Building a chicken coop— waterproofing? +coop plans

[floral_chickadee]

Ok so, I’m back once again with a new idea. Previously I was thinking about converting a playhouse into a chicken coop, but after talking with several users about how much “editing” would have needed to be done, I’ve decided against that since it would probably be cheaper and more satisfactory to just make one from scratch!

I’m thinking a 7.5 L x 4 W x 3 H (plus 1 foot or so off the ground) coop with plywood walls glazed over with “waterproofer” paint: https://www.lowes.com/pd/UGL-White-...proofer-Actual-Net-Contents-128-fl-oz/3073099

For the roof, I want it to have hinges so that it can open for easy cleaning but otherwise I’m not exactly sure what I want to do, so suggestions welcome. The coop will be sheltered overhead because the run I have has a slanted roof to let in sun but keep out rain. (Although I have a run, they will be occasionally free ranged whenever I’m cleaning out or am supervising them in the yard) Therefor, the roof doesn’t have to be 100% waterproof.

Im also uncertain about how many windows I want, but they will probably be close to the top of the coop, covered in hardware cloth to allow ventilation but avoid draft. They can be covered in the winter if necessary.

I’m thinking the nesting boxes will actually be inside the coop, as in there will be no add on (the coop will just be a perfect rectangle). As well as several roosts for the other birds to sit on.

Are there any flaws with this plan? Anything I should change? I’m wondering if it will be too wide? And for plywood, what kind would be best to use with the waterproofer? I’ve heard exterior is waterproof it’s self and doesn’t need any special coating? Is that true?

 

[rosemarythyme]

How many birds are you planning on, max?

Any particular reason you'd want the long side 7.5' instead of 8' (asking because if you push it to 8', you can avoid extra lumber cuts - it could actually be cheaper to tack on the extra 6"). Additionally, it sounds like this is a free standing unit inside the run? Why not build it into the run itself and save some material cost that way?

If it's 1' off the ground, that's not really high enough to make the space underneath usable, so are you planning on blocking that off? If so, I'd put it on/closer to the ground - if not, raise it more.

If you really want "easy cleaning" make it tall enough to walk in - your back will thank you. I don't know how heavy a 7.5x4' roof panel would be to be swinging around on hinges, but it might not be very practical.

 

[saysfaa]

That is 30 square feet of floor space, if all of it is open (no nest boxes, feeders, waterers), which is enough for 7 chickens if they also have access to 70 square feet of run space at least almost every day. Or for 2 chickens if they can't go out at least almost every day. Unfortunately, I think you can't really average it by saying 4 chickens going out for a half day every day or going out every other day.
This is the rule of thumb amount of enough to probably not have health or behavior problems from overcrowding. If you get lucky and your chickens really like each other all the time, or have very easy going personalities, or you can give them a lot of stress relieving things to do in the coop then your chickens can do okay with a little less space.

A nearly full sheet of plywood would make a fairly heavy door to lift up to open even without lifting the frame too. If you don't lift the frame too, you will have the cross pieces in your way when you lean into the coop. You can rig up springs or counter weights but that tends to get complicated. You count cut the sheet in half or thirds to make it lighter weight if you can seal the seams well enough. Then, once you have it open: you intend to gather eggs and clean it out from the top? Did I understand correctly? You might what to mock up the shape with cardboard and see how each would go. I don't think I could get good leverage on a shovel from that position. Best to raise the mock up if that is where the coop will be so if you need a step to reach into the coop, you can tell how that will affect how easy it is to do the work.

I don't know a lot about painting plywood. It hasn't held up in plywood calf hutches but maybe it just wasn't done right. For what it is worth: My first choice for roofing my coop was Ondura panels partly because they are so light weight. My coop dimensions are terrible for using it though. My plan A was scrap shingles by trying to find someone with a part of a square left from their project. That would add weight, though. My plan B was blackjack 57 as a coating. My better half over ruled and decided on a conventionally done shingle roof to match our house.

 

[3KillerBs]

I agree in re: the size. If you design to account for the fact that building materials come in multiples of 4 you'll save money, effort, and frustration. I also agree that 12" off the ground isn't far enough. 18" or 24" gives the chickens room to use the underneath space and allows enough light underneath to deter rodents.

IMO, 3 feet tall is too short to readily give yourself enough depth in the base to get a good thickness of bedding, to have your nest boxes above the bedding, your roosts above the nest boxes, and your ventilation (1 square foot per hen), above the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

I also think that a big access panel on the side is better than trying to lift the roof. The roof is heavy, it could fall on your head while you were trying to work inside. Also, it's easier to reach across than to reach down into the bottom of a box when cleaning, picking up a floor egg, etc.

While there are many good points to inside nestboxes, their big drawback is that they take away floor space. In a small coop you cannot count the space occupied by the nestboxes, the feeder, and the waterer as space available for the chickens.

Have you looked at my Little Monitor Coop? It's designed to meet the minimums for 4 hens in our hot, wet climate.

Speaking of our climate, it's brutal on building materials so be sure to use treated wood rated for ground contact and exterior-grade plywood (look into Hardie panels, which are proof against termites and carpenter ants). I like barn paint for my weatherproofing needs, others use other methods.

Is there a particular reason that you want to put your coop inside the run instead of outside?

 

[3KillerBs]

My first choice for roofing my coop was Ondura panels partly because they are so light weight.

I can't recommend Ondura for the non-mountain portions of North Carolina. When we bought this property we had an existing structure with an Ondura roof that I was going to convert to a chicken coop, but we ended up dismantling it instead and had to throw away the entire roof because it had degraded so badly. I've heard the same from people in Florida and, IIRC, Louisiana.

Metal, high-grade PVC, or traditional shingles are a better bet in the southern US.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I am agreeing that the measurements are not the most effective.

A 4x8 makes best use of materials.

That roof......yeah make that a fixed in place roof. Trying to flip a big ole 2'+ by 7'+ roof side and hat is 4' above the ground would be difficult at best and likely impossible.

I recommend putting the coop on 2' legs and BIG clean out doors on one of the long sides. That is if you want it raised.

I have had both raised and walk in coops. I much prefer the walk ins. No standing in the sun or the soaking wet to tend things.

If still going with raised coop making the long side walks 4 foot tall is immensely better than 3 foot. It's amazing what that extra foot can do for the birds.

If you have drawings (even rough sketches) of the plan I am sure we can help nail things down.

Additional points to consider....

A flip roof would mean a huge risk of leaking.
A coop raised 1 foot off the ground with 3' side walks and a flip roof puts the reach over height at 4'....then the trying to reach all corners. To me that seems impossible.

Trying to save you a ton of frustration and headaches.

 

[Sally PB]

@floral_chickadee, there is some really good advice here. I'd like to add my vote for a walk-in coop, and going to 4x8 to use any building materials more efficiently. A walk-in has given me so many more options in how I use the space, because I can use the vertical dimension.

 

[floral_chickadee]

I agree in re: the size. If you design to account for the fact that building materials come in multiples of 4 you'll save money, effort, and frustration. I also agree that 12" off the ground isn't far enough. 18" or 24" gives the chickens room to use the underneath space and allows enough light underneath to deter rodents.

IMO, 3 feet tall is too short to readily give yourself enough depth in the base to get a good thickness of bedding, to have your nest boxes above the bedding, your roosts above the nest boxes, and your ventilation (1 square foot per hen), above the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

I also think that a big access panel on the side is better than trying to lift the roof. The roof is heavy, it could fall on your head while you were trying to work inside. Also, it's easier to reach across than to reach down into the bottom of a box when cleaning, picking up a floor egg, etc.

While there are many good points to inside nestboxes, their big drawback is that they take away floor space. In a small coop you cannot count the space occupied by the nestboxes, the feeder, and the waterer as space available for the chickens.

Have you looked at my Little Monitor Coop? It's designed to meet the minimums for 4 hens in our hot, wet climate.

Speaking of our climate, it's brutal on building materials so be sure to use treated wood rated for ground contact and exterior-grade plywood (look into Hardie panels, which are proof against termites and carpenter ants). I like barn paint for my weatherproofing needs, others use other methods.

Is there a particular reason that you want to put your coop inside the run instead of outside?

The reason I was hoping to put it inside the run was because I don’t really have a way to attach it. My run is actually an old dog lot and has only two doors, both human sized. I just thought it would be difficult to attach something chicken sized to a human sized door.

 

[floral_chickadee]

How many birds are you planning on, max?

Any particular reason you'd want the long side 7.5' instead of 8' (asking because if you push it to 8', you can avoid extra lumber cuts - it could actually be cheaper to tack on the extra 6"). Additionally, it sounds like this is a free standing unit inside the run? Why not build it into the run itself and save some material cost that way?

If it's 1' off the ground, that's not really high enough to make the space underneath usable, so are you planning on blocking that off? If so, I'd put it on/closer to the ground - if not, raise it more.

If you really want "easy cleaning" make it tall enough to walk in - your back will thank you. I don't know how heavy a 7.5x4' roof panel would be to be swinging around on hinges, but it might not be very practical.

I’d love to have a walk in coop, it sounds a lot better than the smaller ones but I just don’t know how I’d connect it to the run (see my response to 3KillerB’s:

The reason I was hoping to put it inside the run was because I don’t really have a way to attach it. My run is actually an old dog lot and has only two doors, both human sized. I just thought it would be difficult to attach something chicken sized to a human sized door.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Can you post a couple pics of the run? It may help us to better help you.