Almost Complete! Building 12x20 coop! Update post # 41

[OkChickens]

Well here is my sketch on Paint of my 10x20 coop. I am planning to hatch around 25-50 female Rsl to raise to sell eggs at the Local Farmers Market. This Coop will have a dirt floor with either straw or woods shavings. I will use the deep litter method in the winter and I plan to free range The 25-50 Hens will free range year round minus the few days we have snow each year. I have a little over 2 acres that we are renting and I have been pondering about a cheap easy coop design and I believe a pole barn coop is the way to go. Here is my plans so far.

Materials

7 Treated 4x4x8
32 2x4x10
6 2x4x12
4 2x6x10
17 4x8 Plywood
7 4x8 Insulation foam board

I'm probably for getting a few things but I am still in the planning stages, Let me know what you all think.

Nate

 

[ericz]

hi nate, looks like a good plan so far, but what are you going to do for a roof? you might think about reducing the width of the coop from 10' to 8' so you will not have to use partial plywood panels for the roof.

also, will there be a small ingress/egress door for the chickens, or will you open the human-sized door every morning and close it every night?

i am interested in your ideas as i will be building a similarly-sized coop in a few years when i move back to VA and will have room for a couple dozen birds.

 

[SmokinChick]

The tricky part will be the transition from the earth to the walls. Lots of hardware cloth!

 

[lynn1961]

We have a similar pole barn for our chickens. As for the transition from dirt to wood, we used buried chicken wire around the outside that was air gun stapeled to the wood and did the same on the inside. On the inside there is also obs 4x8's on the floor, keeps the chickens from scratching big holes in the dirt and makes it easier to clean out by raking or using a scoop shovel. The inside floor has not deteriorated very much over the years. Also have added a shelf above the feed storage bins to keep the chickens off of them, that makes cleaning up the poop easier since they like to roost where they can see out.
There is also a human sized door, and a pop door for them that we use when the weather gets bad so that they have a fairly draft free area to stay in, The pop door is made into the human dor, with a little ramp that opens up to the outside that has a latch to close it when not in use, if you have electricity, a light fixture in there makes it a lot easier for you to collect eggs, or one of those battery operated lights works good also. Don't forget your ventilation if you are going to keep it closed up.
As for deep litter method, have you tried shredded paper ? Have been using this method for a long time, it asorbs a lot of the chicken manures misdture, it is free, and can go into the compost bin, braks down pretty fast, it is a lot easier to clean up that straw is, as it does not seem to mat up. I have only been cleaning the chicken house out about 3 times a year, just add more shreds along the way, but it takes a lot of shredded paper. Don't forget the poop boards above your nest, you will have to clean out the nest box's less ofter if you use the poop boards.
As for roofing, can you buy or salvage some corigated metal ?

One more thing that ours has is a shelf to hold hay/straw for the nest, I have been keeping the hay covered with an old tarp to keep the chickens off of it.

 

[remuda1]

Sounds good.... Just watch where you use the insulation board. They think its CHICKEN CANDY and will eat the dickens out of it.

 

[CarolJ]

The chicken house we just completed is also 10 x 20. However, we put three interior pens (a brooder pen, a grow out pen, and then the larger "adult" pen), and added shelves for storage.
It is working very well for us. It so convenient having my bins with feed and scratch under the shelves. And I like having the human, chicken-free area. The big pen wouldn't hold 50 chickens, though. Here's how we divided it up.

ETA: Sorry - I put up the wrong design. Here's what our design ended up being.

 

[crazyhen]

I had a pole barn with the dirt floor. It always was a pain.

Rats will tunnel under no mater how much wire you put down. I covered mine with rabbit wire. The hens will dig holes in the inside next to the edges to dust. And so it went. Finally I gave up and built a floor into the coop. Whew! It is so much easier to maintain now. It stays dryer,no rat problem, no mixing of soil and chips to remove. One thought though put the floor high enough off the ground to prevent the mice and rats from building under the coop. Room for my cats to roam under there would have been a plus. Be sure all door tops are high.

I bump my head much to much now. Make the roof steep so that it will not leak. I did not get quite enough pitch on mine and it sometimes forms leaks that I have to patch.

Use sometype of sheathing on the roof. If you don't there will be condensation on a metal roof. I think your lay out is good and the coop will be very sturdy during storms. You can tell this is experience talking.

Gloria Jean

 

[blueseal]

i would go bigger i have a 10x12 barn and 30 birds is the max for that size. the more room the better. i would go 10x24 if you plan on 50 birds . i wished i had gone bigger after my coop was built and my chickens were in it.

 

[OkChickens]

My father is a carpenter and we have been discussing this design and the rafters will be every 5 feet and i will use metal corrugated roofing supported by 2x4 runners. I was going to do a pitched roof but i have decided against it. My plan is to have a sloped roof from 7' to 6.5' or from 8 to 7.5. I currently am renting around 2 acres from my Father in-law and this is not a permanent structure. The way I have designed this is to able to salvage the material when we move. As for the bottom regarding wire, I will bury chicken wire about 16-18 inches down on the outside of the coop. I might make some changes but I would like to make this bigger but the place where this will be built is about 22 ft or so. Let me know how it sounds and any advice.


Thanks

Nate

 

[ontimeborzoi]

Please rethink burying chicken wire. It rots. Rusts. And fast. Use Welded wire or hardware cloth if you want it under dirt. I learned this the hard way!