Your experienced opinions appreciated

[LalaP]

I’m new to chickens and byc and I’ve been reading old threads to learn. I keep reading that people often get a coop that is too small or has other design flaws and I’m thinking that mine is probably all wrong but it would be helpful to get some opinions. Can you tell me what is wrong and what problems I’ll run into as a result? My chickens are 18 weeks old and have been using the coop for awhile now with no real problems... or so it appears to my untrained eye.
So here’s the coop. It has a tiny run down stairs with a door that I open in the morning and close in the evening. Upstairs is the sleeping area and 2 nest boxes. The roof lifts up and I open it in the morning and shut it in the evening. There is a window on either side upstairs for ventilation.

One thing that may or may not be a problem is that they will not roost at night. I’ve tried several size and shapes of roosts but they continue to cuddle up on the floor (upstairs, not the ground). I took out one of the roosts to give them more room to cuddle. You can see in the next photo there is still one roost. This was just the latest one I tried. It’s wide but I tried thinner ones too. Always with rounded edges.
There is plenty of poop in the pine shavings but it dries out during the day and they just sleep amongst it. Is that bad? What will happen in the rainy winter when the air is damp?

Here are the 2 nest boxes. I put up curtains because I read that it’s a good way to create privacy for laying. They aren’t laying yet.

But of course they wanted to sleep and hang out in there when I first made this area so I keep it blocked off for now.

So the run that they have access to during the day is 6 feet wide and 50 feet long. It’s an area between my house and a fence and I put chicken wire across the top like a roof and also buried chicken wire all along the fence. I’m hoping it is predator proof. Here is the area at the back of the run that is shaded by a maple tree and I’ve made some roosts out of driftwood and they have their feeder and water that I made.

This last photo is the gate at the other end of the run so you can get a full sense of their setup.

I’m trying to think forward to what winter will be like for the chickens. I’m in Oregon so not much snow but constant rain. Should I put a roof over some of the run? Should I put gravel down to help with mud? Is this setup going to be a total mess?

I really appreciate any input and suggestions anyone has. Constructive criticism is welcome.

Thank you!

 

[aart]

How many birds?
Dimensions of coop, not including nests?

It's small.

The trap door takes up valuable navigation space on floor.
I'd close it up and put pop door on end of coop.

You'll need to predator proof the larger run, chicken wire is not predator proof.
And yes a solid run roof would be a good idea, if you can angle it so it won't flood the area.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

They may not have enough height room to.roost. that's super small

 

[LalaP]

How many birds?
Dimensions of coop, not including nests?

It's small.

The trap door takes up valuable navigation space on floor.
I'd close it up and put pop door on end of coop.

You'll need to predator proof the larger run, chicken wire is not predator proof.
And yes a solid run roof would be a good idea, if you can angle it so it won't flood the area.

Thank you aart for your reply.

I forgot to say I have 4 chickens. The coop not counting the nesting boxes is 2 ft by 4 ft. Some of that is the trap door hole. The sleeping area is probably 2 x 2:5.

I have a question about your pop door suggestion. If I had a pop door from the upper level to the outside and closed the ramp hole how can they access the lower level? I open the coop at 8am and by then they are downstairs scratching around. It seems like it’s good for them to have that space when they wake up and before I do, right?

I’m definitely getting the picture that my coop is small but the thing I’m not finding is what the result of that is. They have enough room to sleep and then they can go downstairs when they wake up so I just need it spelled out for me what the problem is with a small coop. I’m not arguing I’m just new to this and I really don’t know.

Yikes! Chicken wire isn’t predator proof?! I didn’t know that. Can you point me towards some info on what IS predator proof?

Thank you!!!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Hardware cloth up 2 feet, then you can use the welded metal fencing that's 1x.5 inches

 

[rosemarythyme]

I’m definitely getting the picture that my coop is small but the thing I’m not finding is what the result of that is. They have enough room to sleep and then they can go downstairs when they wake up so I just need it spelled out for me what the problem is with a small coop. I’m not arguing I’m just new to this and I really don’t know.

You're already seeing the result of it being too small. They're not roosting, attempting to sleep in nests, and I attribute that to both the roost being way too short (12" per bird) as well as placed in such a way that there's no headroom for it to be used. You need at least 12" above their heads for them to fit on the roost, and with the shape of the roof there's maybe only the very center of the roost that can possibly be used.

Additionally roost should be higher than the nests but as you can clearly see, that's impossible with current set up.

Also entire set up is not predator proof, including the coop. Chicken wire keeps chickens in, but can be breached by small pests (rats and mice can squeeze in) and larger ones (coons can literally tear it apart). Hardware cloth or welded wire no larger than 1/2" will take care of smaller things, layering it on top of sturdier wire such as a 2x4 welded wire or chain link, would give you additional strength as well.

If I were to attempt to salvage this (honestly building something new might be better - and aim for a minimum of 4x4 footprint) I'd drop the nests down to ground level and pushed out from the body of the coop, then run a roost lengthwise across what is currently the "top" level. I'd remove the floor and ramp entirely, the chickens can jump up and down from there. You'd end up with what I used to have: a box with nest off one side, and an open roosting area up top, and that housed 4 hens fine for 2 years.

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of photos of my old set up, but...
3/4 view from back:


Open roosting area (so they fly up from ground about 2'):

I attached a dog house as a nest box out the back:

 

[LalaP]

You're already seeing the result of it being too small. They're not roosting, attempting to sleep in nests, and I attribute that to both the roost being way too short (12" per bird) as well as placed in such a way that there's no headroom for it to be used. You need at least 12" above their heads for them to fit on the roost, and with the shape of the roof there's maybe only the very center of the roost that can possibly be used.

Additionally roost should be higher than the nests but as you can clearly see, that's impossible with current set up.

Also entire set up is not predator proof, including the coop. Chicken wire keeps chickens in, but can be breached by small pests (rats and mice can squeeze in) and larger ones (coons can literally tear it apart). Hardware cloth or welded wire no larger than 1/2" will take care of smaller things, layering it on top of sturdier wire such as a 2x4 welded wire or chain link, would give you additional strength as well.

If I were to attempt to salvage this (honestly building something new might be better - and aim for a minimum of 4x4 footprint) I'd drop the nests down to ground level and pushed out from the body of the coop, then run a roost lengthwise across what is currently the "top" level. I'd remove the floor and ramp entirely, the chickens can jump up and down from there. You'd end up with what I used to have: a box with nest off one side, and an open roosting area up top, and that housed 4 hens fine for 2 years.

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of photos of my old set up, but...
3/4 view from back:
View attachment 2305043

Open roosting area (so they fly up from ground about 2'):View attachment 2305041

I attached a dog house as a nest box out the back:
View attachment 2305042
[/QUO

Ok thank you! That’s very helpful. I think I’ll make these modifications for now and build something new when I have the time. So if I make these changes and take out the upper floor and ramp I should also board up the lower level and just leave a couple windows, right? I’m assuming it would be too exposed to the elements to leave the entire lower portion wire mesh if there isn’t an upper level... or is it ok because they will still be sleeping up higher where the walls are solid? I understand now that I need hardware cloth mesh on all the wire areas.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I’m assuming it would be too exposed to the elements to leave the entire lower portion wire mesh if there isn’t an upper level... or is it ok because they will still be sleeping up higher where the walls are solid? I understand now that I need hardware cloth mesh on all the wire areas.

You can cover up some of the lower level walls however I would leave some parts open for ventilation. Mainly you want to cover up or buffer over any open walls that face into your predominate wind direction, so rain isn't blowing in when the chickens are roosting, otherwise everything else can stay open as your overall climate is moderate (chickens do fine with some snow). The extra ventilation provided by open walls is beneficial in summer for sure.

The way I had my old coop oriented we left off all those white storm panels during spring through fall. The rain generally blew against the back wall which was solid enough to provide protection from rain.

Oh, and as far as the concern about mud in the run... I also have an uncovered run and a lot of rain. What's in the run right now, just some shavings and dirt? Assuming there aren't existing drainage issues at that location (which if there are, that needs to be addressed first as no form of litter can compensate for poor drainage), look into deep litter. If established properly it'll help provide drainage to the soil below while stabilizing mud and absorbing odors.

 

[BarredRockMotherHen]

Thank you aart for your reply.

I forgot to say I have 4 chickens. The coop not counting the nesting boxes is 2 ft by 4 ft. Some of that is the trap door hole. The sleeping area is probably 2 x 2:5.

I have a question about your pop door suggestion. If I had a pop door from the upper level to the outside and closed the ramp hole how can they access the lower level? I open the coop at 8am and by then they are downstairs scratching around. It seems like it’s good for them to have that space when they wake up and before I do, right?

I’m definitely getting the picture that my coop is small but the thing I’m not finding is what the result of that is. They have enough room to sleep and then they can go downstairs when they wake up so I just need it spelled out for me what the problem is with a small coop. I’m not arguing I’m just new to this and I really don’t know.

Yikes! Chicken wire isn’t predator proof?! I didn’t know that. Can you point me towards some info on what IS predator proof?

Thank you!!!

We use the 4” X 2” fencing for the ground predator proofing buried at 6 inches with large gravel on top of it. Your coop unfortunately does seem to be too small for 4 chickens which is surprising, I know. Depending on the breed though they do require more space than others. I’m also new at chicken farming. We started this year in March and have learned a lot through our mistakes. We lost four hens just 3 months ago to a fox attack. I didn’t think my rooster was ever going to recover from the fight. Thankfully he did and we continue to learn from our mistakes and the needs of our flock. Our hens require 8 to 10 inches for roosting peacefully at night and they refused to lay in their boxes until we built them new more private nesting boxes that were on the opposite side of their roosts and the lowest row is 3 feet off the ground. In one hen house we have 23 hens. They are very particular about their nesting boxes no matter how accommodating we try to make them. My Bantams use the top shelf where we store the straw to line the nest boxes, my Black Star uses one on the top row and all my other hens use the same nesting box, the middle bottom one. Hens are weird and quirky. I wish you luck in figuring out what your girls prefer. They can be quite frustrating.

 

[aart]

If I had a pop door from the upper level to the outside and closed the ramp hole how can they access the lower level?

They can't, why you need to predator proof the 'big' run.
Under there is too small anyway.