Eastern Montana (4B ZONE) Chicken Coop Design

[TheOgdensmenagerie]

One option for replacing the roof is raising it to give space for eave vents. Then make the eaves wide to protect the walls and keep rain from coming in the eaves. Snow will still come in; in winter, cover the eaves with something like furnuce filter material (aarts' solution) or maybe light-weight row covers. You want as much air to come through it as possible without letting the snow through.

You want a minimum of 1 sq ft per bird... 16' of eaves... they would have to be 6" vertically to get enough for eight chickens. You have enough floor space for that many if they have access to a run for a good chunk of nearly every day. Six inches is a big gap but doable.

The eaves should be wide enough to come down at least even with the top of the walls. (I actually just made that up). So the actual distance would vary depending on the slope of your roof. Or make them at least 1' out from the walls - I've seen that number by many people but most people have 2-4" tall eave vents, I think, when they have them at all.

If you make a gable roof, a ridge vent is great in addition to the eave vents but you can't count it if snow cover is blocking it. A cupula or monitor roof would be better than a ridge vent - much more ventilation summer and winter but harder to build.

A shed roof instead of a gable roof can also work.

Slope of the roof is important but I'd have to look up the ratios. I don't know how much building experience or resources you have; maybe you know already.

Mainly out of curiosity I'm trying to think about how a permaculture garden influences coop design. I'd think you'd want to collect rainwater, either for the chickens or irrigation. I'd pay attention to shadows so I'm not shading the garden. I'd want the compost pile reasonably close by both for garden wastes and for the collected chicken poop. I just don't see how any of them strongly influence coop design. Maybe I'm missing something but I'd think what you can do to make a good coop would be top priority.

I like reusing and repurposing buildings for coops, but only if they are structurally sound. You know you are going to have to replace the roof. What you don't know yet is how solid the rest is. I'd consider that my first order of business, find out how good the frame and other wood is. Some of that paneling and wood inside doesn't look hopeless. Even the exterior paneling may be salvageable. That outside trim doesn't look that good to me. You might be able to use that frame as is, you might be better off tearing it down and building on the foundation. One concern is that the wood is so aged that it will split if you try to remove it.

The cleanest thing is probably to tear it down and rebuild it or build it somewhere else. But if that frame is useable it should make life easier. I'd want to if I could.

So in terms of permaculture influencing the design, I attached a picture below. The coop will be part of the garden. I will need to be able to open and close tunnels/runs that hook directly to the coop that will allow chickens to run the perimeter of the garden.

How is the best way to work in different tunnels I'm not sure?
Should I make a run and all stem from that or directly from the coop?

I would love to have a coop that makes composting easy.
I'm thinking poop trays under the roosts that slide out of the coop for easy cleaning, with the compost pile right next to it.

Rainwater collection that goes back to the birds or plants that the birds with have access to for health benefits (yarrow, basil, etc..)
I want to build a good coop with the birds well-being top priority, yes. But if I can merge it into be self-sufficient from the permaculture mindset that is my ultimate goal. I dk if that really explained anymore how the coop design crosses over to the permaculture world. In my head it makes sense. lol

I want to use as much as I can of the frame. I'm going to dig into it today to see exactly what I have to work with. I really prefer to make old new again than to buy new if I can!

I think it has potential. I agree with the "check out structure group"
If framing is sturdy and wood is strong , and you don't hate where it's located! I would try to salvage it. .
Questions: budget? Lumber availability and prices? How handy are you and what tools do you own?
You can add to existing roof to make overhangs. (Very common way to add ventilation above chooks heads. ) If salvage is feasible you can figure out how to add ventilation on non windy sides. That's my opinion but we are fixer uppers at this house.
Keep us posted.

I am going to dig into the structure today! I'll start with the water damaged area first.
It's located in a great area. Set right in terms of Prevailing winter wind etc.

Budget is open. I don't want to spend the money if I don't have too, but it's there is I need to spend it. Chickens are a priority because they feed us!
Lumber is available, luckily for us we have local lumber mills who are always stocked, prices are lower than big home improvement stores for sure. My husband and I have completely remodeled 2 houses and my Father in law is a carpenter. So we have pretty much every tool we would need and the basic know how to get us pretty far

I'll keep everyone updated! Thanks for everything so far everyone.

 

[Ridgerunner]

So in terms of permaculture influencing the design, I attached a picture below. The coop will be part of the garden. I will need to be able to open and close tunnels/runs that hook directly to the coop that will allow chickens to run the perimeter of the garden.

To me that is mostly done with fencing. The perimeter double fence is often called a chicken moat or garden moat. The idea is that the chickens eat bugs as they go to and from the garden, thus reducing pest load in the garden. In my opinion the effectiveness of that idea is somewhat exaggerated. They are just as likely to eat beneficials as bad guys and the bad guys usually don't hang around in that area waiting to be eaten, especially if it is kind of barren. I haven't tried it so that is just my opinion.

If I were building a moat I'd make the exterior fence the strong one. The interior fence can be less expensive wire since it's job is to keep chickens in, not keep predators out. I'd make it so I could work in between the fences. Not sure how it will work in the East Montana climate but in my electric netting area the chickens eat the good stuff and let the bad stuff grow. That means I have to get in there three or four times a year to mow it so the bad stuff doesn't shade out the good stuff. I'd build it so it butts up against the coop and the chicken access is a pop door from the coop. You'd also need a human gate to access it.

Whether you do the moat or not, I'd suggest you consider your garden be a large rectangle with the coop in the middle. Maybe build a small run all the way around the coop to give you good easy access. Then divide that one big rectangle into four rectangles with human gates going into each one. Maybe use two of those small rectangles for your garden, let one go fallow, and keep your chickens in the fourth. The next year the chicken run and fallow area are your garden and the other two refresh. At least something to think about. I saw on a garden forum years ago where somebody used this basic concept with a pie shaped area cut into six or eight pie pieces. Half of those pieces were garden one year and she rotated her chickens through the other pieces as ate down the grass and weeds. Lots of different ways to follow the basic concept.

I would love to have a coop that makes composting easy.
I'm thinking poop trays under the roosts that slide out of the coop for easy cleaning, with the compost pile right next to it.

I believe in simplicity. Instead of trays that slide I use a flat piece of plywood and scrape the poop off into a bin. People use trays and some even sliding trays but to me something that moves is just something else that can go wrong.

I'd keep the compost pile nearby. You could even build one in the main chicken run and let the chickens hep you keep it turned. Some people do. Another idea is the deep litter method. Your coop floor becomes your compost bin. So many different concepts.

 

[Happy hen lover]

So in terms of permaculture influencing the design, I attached a picture below. The coop will be part of the garden. I will need to be able to open and close tunnels/runs that hook directly to the coop that will allow chickens to run the perimeter of the garden.

How is the best way to work in different tunnels I'm not sure?
Should I make a run and all stem from that or directly from the coop?

I would love to have a coop that makes composting easy.
I'm thinking poop trays under the roosts that slide out of the coop for easy cleaning, with the compost pile right next to it.

Rainwater collection that goes back to the birds or plants that the birds with have access to for health benefits (yarrow, basil, etc..)
I want to build a good coop with the birds well-being top priority, yes. But if I can merge it into be self-sufficient from the permaculture mindset that is my ultimate goal. I dk if that really explained anymore how the coop design crosses over to the permaculture world. In my head it makes sense. lol

I want to use as much as I can of the frame. I'm going to dig into it today to see exactly what I have to work with. I really prefer to make old new again than to buy new if I can!




I am going to dig into the structure today! I'll start with the water damaged area first.
It's located in a great area. Set right in terms of Prevailing winter wind etc.

Budget is open. I don't want to spend the money if I don't have too, but it's there is I need to spend it. Chickens are a priority because they feed us!
Lumber is available, luckily for us we have local lumber mills who are always stocked, prices are lower than big home improvement stores for sure. My husband and I have completely remodeled 2 houses and my Father in law is a carpenter. So we have pretty much every tool we would need and the basic know how to get us pretty far

I'll keep everyone updated! Thanks for everything so far everyone.

Oh that's great to hear! You 3 can totally handle it if possible! What does hubby and FIL think of shed.? It looks like good bones to me I've seen much worse. The other thing I thought if was snow load on roof? Is pitch steep enough? Just wondering.

 

[Happy hen lover]

would love to have a coop that makes composting easy.
I'm thinking poop trays under the roosts that slide out of the coop for easy cleaning, with the compost pile right next to it.


Poop trays are great! Most of their poop ends up there. I just scoop up poo and toss in my composter every 10-14 days. My poop tray is a wooden crate under roost lined with old feed bags sprinkled with shavings.

Rainwater collection that goes back to the birds or plants that the birds with have access to for health benefits

We had a gutter that went to trash can with horizontal nipples on it (see pix) but all leaves and dirt ended up in can which built up scum, algae, gross smell, etc. So we scrapped the gutter idea. Added fresh water and small pump to combat algae which worked great, then added stock tank heater to keep away freezing so far so good. If you have power to coop that is.
I also have a heated inside coop waterer if your interested in plan pm me