Never build a coop from plastic or metal, always wood bc wood creates an air exchange. I have owned chickens for 9 years and I keep 12 hens in a coop advertised for 15--never believe the advertiser bc overcrowded chickens will fight each other to the death until they have enough room. Their run is made from dog chain link fencing, 12' x 30', and I use avairy netting for the roof, just like the farm nearby that raise phaesant. My coop was a pre-fab, floor is ~15 inches off of the ground and I put a piece of vinyl flooring on the floor of the coop. There is a ramp. The vinyl makes cleanup very easy bc chicken manure is acidic and can stick to and break down wood. You can clean vinyl with soap and water if you need to. The 5 nest boxes are exterior and you raise the lid to collect eggs. The one inch lip on each nest box wouldn't hold bedding well, so I bought 2 flat napped entry mats and cut them to fit. My girls like them very well. Your hens will all try to lay in the same nest, anyway. I use extruded and dried pine pellets right under the 2 roosts, cover that and the rest of the floor with medium pine shavings. This keeps down ammonia and their windows are only closed in the coldest weather. Chickens respire more water than most livestock and humidity creates a cold coop. Since I keep straw for my horses, I also use straw in the coldest months on top of the shavings bc their poo sticks to it and makes cleanup even faster. Their run is dirt and I use my tiller in it about 5x/year, warm season. All dirt will compact and it breaks down their manure and any treats that they didn't like or didn't finish to decompose faster. They love scratching through the newly tilled dirt, and I can more easily shovel it out to use for gardening. Also it's better for their dust baths, which, if you didn't know, the hens Need to get rid of pests. They flop around like their are dying, but, on closer inspection, your can see them use their wings to push dirt underneath them. Feed them with commercial feed--I have never had to pay $20/50 lb of feed and sometimes my local feed store sells me 55 lbs/price of 50. You can supplement with stale/moldy bread, crackers (non seasoned), damaged fruit, damaged vegetables, meat (I never feed them chicken OR scrambled eggs), but they will clean up a t-bone or pork bone very nicely. They like mice, too, when they can catch them and will not turn up their beaks to any bugs.
Never build a coop from plastic or metal, always wood bc wood creates an air exchange. I have owned chickens for 9 years and I keep 12 hens in a coop advertised for 15--never believe the advertiser bc overcrowded chickens will fight each other to the death until they have enough room. Their run is made from dog chain link fencing, 12' x 30', and I use avairy netting for the roof, just like the farm nearby that raise phaesant. My coop was a pre-fab, floor is ~15 inches off of the ground and I put a piece of vinyl flooring on the floor of the coop. There is a ramp. The vinyl makes cleanup very easy bc chicken manure is acidic and can stick to and break down wood. You can clean vinyl with soap and water if you need to. The 5 nest boxes are exterior and you raise the lid to collect eggs. The one inch lip on each nest box wouldn't hold bedding well, so I bought 2 flat napped entry mats and cut them to fit. My girls like them very well. Your hens will all try to lay in the same nest, anyway. I use extruded and dried pine pellets right under the 2 roosts, cover that and the rest of the floor with medium pine shavings. This keeps down ammonia and their windows are only closed in the coldest weather. Chickens respire more water than most livestock and humidity creates a cold coop. Since I keep straw for my horses, I also use straw in the coldest months on top of the shavings bc their poo sticks to it and makes cleanup even faster. Their run is dirt and I use my tiller in it about 5x/year, warm season. All dirt will compact and it breaks down their manure and any treats that they didn't like or didn't finish to decompose faster. They love scratching through the newly tilled dirt, and I can more easily shovel it out to use for gardening. Also it's better for their dust baths, which, if you didn't know, the hens Need to get rid of pests. They flop around like their are dying, but, on closer inspection, your can see them use their wings to push dirt underneath them. Feed them with commercial feed--I have never had to pay $20/50 lb of feed and sometimes my local feed store sells me 55 lbs/price of 50. You can supplement with stale/moldy bread, crackers (non seasoned), damaged fruit, damaged vegetables, meat (I never feed them chicken OR scrambled eggs), but they will clean up a t-bone or pork bone very nicely. They like mice, too, when they can catch them and will not turn up their beaks to any bugs.