Chicken coops

[matt]

Hi all,
Just about to build a new chicken coop and I thought I would ask if there is any thing you think I should concider in the design?
If you have any things you like about your's or seen please tell me so I can make it work for mine.

Matthew

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Matt. That's a huge question but I'll try to answer it briefly. Presumably you have seen other coops and have a feel for what is required. If you have had a coop before it helps because then you can see how it needs improvement. See 'Our Mobile Coops' at the top of this section.

Size -I allow 2 square feet minimum floor space per large fowl chicken. This sets the basic size required.

Roof -I use closed boarding(tongue and groove) set at 30 degree pitch or 12 mm ply set at 20 degree pent. I paint the inside with primer and white gloss.

Floor -Same boarding as it is light and strong. Ply is much heavier. Painted the same to stop poo sticking to it.

Walls -Treated cladding 12mm. Then painted externally with sealer like Cuprinol shades. Treated wood isn't sealed so lets water through. The sealer is microporous and lets condensation pass out through the walls. Plywood is much easier to build with but can't breathe and you get fungal spores growing on the inside surface and sick chickens.

Ventillation -across the top, preferably with adjustable covers to reduce the apertures in strong wind.

Access -800 x 600 door I have found is the optimum.

Perches-2" square with rounded corners. 1 foot length per bird. These must be set above the height of the nest boxes but no more than 18" off the floor. For heavy birds 12".

Pop-hole. These are most secure when set inside the walls. If external (easiest to build) they will need a secure bolt. Ours are 300 wide x 400 high to allow for large cockerels. Hens will be OK with 240 x 300. If they have to jump to it make it larger or add a platform.

Nest boxes -One box per 3 birds generally. We have a coop for hybrids who all want to lay at the same time and we had 4 boxes for 8 and still had arguements. They are best external to make egg collection easiest but make sure the lid to coop wall joint is watertight. Bigger the better and put curtains at the front for privacy.

Run -Walk-in is best but is too heavy to move. Floor area 2 square metres per bird if they are being let free-range part of the day otherwise 4 square metres per bird. Run needs sheltered areas to put feeder in and for the birds to stay dry. Chickens hate wind so barriers at the sides 1" high help. There is a good thread active at the moment about building a run.

Hope that helps as a start. Materials cost me about £200 for a simple 6 bird fixed coop with pent roof and double nest box. An 8 bird mobile coop with triple nest boxes, apex roof and wheeled chassis is about £450. 4 square metre covered run is about £100.

 

[dinosaw]

Good post by Chris, managed to cover pretty much everything I think, a couple of minor things I'll add

You probably want to raise your coop off the floor as an anti vermin measure (it also provides the chickens with somewhere to shelter in the rain). In the coop I built recently I did this simply by extending the fixing battens 18" below the coop structure to form legs, but you could build some kind of external framework to support the coop if you prefered.

For pop holes I like vertical risers, that way if you ever want to add an automatic opener it's a doddle to do.

Ventilation- when making holes think 'could a weasel get through that', if the answer is yes then mesh it.

On the subject of price and materials, if you are on a tight budget and using ply then you could use shuttering ply instead of WBP ply, it is effectively the same but with a rougher finish (and hence more absorbant when you coat it) but is a fraction of the cost of WBP (sorry if you already know this). I got an 8'X4' 12mm sheet for £13.50 and it was just enough to build a 3-4 bantam house, total cost for it was in the region of £35, it's not great to look at mind but does the job.

Happy building

 

[BabyBantam]

Something to add to Chris's response about flooring.
Cut a piece of vinyl to fit the size of the floor as you build the house (harder to size it if you do it once the house is together) but small enough to be removed easily. This means you don't need to clean the floor ast gets dirty, just pull out the vinyl & wash. The chickens can't easily scratch it up like newspaper etc as it's heavy, but remember to put diatom powder or treat under it from the start to prevent any problems with mites etc.

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Matt. I have just started construction of 6 coops, all the same. Basically they are not mobile and will take 6 Large Fowl, including a tall cockerel. Will start a thread explaining all with photos in a couple of weeks if you would like to wait a bit.

 

[karminski]

reading what you said about the ply wood has made me paranoid now 05 , i made my 8'4 ply house into a 4'4 the other day with the help of a good friend it looks good and the door shuts better but now i am unsure as my girls or some of them are getting pretty nasty as its time for bed and i think making the house small er has done this , all i need to do though is unscrew the door we placed into the centre to spilt the coop in half with and re put it back where it was and the coop is back to a 8'4 again :lol:
making your own coops is fun and i can do it on the right old cheap i have just made a 4ft by 3ft bantam house all for nothing even the latches wont cost as i am going to re use the clips of my horses old rugs oh i forgot it did cost £12 for the corrugated sheets for the roof though but its still almost made for free .