??? Will this be enough space ??? **pics**

[MamaJohnson]

We (surprise

) ended up with a double flock (brother backed out last minute, leaving us with his half of the purchased 24 - and how can you say no to those precious fuzzy babes?). The coop walls had already been framed. Coop is 8X8, but to accomidate roost space we raised the roof to 11 ft. tall (we're gonna have to call this place the 'Chick-N High Rise'!) so we can have roost space for one and all, "laddering" all the way up. We're installing 18 nest boxes (will have perches). I'm thinkin' it's gonna be a little tight in there for 24 chickens in 64 sq. ft. of floor space. What problems will this pose? Or will the adequate roost space make up for the tight floor space?
Also, the run is going to be 8X32, 6' High. That leaves approx. 10 ft. per chicken, and they will have access to the run 24/7.
Advice: do you think this will work, or should I consider adding an extension before the coop is completed?

 

[Mahonri]

Yeah, that's gonna be tight for 24... 18 at the most. Maybe you can sell the 6 you don't want on craigs list? ... or to someone who is local around you here on BYC.

 

[Chef]

YEP... keep building!

Looking good though!


Chef

 

[countrybum]

I would take out some of the nest boxes, I had 12 at one time and the goofy chickens only used 3, the others were toilets. I now only have 3 with 2 large floor nest underneath for 30 hens and counting. I have a 10x10 coop and it handles pretty many chickens, so yours may just work. They will not all be on the floor at the same time. I would try it out before adding on and delete nesting space and add pershing space.

Also if you are going to allow 24/7 access to the run, make sure you predator proof. Coyotes and raccoons can dig under pretty quickly.

It is a very fancy coop but I think you are going to have a few surprises with it.

 

[cmom]

Looks good to me too. I think as long as they have enough space to roost. My birds are for the most part only on the coop to use the nest boxes and roost at night. The rest of the time they are usually in the run or their yard. The rule of thumb is 4/5 birds per nest box. My birds prefer certain nest boxes too. There are pictures on my BYC Page.

 

[jubylives]

Add an addition as you will find out later you're going to need it. Oh and don't forget the collar ties on the rafters.

jeremy

 

[Slywoody]

I highly doubt you'll need that many nests, i'd say 6 nests would be sufficient. Are they all pullets or do you have some roos that will have to be culled?

 

[patandchickens]

For Idaho winters that is pretty cramped IMHO. Could you at least roof part of the run (a proper roof, to stand up to your snowload) and wrap that portion of the run most of the way in tarp or plywood or heavy plastic, so they have somewhere milder and less snowy/windy to get out? If you did that, you could close it in as 'more coop' later on if you got ambitious or more materials came your way.

Can I ask how your roost will be designed? I am not quite getting how the additional height is going to be used, and it will be difficult for chickens getting directly off the top roost because the dimensions won't really allow them to fly down, just sort of a controlled plummet.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[funkychickenowner]

I would get rid of half of the egg boxes and then move the other half to the outside with a hatch on top of them. As quoted above they will probably all like the same 3 boxes. That would free up some space and then GO BIGGER with the rest of the shed, its easier to do now. As after you aquire this DISEASE you will definatly need more space! LOOKS GREAT!

 

[sonew123]

My Dh and I are building the same exact coop same size with same windows and all! We are only putting 6 nesting boxes in ours-3 on one side 3 on the other..We are putting them about 18 inches off of the ground so it helps with clean up under the boxes and the chickens can hop up to them-The roosts are poles hookes up to the nest boxes-and one long pole in the back...Right now-we dont know what's going in it-we just know that I have 38 eggs in bator that may hatch-which I doubt because Im a newbie and had a mjor temp spike for a few days.Il candle tomorrow -DAY 12- and toss the clear ones...I also have eggs being sen in a few weeks-so we could have a few chickens going in it or 25? either way were preparing for my new mental sickness with chickens!!!! I love it-yours looks great-I would cut down on nesting boxes for more space..