# Coop design



## Delphinia (8 mo ago)

We are currently designing a new coop. We currently have 8 chickens, but I'd like to plan for 16 to accommodate for chicken math! Our temperatures range from roughly 90°F in the middle of the summer to -25°F during the winter (colder if you include the windchill). So... fully insulated with venting? This also means we need appropriate indoor space for them since their non-winter run area will have a few feet of snow. Could we build 30 inches off of the ground and surround that area with tarp during the winter so they have space to roam? As far as predators go... we have them all! We need as bear proof as possible (without spending a fortune). We also have seen stoats, foxes, raccoons, eagles, hawks and snakes on the property. We plan to use 2×4 framing and plywood for exterior and hardware cloth around the open "base".

I guess my biggest questions are: any hints to help with bear proofing? What footprint should the space have to accommodate up to 16 larger birds (including during a long, cold winter). During the summer, they will also have access to a 10×16 run that will be expanded should we end up with more than 10 birds. It could also be tarped off for the winter I guess to keep the snow level down a bit if that would be helpful for them.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Really? Bear? Never mind, I see from the beautiful land of Canada. 

Hot wire. Using a good hotwire is about the best deterrent to bear attacks. You've seen what they do to solid house doors and to other solid structures. 

Don't build off the ground. Put a solid roof on that can withstand snow load and use tarps for the windward side to keep the worst of the snow out.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Welcome to the forum! What Robin said about the electric fence. I also use a string of cheap blinking L E D holiday type lights around the base of the coop, the type that only uses a few watts. It might seem crazy but it helps with the night predators.


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## Delphinia (8 mo ago)

Thank you both! We have an obscene holiday display every year... so some lights can get installed super easily! We'll have to look into the electric fencing.


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## Lillith (10 mo ago)

Full insulation definitely helps retain heat, so if you can, do it.

Hot wire for bears. It's generally quite affordable. You can do a hot fence around your coop and run, or on the coop and run itself, or both. Don't forget to screw your hardware cloth to the supports using screws and washers so nothing can just rip the hardware cloth off the wood. Staples don't always hold up very well.

You can use tarps, snow fence, whatever to try to keep snow out of the run, or at least keep it manageable so you can shovel "paths" for them. My chickens don't seem to mind the cold very much (as long as it's above 0°F), but they won't walk on snow, so I would throw down some old hay for them so they would go outside. This year the amount of snow got a tad out of hand and drifted terribly right into their run, so they did stay in their coop most of the time. So, you could easily make the coop just as large as their run to avoid space issues, but the thing with larger coops is there won't be enough chickens generating heat to keep the space cozy!


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)




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