First A frame Tractor Build "Suggestions Welcome"

[Eggronomic]

So I've decided to go with a simple design, that i should be able to modify and replicate quickly if i decide to expand our flock or feel that our birds need more room i intend to make a few simple modifications to the design from the get go to lighten it up a bit as well as make birds a little more comfortable,also i intend to paint the coop barn red but I'm going to start with this design, I've cost the project out at around $150 , maybe a little cheaper, i always estimate a little high to avoid checkout shock!

The step by step plans for this build can be found here http://myoutdoorplans.com/animals/a-frame-chicken-coop-plans/

Any comments, suggestions or cautions are more than welcome , i will update this thread once I've purchased materials and started construction!

Building This coop to eventually move my five golden comet pullets into!https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/864455/committed-now-any-pointers-welcome

 

[Hooligans7]

Hens lay best when ambient temperature is between 45F and 80F, therefore the hotter it is where you live, the more ventilation is needed. For better ventilation in the coop section, you might consider a welded-wire floor (1 X 1 inch, for example) and a rainproof screened vent at the top of the gable end. You could still use straw for the bedding material if desired. If you'd rather use a solid floor, then a gable-end vent is even more important if you want them to lay eggs up there. You want to prevent the space from becoming like an oven due to solar gain.
Even better, you could build a removable second roof (or two roof panels) suspended over the main coop-section roof with an air gap (1 inch, for example). Leave another gap at the peak between the roof panels. It would help prevent heat buildup inside the coop by providing shade as well as hot-air venting by convection.
Whether or not you build an over-roof, consider a light color to reflect heat instead of absorb it.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

Where are the roosts in this? It seems to be a little small for 6 hens, but that's my preference. I assume the enclosed portion is the nest box where they would lay their eggs. If you don't want them sleeping there you need to provide roosts somewhere else, or have a separate nest box.

 

[jimmywalt]

Are they going to "live" in there? Here is mine for our 5 last summer. I could move it around the back yard. This isn't the place they sleep at night though. They sleep in the big one in the back of the picture.

The tractor is 4'x8'. They just walk around and pick in the grass.

I'm actually going to use this as a "run" for our new 3 baby chicks. The coop part is a 3'x3' shipping crate that I will attach to the end which I'm working on now.

My suggestions...... Don't do an A-frame. It's a pain if you want to use it if you want to make it in a coop. Make it rectangle and taller. Then your chickens will have more room "upstairs" in the sleeping/egg laying area.

 

[Eggronomic]

Where are the roosts in this? It seems to be a little small for 6 hens, but that's my preference. I assume the enclosed portion is the nest box where they would lay their eggs. If you don't want them sleeping there you need to provide roosts somewhere else, or have a separate nest box.

I was intending of building it slightly different by making two nesting boxes and two roosts in the top covered section its roughly five feet long, maybe even a long roost down the front of the open section!

 

[Eggronomic]

Hens lay best when ambient temperature is between 45F and 80F, therefore the hotter it is where you live, the more ventilation is needed. For better ventilation in the coop section, you might consider a welded-wire floor (1 X 1 inch, for example) and a rainproof screened vent at the top of the gable end. You could still use straw for the bedding material if desired. If you'd rather use a solid floor, then a gable-end vent is even more important if you want them to lay eggs up there. You want to prevent the space from becoming like an oven due to solar gain.
Even better, you could build a removable second roof (or two roof panels) suspended over the main coop-section roof with an air gap (1 inch, for example). Leave another gap at the peak between the roof panels. It would help prevent heat buildup inside the coop by providing shade as well as hot-air venting by convection.
Whether or not you build an over-roof, consider a light color to reflect heat instead of absorb it.

Dually noted and good Points thank you

 

[Eggronomic]

Are they going to "live" in there? Here is mine for our 5 last summer. I could move it around the back yard. This isn't the place they sleep at night though. They sleep in the big one in the back of the picture.

The tractor is 4'x8'. They just walk around and pick in the grass.

I'm actually going to use this as a "run" for our new 3 baby chicks. The coop part is a 3'x3' shipping crate that I will attach to the end which I'm working on now.

My suggestions...... Don't do an A-frame. It's a pain if you want to use it if you want to make it in a coop. Make it rectangle and taller. Then your chickens will have more room "upstairs" in the sleeping/egg laying area.

ideally yes this will be there predominate home and free range during the evenings while I'm home , the reason i want to start wit a simple design is so i can replicate it if i decide the hens need more space!

 

[Eggronomic]

BTW after a quick ruff calc, the square foot of run space is 50sqft, with a living/nesting space of ruff 12sqft is this to little? and my math is probably off? , anybody with a better understanding of area is more than welcome to chime in?

 

[jimmywalt]

BTW after a quick ruff calc, the square foot of run space is 50sqft, with a living/nesting space of ruff 12sqft is this to little? and my math is probably off? , anybody with a better understanding of area is more than welcome to chime in?

My 5 are now 1 year old. They have a run of about 48 sq ft and living space of 16 sq feet. They are doing just fine.

Everyone will say that living space (coop) should be 4 sq ft per bird, but I've seen LOTS of successful coops right here on BYC that have about 2 sq ft per chicken.

By the end of this summer we will have 8 sharing this same space. I'm sure they will do fine.

Yours should be fine as well. You can always ad on to your A frame if you decide to later.

 

[Eggronomic]

Quck question do you guys think i can get away with eliminating half the floor space on upper level splitting that into half to make two nesting boxes and then running a roost down the through the remanding length of the aframe thus eliminating the stair case . just allowing birds to hop up on roost as a palce to sleep and a way into the nesting boxes