Consider all factors when building coops.

I felt I had to write about the chicken coop in 80:2/38-40, as I have had some experience building/using one very similar. I built a coop very much like this, minus the nest boxes, to be used solely for people who came to look at birds for sale--sort of a display shed. It was three feet deep (easy enough to reach one in back and could be readapted for rabbits etc. if needed), 6 feet long and 6 feet high, a double decker. I used 4 x 4 posts for the center, 2 x 4s for the basic frame and metal seconds for the walls, with a wire front. I used a mesh wire floor, with a hole cut and a ramp going to the lower level. The bottom half was "fenced in" with pallets.

The first challenge was once the ramp got a bit wet, it was too slick for the birds to get back up. I used leftover wire flooring to cover the boards and it gave the birds a better grip both coming up and going down.

Also, with using the pallets it works great for larger sized birds (the idea was I could remove the pallets to clean underneath and/or leave one open so birds could get out for some free time). However, if you have young Leghorns, or Red Caps, Fayoumis or other small birds they are likely to get caught in between the pallet boards no matter how carefully it seems to be set up. I had a Silver Leghorn break a wing, and several get Caught in the pallet. Be sure and check a few times a day as they can wiggle in there but apparently can't get out.

The biggest hazard I found though, with these dimensions (similar to those Alan MacAlevy uses in his), is not the building but if it is a portable shed and you live in a windy area it must be secured with stakes and wire. Mine nearly tipped when a windstorm caught it (I thought it was heavy enough to not be bothered) and definitely shook up the birds in it. The sheep sheds (which I wrote about last year, 4' x 8' x 4' fronts, 3-1/2' backs) were not affected at all, but the extra two feet made a substantial difference in withstanding winds. I think maybe more width would have been better, but to compensate I probably would have had to make it six feet and divide it in the middle (to make two connected coops) in order to do without staking it down to secure it.

This is something that I had not really considered. I was thinking of making it solid, designing with ease of care in mind and preventing access by predators.

Of course, if you don't live in a windstorm area this wouldn't be a factor, but most areas I have lived in have at least the occasional storm, It's best to be prepared... and maybe my "mistake" can help someone else. The coop is still functional. It's just a bit of a hassle moving around the brace ropes, and the coop isn't quite as portable as I had intended it to be.

A 100-chick brooder 

I also made a large brooder that worked out very well though when put in use I found a couple of adaptations were needed to it too. The entire brooder is 6' long and 4' wide by 1' tall with 2 x 4s under it to hold it up off the ground. I am enclosing a diagram of it made to take 100 chicks at a time. This is larger than many homesteaders need (I was custom raising pullets for others at the time) but the same principle could be used with different measurements.

The biggest difference I would make is on the solid part make it 2' tall so there is room for the heat lamp and it is tall enough to accommodate a larger freechoice feeder and waterer. The brooder is basically a 4' x 4' plywood floor with 2' wire extension.

The other difference I would make is a smaller doorway--just enough to get food/water in with the large door accessible only for catching fledged pullets to go out into bigger pens.

Maybe these ideas will help others, and certainly they can be adapted many different ways.