What's the one thing you wish you had included in your coop?

[Aussie-Chookmum]

I very much like your coop. Enough shelter but lots of ventilation!
If I ever build a new one I'd like one like this

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Teehee — Thanks! It sure made me tired too.

More money and more stuff... that's exactly right.

I did take photos when I went to lock them up this evening. Crappy cell pics, but they'll do. View attachment 1869680 View attachment 1869681

Love your coop! Enough shelter and heaps of ventilation. If I ever build a new one , I want one like this!

 

[jkkirkland87]

You might consider having a raised coop so the chickens can go underneath it for shelter, and it also increases the square footage of your run (if your coop is inside the run that is)

I love it!

 

[Fombellchicks]

I wish I had made my roosts easily removable - for roost & coop cleaning. They always seem to be in the way when cleaning out the coop.

After 1 year I added barbed wire crisscross over my windows (which are mostly top half open) - keeps chickens from trying to sneak out and prevents others from trying to get in.

I use deep litter method and my cleanout door is a small access door at floor level. I wish I would have made it a bit wider (so that my big shovel fits through it easier). It fits but I always have to carefully aim at the opening.

I also had to scrap the idea of being able to split my main house into two separate coops - this ended up not being feasible so I built a 2nd much smaller coop with run underneath for injured/young chicks.

 

[BReeder!]

Solid roof on run, for shade and snow.

This would be nice...

 

[SueT]

Another thing I wished I had taken into consideration was a source of shade. Since we repurposed an existing shed, there was no shade at all there. I put up some shade cloth on the south side. That was in 2015.

Subsequently tho, these volunteer Chinese elm trees came up all around and in the run, and you can't even see the coop. It's definitely in the shade now.

 

[rehdancer]

I agree with more space, I've only had my girls (and boy) for 10 weeks and already I'm thinking of next spring, broody hens and their chicks !!

 

[Coreenelane]

, member: 530033"]Hi Peeps!
I'm planning a coop build and I'm hoping to take a few lessons from the BYC community before I start. So, please share one thing you wish you had included in your coop.
Thanking you! [/QUOTE]

​

I would have more storage room to store the incubators and other feeding dishes for the chicks plus a better place for feed barrel and bedding for the nest boxes. It would be nice to have 2 sections for nest boxes, one for eggs and one for the broody hens so they would not be chased off their nests. Make sure you have a place to hang your cleaning tools too!

 

[peteflynn]

Making sure I can stand up straight when I go into the pen!! My hubby used 6' 4x4s and of course dug them into the ground. I', 5'4" and still have to stoop to be in the pen to feed, water, clean

 

[Blooie]

Wider doorways for wheelchair access and setting nest boxes on either side of a center aisle so our little granddaughter could go in and gather eggs. That’s the only change I’d make - otherwise we love our coop and hoop run just as we designed and built it.