A frame coops

[thedawns]

I'm just wondering if anyone had some good plans/pics of a a frame/triangle coop? I know they're pretty straight forward but it's the actual nest a perch area I'm trying to get the jist of. Don't want it to be too cramped

For about 3 chickens. With the odd fourth. Shanks!!

 

[TNSMITH]

I am a NEW, brand spanking new chicken raiser. I built an A frame coop and immediately I have found a few issues. 1) the design I followed does not have good access into the "open area" of the coop. The access to the nesting area is great, but the rest is difficult. I am having to modify to ad an access door on one end.

The nesting area is a bit to small. The design that I choose has the nesting area on just one end of the coop. I am going to have to enclose the entire top. I also have an aggressive English game hen that has decided nobody else can enter her area.

Then there is the perching problem. There is no perching area. I am having to ad something that will accomadate that. I have found that the ladder into the nesting boxes can work as a perch.

Lastly: Portable yeah right. The design I used turned out to be quite heavy and not easily moved. I added some better wheels and that made a difference.

So if I was going to choose a design I think the at the A frame has enough drawbacks that I would do more research. It cost me about $200 to build this coop, It looks good.

 

[teach1rusl]

Yep...TNSmith pretty much summed up many of the issues with A frames. They are so simple and economical that it's easy to jump on the idea of them. But the reality of the issues/problems with them rarely live up to what was invisioned originally.
A simple box frame structure can be just about as easy and cheap if the bells and whistles are left off, and are much easier to manage, IMO. Of course if you're wanting something mobile, triangle or rectangle won't matter...they all end up being a LOT heavier to move than most people ever thought they would be...

 

[thedawns]

This is going pretty cheap second hand in my local area classifieds. That about big enough?

 

[SobbaChickens]

Do you know the dimensions?

Most people go with 4sq ft per bird inside the coop and 10 sq ft per bird in the run.

And is it store bought or was it hand made? Store bought coops are junk IMO

 

[WestSideChicken]

This is going pretty cheap second hand in my local area classifieds. That about big enough?

I recently got this same prefab coop and laughed assembling it. It looks big but is very small, big enough for probably two birds or three birds max. We have already made plans for a nice expansion on it to fit our young 4.

 

[teach1rusl]

If/when you inquire about that coop thedawns, don't go by how many chickens they claim it will hold, ask them specifically the measurements of the run, and the measurement of the housing area without the nest box added in. That will help you make your decision.

 

[SunnySkies]

One of my coops is an A frame. This thread has the plans and photos of my coop.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...tions-plans-for-an-a-frame-coop#post_11042926

 

[gladahmae]

http://ana-white.com/2012/05/plans/frame-chicken-coop

don't use chicken wire, use hardware cloth on whatever you do. everyone will have opinions on what works and what doesn't. there is no "perfect" chicken coop. diffsuerent things work for different people, which is why there is such a varied section devoted to coops here. (In my experience, they don't spend much time in the 'nest area'.....they'd rather be scratching in the dirt.)

 

[bluehousefarm]

We are using several mobile A frame coops following Harvey Ussery's design from "The Small Scale Poultry Flock". They work great, I can move them by myself. We made a smaller version for our bantam flocks. They are not predator proof, since they are located inside an electric fence. I would think with some hardware cloth instead of chicken wire and a wire floor this could be changed. This is a picture of the newest one we are building, just framed out now. The nesting box is in the back. I can post a picture of a finished one tomorrow...