we built, but have since quit using and are in the process of dismantling, was built on a lovely flat concrete pad. We thought that would be great, but we were very wrong!! The chicken droppings just stayed were they fell. Water didn't run off either. The only way to clean it was to hose it down but that made the dirt part gross & muddy. The coop smelled all the time (except in the winter when everything was too frozen to stink).
Banditschickens
Songster
- Apr 30, 2019
- 8
- 42
- 76
We bought a prefab since we weren’t sure if raising chickens was in our future or just a phase... now we have 6 more chicks & need to remodel lol. We are going to have more room & better protection for the MN winters.
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