Thanks so muchFirst off girl, you don't need no stinkin' 'handy' man to build you a coop!
Next, write out WHY you want a coop, your objective(s) and expectations. Are you thinkin Breeding? Meat Birds? Eggs? Both? For home consumption? For amusement? For sale? For Profit? Or are you looking for pretty birds as pets or 'show' birds?
What is the ENVIRONMENT? Are you in a city, suburbs, rural area, middle of the forest? Do you have a dog? Does he/she guard teh homestead or lay about on a sofa?
Do any of your neighbors have flocks/a flock/a few birds? If so, ask them! (Look on local Craigslist to see whose selling birds and call and ask them about predation - and to see their coops while you're at it).
In my experience in Western NC, a chain link dog enclosure works as well as any of the others I've built. The holes are TOO LARGE to contain chicks, so I added chicken wire to the bottom foot or so. I built one 2' x 8' using (the 2x2' bottoms of) plastic bottle crates and doors with clear plastic recycled 'sneeze guards' from a Subway remodel for the top and chicken wire for the bottom. To date, nothing seems to have violated the space - save for rats and mice (after food scattered a bout - chickens are sloppy diners).
I have another made with 1/2" mesh flooring, chicken wire 'open' sides with 12" of 1/4" mesh along the lower sections of the 'open' sides. And the person that said teh half inch was too small meant the poop wouldn't fall through. (BEST ADVICE is to design removable floors (in coops and nest boxes) that can be removed and cleaned) The hens don't care and will lay eggs in their poo - but it might disturb you a bit.
Look online for coop designs - they are kin to anal orifices in that everyone seems to have a great coop idea. Don't get all hung up on the wire gage - unless you're hood is beset by predators that eat through steel and your (immediate) neighbors all swear by 12 gauge. Remember, when you're seeing stuff 'on the net' it's from all over heck and back and what is NEEDED in TEXAS hill country may well be a waste of time and money in Sarasota, Florida. Also consider the source(s). Most of us here, for instance, came looking for help and ideas.
From my experience, having teh hens cooped up 24/ means I lose fewer eggs - 'cause they'll lay just about anywhere - given the opportunity. but free-ranging gets me what I (and the folks at church) believe are better, richer, tastier eggs. I don't raise chickens for meat, so I don't know what to tell you if that's your game.
But a combination of cooping them 'till 10AM or so, works best for us on both counts as they tend to rest up all night, lay early in the day (except Sadie) and free-range 'till near dark.
Location of the coop may be a consideration - esp in the Winter Months. If you want to 'electrify it for some reason (Automatic door? Motion Sensor Lighting?) or water automatically. Or simply having to get to the eggs and get the feed and fill the feeders and fil the water containers. And, if you're a 'showcase' home, well you'll want an esthecctically pleasing pullet palace on your lawn.
I appreciate all the information. Very grateful.
