# A new chicken coop



## NooB2ItAll (Apr 10, 2012)

Hi everybody! I have a few questions about coops. We are looking to expand our chicken population from 3(we brought these ladies with us from the city to our new homestead) to about 15 egg layers, 25 meat birds, and 2 ducks. Currently our birds are in a small portable coop which would never be big enough for everything we want to do. My questions are: How big of a coop will I need? How many nesting boxes? And how large should the run be? I have lots of 3/4 outdoor plywood and I want to do the run fully enclosed (with fencing and chicken wire) with a corrugated roof to keep out rain and snow. I do want to be able to walk into both the coop and run for cleaning and watering purposes. I don't want it to be portable as I intend to eventually run power to it. Anybody have any good plans or ideas? Thanks


----------



## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

More chicken coops than you'll know what to do with. 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops/page/10


----------



## lilmissy0740 (Mar 7, 2011)

I keep my egg layers and meat bird seperate. I free range my egg layers, close them up at night. I have 25 layers, I started off with 8 boxes to nest in, they fought over 3. So I down sized and went to 6, they lay on top of the hay stack and in an old apple crate on the porch of the barn! My meat birds I always keep seperate. They eat different feed so I just keep them seperate. I fence in a yard for the meat birds and they can go out in about a 20x20 sq. Not all went out, but they always had a choice to.
Hope this helps.


----------



## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

I gave somebody here a how to on turning an old school bus into an uber coop.Look it up, its predator tight and season adaptable.


----------



## woodsman23 (Aug 6, 2009)

the chicks are in.... i built this from reclaimed wood from a friends shed.


----------



## woodsman23 (Aug 6, 2009)




----------



## woodsman23 (Aug 6, 2009)




----------



## Meg627 (Apr 16, 2012)

lilmissy0740 said:


> I keep my egg layers and meat bird seperate. I free range my egg layers, close them up at night. I have 25 layers, I started off with 8 boxes to nest in, they fought over 3. So I down sized and went to 6, they lay on top of the hay stack and in an old apple crate on the porch of the barn! My meat birds I always keep seperate. They eat different feed so I just keep them seperate. I fence in a yard for the meat birds and they can go out in about a 20x20 sq. Not all went out, but they always had a choice to.
> Hope this helps.


Yes to this.

The general rule of thumb is 3-4 chickens per laying box. If you have more than that, it's likely they'll start using them to poop in and/or there will be some that don't even get touched. You want them just to lay, not to sit and hang out.

I also separate my layers from my meaters. Layers get free range, for the most part. They're fenced in a very large area just so they don't poop on my patio, poop where my kids play, or eat my seedlings. I let them in the garden once my plants are much bigger, but only for an hour or two or three. If they're in the garden much longer than that they stop focusing on the bugs and weeds and turn to my 'matoes.


----------



## Meg627 (Apr 16, 2012)

The pictures of the chicken coup are awesome. You want tall so you stand in it to change food/water, or to clean out nesting areas etc. You also want it large enough for all the chickens to be in it, but not too big to where they're not squished. They might use it in the winter or to get out of the rain, but if it's large enough they've got a lot of walking room they'll just make a mess in it and hang out in there during times you would rather them be outside.


----------



## Meg627 (Apr 16, 2012)

I have another comment that will hopefully be approved by the moderator. I tried to keep the vulgar language and elicit sexual content to a minimum.


----------



## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

[/URL][/IMG]
These are the hens I received last night, 15 of them. Had 7 eggs today..........they are still a bit nervous


----------



## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

[/URL][/IMG]

This is our old chicken house and we ( dh) put it back together. I will get a coat of paint on it when I have time but he fixed it up so it will do just fine.
It's been sitting out back for years just falling apart!


----------



## fondini (Mar 18, 2012)

Meg627 said:


> I have another comment that will hopefully be approved by the moderator. I tried to keep the vulgar language and elicit sexual content to a minimum.


Darn, 2 of my favorite things!!!


----------



## neldarez (Apr 10, 2011)

I'm now getting 15 eggs a day........I put 2 dozen in the dryer tonight. These are really nice chickens I have....they are happy girls!


----------



## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

woodsman23 said:


>


Very nice! :beercheer:

I just went back through and looked at the pics again and this one caught my eye this time around. You have the water can hanging from, what appears to be, the roost. You may end up with very poopy water if the birds are roosting there overnight. I have my waterer hanging from the ceiling at the opposite end of the coop.

Just an observation. :kiss:


----------



## woodsman23 (Aug 6, 2009)

agreed i moved it to a different place to avoid the poopies...


----------

