Chicken coop advice needed

[Kayla]

I've had chickens for many years but they've always had their run of the place during the day and roosted in whatever barn or shed they like at night. I need better control over the situation and DH is (finally!) starting to build a chicken coop for me. It'll be approx. 8 x 12, and the outside run will be either 12 x 16 or 12 x 20. How many chickens can be comfortably housed in that amount of space? I intend to cull most of the current birds and get Blk. Australorps again.

This is high desert area. We have the occasional week or so of 100+ degree days in the summer but cool nights (can freeze even in July). Winter has some stretches of days of around zero or slightly below but usually not for prolonged periods. Most precipitation comes in the form of snow.

DH plans to cover the building with metal siding (wood under the siding). What sort of ventilation is needed? Do we need insulation?

We have a 6 ft. sliding glass patio door we thought we'd install on the south side to serve as an extra large window. It could be covered during the summer days to keep the heat out but it would allow a lot of light in the rest of the year. Good idea or not?

The run will be on the south side with an entrance for the chickens on that side and a regular door on the east side. I have a large commercial nest box
already as well as feeders & waterers. There'll be one light fixture for additional light in the winter.

Is straw ok for litter? We can get shavings but straw is cheaper and easier to obtain.

Any advice is welcome, I'd rather prevent problems now than try to fix them later!

[just me]

Our chicken coop is 10x10 inside and 8x16 outside and we have 25 chickens in there comfortably. We do want to double the outside run this summer, but it isn't a necessity. We had 50 chickens in this coop until I butchered 1/2 of them this fall. That was too many for the size of coop and run.

The inside coop in actually inside of our small barn, but we have chicken wire sides and top. We have had bobcat's and fox after the chickens in the past. Oh, the outside run is covered in chicken wire as well because of hawks. I have been told that you could just criss-cross the top outside with fishing line to keep hawks out, but some of our RI reds can fly high enough to sit on the top of an 8 ft wall, so I decided to contain them this time :)

Someone had a really good post about using deep bedding for chickens. I'll see if I can find it.

[just me]

Here I found it. Summerthyme had posted it.

http://www.thetreeofliberty.com/vb/showthread.php?t=39487&highlight=chicken+bedding

[Kayla]

Thanks for the info and the link. :) I had read Summerthyme's post awhile back but couldn't find the link to read it again!

The info about your chickens is just what I needed. I will likely end up with about 20-22 chickens so my coop size should be about right. Looks like we'll want to make the outside run 12 x 20 to give them more room.

[Indigo]

Congrats on the chicken coop plans! Yay!

Do make sure that the place you construct it has good drainage. Nothing yuckier than a chicken run that doesn't drain. :)

Indigo

[Kayla]

No worries...I don't think there's a single spot on our place that has drainage problems! If it ever flooded here it would probably be bone dry the next day. :mrgreen:

[Caplock50]

Heh, what I need is the plans for your chicken coop. I'm about to put one up myself...but it is near impossible because I can't get a mental picture of the thing. I've got to know what the 'finished product' will look like before I can even begin to build one.

My 'chicken yard' will be 50 ft. by 50 ft. How many chickens will that support?

[Kayla]

Caplock, there are so many different types of chicken coops, from doghouse size on up. Open, closed, permanent, portable. Some people use an existing shed and just add an outside run. We can't use the open style here as our winters can get pretty cold.

Our coop will look much like a backyard storage shed with a chicken size door for access into the run and a people door on the other side of the coop (big enough to allow for cleaning out the coop!). We'll have the big sliding glass door for light, and will need to add a smaller window or two for cross ventilation. Inside they need a roost (2x2 with edges taken off, and approx. 10" space per bird), nest boxes (1 for every 3-4 birds), feeder, waterer and a light.

If I can do this right, here's a link where you can see some different styles:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/coopdesigns.html

I've read the recommended space for chickens is somewhere between 2.5 to 4 sf inside and approx. 10 sf in the run. 50 x 50 would be enough space for more chickens then you'd ever want to take care of! :mrgreen: But however many you choose to raise, that much area should make for some happy chickens.

[Yooper]

One thing you may want to consider is splitting up that yard into two, with an entrance to each from the coop. This way you can rotate yards so they always have a fresh source of greens. We did this when we lived in TN, but now let them all freerange here in the north.
By rotating yards it also keeps them from getting wormy and lets one yard rest and regrow fresh while the other is in use.
Love those Black Aussies!

[Kayla]

Great idea, Yooper. Thanks!

[Sunflower]

I just increased my flock to 14. We have a 7x7 coop which is plenty big for all. We have a pen area 15x20 aprox. We throw hay down on the pen area. The hens love to scratch in it searching for bugs. Fun to watch! We also have a "chicken car", that we move them around the yard in. It is basically a pen on wheels so they can "free range", but are protected from predators.

[IRo]

One thing you may want to consider is splitting up that yard into two, with an entrance to each from the coop. This way you can rotate yards so they always have a fresh source of greens. We did this when we lived in TN, but now let them all freerange here in the north.
By rotating yards it also keeps them from getting wormy and lets one yard rest and regrow fresh while the other is in use.
Love those Black Aussies!

We only have the one yard, and I had an idea yesterday. DH had suggested buying a roll of sod for fresh greens, and my idea light bulb went on. The tops for the boxes that paper reams come in a good size to put in dirt, some grass seed and grow our own small blocks of sod.

I'm going to start some today and see how it works. When it is grown in, I can put it in the pen, and start another one, reusing the box top until it starts to break down and then become compost.

[Indigo]

My farm had an old building that was divided in 1/2. One half was a calf barn (I turned it into a mini horse and donkey barn with cute little stalls) and the other 1/2 I turned into a chicken coop. I suppose this was really two buildings that shared a wall. Has seperate doors and all.

Anyway, now that I think of it, it had an old style unique ventilation system that worked out very well. There was one built into each side. It was basically a wooden "chimmney" of sorts - it was built out of 1x6 or 1x8 boards...it was open at both the bottom and the top...and the bottom ended maybe a foot or two off the floor. It went all the way up through the roof. The top had a raised vented cover much like you would see over a roof vent so that the rain and snow didn't fall inside.

I'd never seen one before and it was a very old building. A neighbor told me they were used to vent bedding odors. Now, far better to keep things CLEAN! Even so, I thought it was pretty neat low tech way to reduce odors at the ground level.

Indigo