Chicken coop ideas.

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Good morning all,

I'm here to solicit ideas from all of you for a chicken coop with integrated run. I'm finding out quickly that I don't want to be forced to go open doors and feed every morning before work then close it back up at night. I want to build my chickens a coop with a run that will be safe for them and they can choose to go into the run when they want to. I want to integrate at least 1 feeder and waterer inside the weather shielded portion of the building. I also want nesting boxes to be accessible so eggs can be retrieved from outside of the enclosure. I would also like it quasi-mobile. It's ok if I need to use forks to move it, or modular units easy to disassemble and reassemble.

Below is something I found online that is similar to what I have in my head. I have 13 little balls of feathers currently that are 1 and 2 weeks old. I want this thing to be big enough that they will not be cramped up and have plenty of room in the run to have a good life. We will probably let them out to run the property from time to time during the day if we are home. I have them in a cage in my shed right now, that's not ideal.

I don't know what the inside needs to look like. I know the wings will be nesting boxes, I figured on 8 max. My father in law has about the same number of chickens and his all use the same 2 or 3 boxes, so I know I don't need 1 per chicken. Inside of that I'm not sure what the larger portion needs to be. I know there will probably need to be roosting places inside but I don't really know what to do there either. I also don't really know how to build an automatic feeder and waterer. I have seen where people have made them out of PVC that is top load outside the enclosure but I have not seen what is inside the enclosure. I also think I want to put the door under the house so the door can stay open and rain can't get in.

I have the skill to build the thing I just don't have the knowledge of what needs to be included in the design. Please help.

 

[ericm979]

We have automatic doors on the coop. They operate off a lantern battery and use the light level to determine when to close and open.

The feeder is an all metal one from Australia. Rats kept chewing through the plastic ones even when I fabricated metal shields. The steel one is rat proof. Rats also like to eat eggs and if they get into the coop the chickens won't drive them away or eat them like they do with mice.

An automatic waterer is a good idea as well. I have to rebuild ours every few years but that's a lot less work than filling a manual waterer.

With all the automatic stuff my wife no longer has to remember to close the coop at night or get up at first light to let the chickens out. The chickens are hers, I just help. And we can go on a trip for a few days and not worry about the chickens.

Before the automatic doors we had a couple instances of predators getting into the enclosure, the coop not being shut and waking up to a yard full of dead chickens.

Make the coop easy to clean out with no nooks or crannies and no door sill so you can sweep the poop out.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Oh! and insulation! this will be out in the sun. I expect to keep it close to my garden and moving it around to keep some grass under their feet. Do I need to do any type of insulation so the sun does not hard boil the eggs before I can get to them?

 

[ericm979]

If it got that hot the chickens wouldn't be able to sit there long enough to lay.

Our coop has plenty of ventilation so it's not too hot in there in summer. We put up shade cloth over part of the pen in summer and when it's really hot, a mister. They mostly hang out under the shade cloth in hot weather.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

OK I will opt for ample ventilation.

 

[bigtiller]

Oh! and insulation! this will be out in the sun. I expect to keep it close to my garden and moving it around to keep some grass under their feet. Do I need to do any type of insulation so the sun does not hard boil the eggs before I can get to them?

Have you thought about putting wheels on one end and making a "chicken tractor"? It would be easier to move with 2 wheels and a hitch.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Have you thought about putting wheels on one end and making a "chicken tractor"? It would be easier to move with 2 wheels and a hitch.

Yes, that is an option I am considering. It may be on the larger side. So I'm also thinking modular. once I get enough info together for what the inside needs to look like I'll be able to start sketching.

 

[Doughknob]

Chickens like to roost high - the higher the roosting bars inside the better. I have several levels and my chickens always go to the upper one.

My coop has a small door between the coop and wire-enclosed run. that door stays open all the time. We let the birds out completely each day and they go back inside on their own each evening, then we close the outer doors.

exterior-accessible nesting/laying boxes are cool, but certainly not necessary as we find it just as easy to go in the man-door to get the eggs.

One REALLY nice thing is to have the whole thing tall enough for people to walk into upright for cleaning. The coop should be cleaned often and it is SOOOO much nicer to be able to stand up in it while doing it.

We use an old cat-litter pail with lid to keep feed inside the coop, but a built-in food storage bin might be nice.

Places/holes/electrical feedthroughs would be nice to run lighting and heated water bowls. I cut the plug off an extension cord and ran the cord through the wire and a drilled hole in the coop then put the plug back on.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Do you have a picture of the inside you could share?

 

[Oaktree]

OK I will opt for ample ventilation.

Yeah, in a hot climate like yours insulation isn't gonna help keep it cool. Even here where it can go well below zero in the winter you still need ventilation even in the winter. A larger coop will stay cooler than a small one.
Obviously, you're going to want birds more heat tolerant than we'd have here.