Yellawood Coop?

[D.ascheman]

Have you seen the articles section... This may be more helpful than just the forums section...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/category/tractor-coops.17/

Maybe browse this, and if you find your top 2-3 designs with instructions we can help you narrow down the choices further. I agree, building a coop can be overwhelming. I did not see this section of the website before I built mine, and I wish I had.

How do I know which are the best or how many chickens they will hold? I’ve been looking at coops for a couple years and just can’t figure this out!

 

[lazy gardener]

If you put any coop you build on skids, that should get you past the zoning issue about a "permanent structure". I would look at the Woods open air style coop. And any coop you build should be at least 4 x 8, walk in style, and have at least 4 s.f. of open floor space per bird, JMHO.

Many pre fab or coop plans are poorly designed with little regard to actual needs of the bird. I recently saw a coop which was truly horrifying in it's design. It had no roosts, very little floor space, yet it had 12 nest boxes. Count them! 12 NEST BOXES!. The boxes were too small for any chicken but a bantam to use. And that many boxes would have been sufficient for 48 birds, yet the floor space of this coop was adequate for about 8 birds!

 

[PirateGirl]

If the chickens are in the tractor all the time they generally need 4 square feet per chicken in the coop and 10 square feet per chicken in the run (you may be able to get away with less for bantams, but less is not really ideal).

It sounds like with your situation of having a small yard and it being a tractor and not free ranging that designs where the run is also beneath the coop may be good for you because your space is working double for you.

Unfortunately not all the articles spell out exactly how many chickens they are for, but you can look at dimensions or adjust the dimensions of the plans to better meet your needs. For example you could have a tractor where the run is 4'x10' with the coop the same 4' width x 4' long and that would suffice.

This one looks like a contender...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/suburban-chicken-tractor.48116/

You can make any coop cute to appease the neighbors later, paint, a bit of contrast trim around windows, an attached hanging flower pot, a cute sign. I get this piece of of it for sure. My one neighbor cares and our yard was a mess during the construction phase with scrap wood and tools and stuff for like a month due to weather. Now I have ducks too, but the duck house is not attractive at all for the moment and won't be made "cute" until spring rolls around.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-tractor.57131/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/our-first-chicken-tractor.48924/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/our-chicken-tractor.49045/

This last one is a lot like the design you were originally looking at but a bit bigger coop space and looks a bit sturdier.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/green-chicken-tractor.63626/

 

[D.ascheman]

If you put any coop you build on skids, that should get you past the zoning issue about a "permanent structure". I would look at the Woods open air style coop. And any coop you build should be at least 4 x 8, walk in style, and have at least 4 s.f. of open floor space per bird, JMHO.
Many pre fab or coop plans are poorly designed with little regard to actual needs of the bird. I recently saw a coop which was truly horrifying in it's design. It had no roosts, very little floor space, yet it had 12 nest boxes. Count them! 12 NEST BOXES!. The boxes were too small for any chicken but a bantam to use. And that many boxes would have been sufficient for 48 birds, yet the floor space of this coop was adequate for about 8 birds!

Thanks for your input. We’ve looked at the prefab coops and realized most were junk (And expensive junk!) and that we’d build our own. We were just trying to search out good plans. Thanks for your help!

 

[D.ascheman]

If the chickens are in the tractor all the time they generally need 4 square feet per chicken in the coop and 10 square feet per chicken in the run (you may be able to get away with less for bantams, but less is not really ideal).

It sounds like with your situation of having a small yard and it being a tractor and not free ranging that designs where the run is also beneath the coop may be good for you because your space is working double for you.

Unfortunately not all the articles spell out exactly how many chickens they are for, but you can look at dimensions or adjust the dimensions of the plans to better meet your needs. For example you could have a tractor where the run is 4'x10' with the coop the same 4' width x 4' long and that would suffice.

This one looks like a contender...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/suburban-chicken-tractor.48116/

You can make any coop cute to appease the neighbors later, paint, a bit of contrast trim around windows, an attached hanging flower pot, a cute sign. I get this piece of of it for sure. My one neighbor cares and our yard was a mess during the construction phase with scrap wood and tools and stuff for like a month due to weather. Now I have ducks too, but the duck house is not attractive at all for the moment and won't be made "cute" until spring rolls around.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-tractor.57131/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/our-first-chicken-tractor.48924/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/our-chicken-tractor.49045/

This last one is a lot like the design you were originally looking at but a bit bigger coop space and looks a bit sturdier.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/green-chicken-tractor.63626/

Thanks for all the links! I’ll check them out!

 

[nminusyplusm]

Thanks for your reply. That’s why I was asking. I’ve looked though the coops on backyard chickens and many are built by novices like us and may be badly designed too. I wish Backyard chickens would publish a good tried and true starter Co-op. It seems like everyone reinvents the wheel and does their own thing. My husband was going to push the nesting boxes out the back to open up space for roosting. Good point about the roof.

I think we not so much reinvent the wheel but customize to suit our specific needs.

I got around my local permit requirement for a cat porch by building a structure that didn't tie into my house. It's right up against it but free standing. What specifically does your HOA require to prove your coop is a tractor? Can you just build the coop you really want and put wheels on the sides?

 

[D.ascheman]

I think we not so much reinvent the wheel but customize to suit our specific needs.

I got around my local permit requirement for a cat porch by building a structure that didn't tie into my house. It's right up against it but free standing. What specifically does your HOA require to prove your coop is a tractor? Can you just build the coop you really want and put wheels on the sides?

Well, technically our neighborhood only allows 3pets. We convinced them that a few chickens fell under caged birds. We will be the first to have chickens, so we want them to be unobtrusive.

 

[nminusyplusm]

But in your heart of hearts what coop are you really wanting? I think you can make anything attractive and unobtrusive, matching colors and style to your house helps too!