Coop run for free range hens?

[Breadhead]

Unless you already have the material on hand so it is free, most building materials come in 4' or 8' dimensions for the less expensive items. An 8' long 2x4 or a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood for example. When designing a coop it is often a good idea to take these dimensions into consideration. A 6' dimension isn't usually horrible, the cut-off can often be used to build nests or such.

Your roof needs to slope, both on the coop and the run so rainwater will run off. If water sets up there it will either leak or cause rot or corrosion, depending on materials. It is often a good idea to have some overhang. Coops need to be ventilated and under the overhang is a good place to have venting that is protected from rain or snow. So you might need an 8' width on a 6' wide roof.

How much room do you need? What a question! It depends on your individual chicken's personality and maybe size, your climate, and your management methods. Chickens don't recognize concepts like square feet in a coop versus square feet in a run. All they know is whether they have enough room or not, wherever it may be. If they are trapped in the coop only when they are awake because you locked them on there or the weather is too bad for them to go out, it doesn't matter if you have run space or not because it is not available. Beware of any hard and fast number rules, they depend on the circumstances. I've seen recommendations for anything between 1 sq ft per bird to 15 sq ft on this forum. If you have a predator-proof and weather-proof run and leave access all the time you don't need a lot of coop space. If you don't have that extra space available, you need more coop space. In Idaho you will have days when the wind or snow will keep them from free ranging outside.

I personally like to give them some extra room. You never know for sure how much room they really need, especially on a day when something unusual or unexpected happens. I'm not going to try to tell you how much room you need as it varies by so many different things. You'll probably have a less stressful experience if you give them some extra.

I appreciate your well throughout reply.

I do not have the material on hand, yet. I am taking into acct the material sizes. 5’ wide is not ideal but I don’t feel a 4’ wide coop is sufficient. I also want the run to match the coop width, which is why I am leaning towards the 5’ width.

I do plan to put a roof, likely a 6/12 pitch for with a one ft overhang per side. I’ll upload a pic of the design I liked, it’s just an 11’ coop/run design but I’ll lengthen it to the final dimensions I go with.

I am not new to forums so I do understand the new members who join and have dreams of upgrading vs. members who go over the top to accommodate what they have. Ie: the reef forums I’m in, prior to joining I thought aquarium filters were for what the box say. Little did I realize, the box is telling the user it’s the MAX gallons for the filter. Now I run 250glns worth of filter equipment for a 100gl tank. Similarly how people likely keep their hens on this site… so I do sincerely understand and take information to the heart.
I do regret not doing more research on the run as I did on coop and breed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum. I didn't notice you were new in my first post.

If you have a walk-in coop you need enough room to move around in there. 4' is really tight with nests and roosts. 5' is a little better for sure, 6' is almost getting comfortable. If it is not a walk-in, then 4' should be wide enough. Get any wider and they get hard to clean out and hard to reach every part of it.

I personally like a wider run. Chickens can be bullies, especially if you have different maturity levels. I like for a chicken to be able to walk past another in the run without getting so much into personal space that they are likely to get pecked. Mine is a multigenerational flock, I almost always have younger chickens in it. If yours are the same age then you will probably not have the issues I do.

With your comments on the other forum you may appreciate this story. Several years back I suggested you could use natural rock as grit if you have it in your soil instead of buying grit. I was chewed out royally. Obviously I did not love my chickens enough if I did not want to spend money on them, even if it were not needed.

 

[Breadhead]

Welcome to the forum. I didn't notice you were new in my first post.

If you have a walk-in coop you need enough room to move around in there. 4' is really tight with nests and roosts. 5' is a little better for sure, 6' is almost getting comfortable. If it is not a walk-in, then 4' should be wide enough. Get any wider and they get hard to clean out and hard to reach every part of it.

I personally like a wider run. Chickens can be bullies, especially if you have different maturity levels. I like for a chicken to be able to walk past another in the run without getting so much into personal space that they are likely to get pecked. Mine is a multigenerational flock, I almost always have younger chickens in it. If yours are the same age then you will probably not have the issues I do.

With your comments on the other forum you may appreciate this story. Several years back I suggested you could use natural rock as grit if you have it in your soil instead of buying grit. I was chewed out royally. Obviously I did not love my chickens enough if I did nit want to spend money on them, even if it were not needed.

Oh ty for the welcome.
I haven’t quite decided on walk-in or not. I do want a raised coop so there is more room to walk and a raised coop would allow me to clean the bedding from outside, right into a wheelbarrow . I’ve seen some with a diy shovel to sweep out the bedding that I’ll likely make.

All the chicks are the same age, just 3 different breeds of Brahmas.
Good insight on the 4’ narrow path that could irritate a more aggressive chicken.

Yes, I understand the keyboard police are everywhere and we just have to weed through for the gold nuggets.

I took measurements yesterday and this is the area I’m working with.
On the side of my house I have a 56” width area that is 25’ long. I’m thinking of using that as the run along the dividing vinyl fence I share with my neighbor. This side always has overgrowth during the neighbors vegetation season and the birds could help me clean that up. From the start of the 25’ run, I’ll make a 6’x56” coop with a wood run, totaling 14’. The 14’ coop/run plus the 25’ run seems like it would be enough, right?

I was thinking to add something to the perimeter of the fence 2’ deep so no potential predators intrude in the coop/run, specifically the neighbors friendly dog (we don’t know how he would act with birds but just in case). I’m thinking of adding a French drain to lessen any water the side of the house gets and push it towards the front of the yard/street.

Measured my yard from the back sliding doors (excluding the 56”x25’ side and the 9’x17’ side of the house) and the yard is 61’x50’. I must of confused the numbers from the time I was trying to convince my wife to build a little shop in the back.

Last but not least, here is the chicken coop inspo picture. The coop will have 3 doors vs. 2. Not sure what you call it but it’ll look like a truck bed that folds down to clean the bedding. I also plan to make dual purpose windows for added ventilation.

Video of how ill make the dual functioning doors/windows @0:32sec

Thoughts, suggestions?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I like the concept. It should be plenty big enough for seven Brahma chickens.

You are in Idaho, I have to remember that. As long as they can get out of a breeze a Brahma over 6 weeks old doesn't get cold until you get down to -20 Fahrenheit. Do you see temperatures that cold?

My thoughts on ventilation are to have ventilation under the overhang. There are different ways to go about that. Warm air rises so you want it to have a place to go to the atmosphere. You are not trying to keep heat in, you are trying to get bad air out.

On the side inside the covered run have a window you can open to let air in. That keeps rain out. I'd cover it to keep predators out, even if you have a predator proof run. I use hardware cloth or welded wire. This should be open whenever it is warm weather. In the dead of winter with a strong wind you might want to shut it.

If it is not a walk-in, give yourself as much access as you can so you can reach everywhere inside. That might be for cleaning or maybe to retrieve a chicken that doesn't want to be retrieved. They can drop eggs anywhere, you want to be able to get them. Access is important.

 

[McChooky]

My chickens have 216 sq ft coop and run combo for 20 hens.That breaks down to almost 10 sq per bird (leghorns) I would probably need double the space for brahma's

 

[rosemarythyme]

On the side of my house I have a 56” width area that is 25’ long. I’m thinking of using that as the run along the dividing vinyl fence I share with my neighbor.

Do you have any setback restrictions that would be an issue? Who is responsible for maintenance on that fence, as it sounds like it would be functioning as one of the walls for the run?

The space sounds good if you can use it, and don't need that area as a pass through for utilities or whatnot, but you want to make sure there's no ordinance or liability issues if you decide to set up there.

 

[Breadhead]

I like the concept. It should be plenty big enough for seven Brahma chickens.

You are in Idaho, I have to remember that. As long as they can get out of a breeze a Brahma over 6 weeks old doesn't get cold until you get down to -20 Fahrenheit. Do you see temperatures that cold?

My thoughts on ventilation are to have ventilation under the overhang. There are different ways to go about that. Warm air rises so you want it to have a place to go to the atmosphere. You are not trying to keep heat in, you are trying to get bad air out.

On the side inside the covered run have a window you can open to let air in. That keeps rain out. I'd cover it to keep predators out, even if you have a predator proof run. I use hardware cloth or welded wire. This should be open whenever it is warm weather. In the dead of winter with a strong wind you might want to shut it.

If it is not a walk-in, give yourself as much access as you can so you can reach everywhere inside. That might be for cleaning or maybe to retrieve a chicken that doesn't want to be retrieved. They can drop eggs anywhere, you want to be able to get them. Access is important.

The coldest I seen it here was -5 and that took place in 2017. Since then, I’d say 0 to +5 is the coldest in my area.

Yes, I do plan to have the overhang the main area of ventilation. The doors/windows is split between us and if we will need it in the summer.

Yes, I plan to put a rectangular window on the inside run and opposite side.

Good point on the walk in for the run.

 

[Breadhead]

Question for drainage in the run.

If I were to put a French drain in the Run to the front lawn and put (let’s say)… 2” dia. pvc into the ground @2’ long filled with rocks, would this help with not having a flooded run on rainy days (water is wet, I’m just trying to think ahead and drain more water faster if it helps).
We have a lot of clay in our dirt and I’m trying to keep their feathery legs as dry as possible.

I do plan to put top soil or dirt from somewhere over the run, which would cover the pvc drains in the ground.

Thoughts

 

[Ridgerunner]

French drains are a very standard way to get water out of a run so they can help a lot. The water needs a pervious soil to soak down to the drain so be careful of clay soil. The chickens will scratch and dig holes which you might want to watch for but I like the idea.

 

[StinkyAcres]

I've never thought about putting the french drain inside the run. I've always thought they're normally placed along the edge on the outside to catch the water before it goes into the run.