Building a new coop, suggestions welcome

[enrgizerbunny]

Oh here we build again! This will probably be a slow update until the foundation is built.

After a 4 year run with chickens in a too small high maintenance coop, I'm going to build a new coop because I just love those fresh eggs annnd the lack of bugs in the yard is worth having them around by itself.

Coop will be 8'x8' built on a concrete footer and cinder blocks using Quikwall surface bonding cement. Dirt floor. I'm considering (not committed to) using pallet Lumber for this project. If so I would have 7' walls instead of 8. Roof roll likely end up being a gable with asphalt shingles on it. Gable ends and eaves will probably just be open with hardware cloth covering them. For simplicity, I'm considering keeping everything internal (no nesting boxes accessible from the outside). For simpler construction and in the future the idea can be sold that this is a second shed, not a coop. As such, it will have a large opening in the front door for annual clean out, that is large enough to drive a lawn mower inside. At least that's my plan. It's going to be built on the edge of my yard, half in the woods, half out. I've attached a couple pictures of the location. I've laid out a rough perimeter until I get some proper stakes and I can put up string lines in a precise manner and start to digging!

I'd love to hear the things that have made your life easier with chickens. I'm planning to run electric to it for water heater and a light overhead. I will also have an automatic pop door. Planning on buying the chickenrun T50.

One thing I'm on the fence about is nesting boxes that I can access from outside, instead of having to go inside and step in poop every time I get eggs. I had external boxes last time and still had to step in poop because of the run.


For reference, I'm in Central Virginia USDA zone 7a/b (close to the line).

For anyone who needs a visual on how Quikwal works :
https://www.quikrete.com/athome/video-dry-stack-wall.asp

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I like everything you said! Your plan sounds simple and effective. My coop is in a similar location to yours, with woods behind it which provides great shade. I do NOT like external nest boxes, just me but they seem like a colder, wetter option that if I was a chicken I wouldn't even want. But when I wonder WHY this is even a thing, you just said it, because of poop. So why not do poop boards? You could then have floor in the event you want one. I JUST changed my original plan on my coop #3 after trying the dirt floor, rake poo out of the poop door method. I had it decently designed with a half wood floor by nest boxes, nothing under the roosts. The ground just never dried from winter, was always wet and I knew that next winter, I'd be even worse. So I just installed poop boards and my life is now complete, lol! I LOVE this. I also finished the floor, it does NOT get pooped on.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I mean just having access to them from outside. The boxes would be inside the coop, but I'd have an opening in the wall on the back side that would allow me to get eggs. I'm leaning more and more towards external access I think because of the convenience. For my wife or anyone who house sits while I'm on vacation. I plan to use the deep litter method and just have dirt floor all over. Clean out about once a year like a commercial chicken house.

 

[Chuckie chicken]

X2 for poop boards. There is no poop in my coop. I have stall fresh on the boards and clean them off daily in a few minutes with a cat litter scoop. The chickens have access to outside 24/7, so they rarely leave anything on the floor in the coop. There are 4ish inches of wood shavings down on the plastic floor of my Rubbermaid shed. Once a year clean out will be plenty.

 

[3KillerBs]

That looks like a great plan!

The nests in Neuchickenstein are internal with outside access. I haven't finished the coop page yet, but this is the build thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/23969601 and it's shown extensively in my hot climate article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

Having them inside in a coop of that design keeps them cooler (they're ventilated), but the outside access means I don't have to step in poop to collect eggs.

I'm doing well with a dirt floor and deep litter.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I did a little exterior door that opens the back of 2 nest boxes so that when I go on a short vacation only egg collection is needed. I block off the other 2. Deep litter is fine, depends on how nice or not nice you want your coop/shed to be. Deep litter turned my nice coop into a shit shack so I took it back....

 

[Ridgerunner]

Roof roll likely end up being a gable with asphalt shingles on it. Gable ends and eaves will probably just be open with hardware cloth covering them.

Make sure you have overhang on the sides at least. That will keep the rain out and give you great ventilation in summer and winter. If you have gable vents you'll want overhang there too or louvered vents to keep rain and snow out.

For simplicity, I'm considering keeping everything internal (no nesting boxes accessible from the outside).

Very much my preference. If you had a tiny coop you don't have a choice, but it's a walk-in coop, take advantage of that. I go inside to feed and water anyway. I've found a couple of dead hens, a few snakes, and even a possum once that I might not have found if I hadn't gone inside. I don't like reaching blindly into a nest, no telling what you might grab. A rat snake may not be venomous but grabbing one can do things to your heart rate. If you do have outside access for gathering eggs, make them high enough so they are convenient for you or your wife to reach in them and see in them before you reach.

It's going to be built on the edge of my yard, half in the woods, half out. I've attached a couple pictures of the location. I've laid out a rough perimeter until I get some proper stakes and I can put up string lines in a precise manner and start to digging!

How well does that area drain? Drainage is my top criteria when positioning a coop or run. If water drains to it you have problems. If water drains away from it you are in good shape.

Mine is also on the ground. I put a berm and swale on the uphill side of mine and filled the bottom 3" or so of the coop with impervious clay soil to keep water out. It stayed very dry.

I'd love to hear the things that have made your life easier with chickens. I'm planning to run electric to it for water heater and a light overhead.

Electricity is very nice. I put a breaker box down there so I could have separate circuits for lights, heaters, and so I could plug in electrical tools without overloading a circuit. I also ran a water line down there and installed a frost-free hydrant. That way I had plenty of water for the chickens, could water trees in the orchard, and had plenty of water when I butchered chickens.

One thing I'm on the fence about is nesting boxes that I can access from outside, instead of having to go inside and step in poop every time I get eggs. I had external boxes last time and still had to step in poop because of the run.

Thanks for the giggle. You are working with chickens, chickens have been known to poop. Whenever I go out of the house, whether to work in the garden, work with the chickens, cut the grass, or just walk around I'd wear shoes for the outside. I would not wear house shoes or shoes suitable for shopping. The coop was dry enough and the outside area big enough that their poop didn't pile up that thick. It was fairly easy to miss most poop. If I did step in some those shoes were not going in the house or a vehicle anyway, not that big of a deal. Just scrape them off and let them dry.

You are in Virginia, you should have weather where the chickens can be outside practically all day every day. Make it big enough so they will want to be outside. Have feed and water outside. that way the only time they will be inside is to lay and sleep. There should not be any poop inside the coop except under the roosts.

 

[3KillerBs]

You are in Virginia, you should have weather where the chickens can be outside practically all day every day. Make it big enough so they will want to be outside. Have feed and water outside. that way the only time they will be inside is to lay and sleep. There should not be any poop inside the coop except under the roosts.

Good advice here.

I get more poop inside my coop this time of year because my run is on the west and my coop is the coolest place in the yard. But if the run is shaded from the afternoon sun they'll want to be out there for sure.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Borrowed a laser and set grade today. Hopefully my friend will come through with a track hoe on Friday and foundation will be dug and yard will be graded to accommodate the doors. Or something like that. Otherwise it's a lot of digging.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Make sure you have overhang on the sides at least. That will keep the rain out and give you great ventilation in summer and winter. If you have gable vents you'll want overhang there too or louvered vents to keep rain and snow out.


Very much my preference. If you had a tiny coop you don't have a choice, but it's a walk-in coop, take advantage of that. I go inside to feed and water anyway. I've found a couple of dead hens, a few snakes, and even a possum once that I might not have found if I hadn't gone inside. I don't like reaching blindly into a nest, no telling what you might grab. A rat snake may not be venomous but grabbing one can do things to your heart rate. If you do have outside access for gathering eggs, make them high enough so they are convenient for you or your wife to reach in them and see in them before you reach.


How well does that area drain? Drainage is my top criteria when positioning a coop or run. If water drains to it you have problems. If water drains away from it you are in good shape.

Mine is also on the ground. I put a berm and swale on the uphill side of mine and filled the bottom 3" or so of the coop with impervious clay soil to keep water out. It stayed very dry.


Electricity is very nice. I put a breaker box down there so I could have separate circuits for lights, heaters, and so I could plug in electrical tools without overloading a circuit. I also ran a water line down there and installed a frost-free hydrant. That way I had plenty of water for the chickens, could water trees in the orchard, and had plenty of water when I butchered chickens.


Thanks for the giggle. You are working with chickens, chickens have been known to poop. Whenever I go out of the house, whether to work in the garden, work with the chickens, cut the grass, or just walk around I'd wear shoes for the outside. I would not wear house shoes or shoes suitable for shopping. The coop was dry enough and the outside area big enough that their poop didn't pile up that thick. It was fairly easy to miss most poop. If I did step in some those shoes were not going in the house or a vehicle anyway, not that big of a deal. Just scrape them off and let them dry.

You are in Virginia, you should have weather where the chickens can be outside practically all day every day. Make it big enough so they will want to be outside. Have feed and water outside. that way the only time they will be inside is to lay and sleep. There should not be any poop inside the coop except under the roosts.

My plan is to overhang it on all sides and have everything in the gable open for ventilation. I guess I'll need some sort of DIY louver or baffle.

Based on the cost of lumber, I'll probably be utilizing 7x5' pallets to get my lumber, assuming I can still get the pallets where I used to get them. If I'm lucky I won't even have to buy much in the way of plywood.

I'm going to cut a swale to carry water to the side of the coop. The foundation will be waterproof and the dirt floor will be above grade, so even if water gets inside, it's unlikely to make it to the surface.