8x8 is a nice size for most back yards.  It is plenty large enough for a small flock of chickens.  My layout even has room for supplies to be kept inside without intruding on the fenced space.  Our chickens are outside in their run most of the day, so we can handle 25 per coop very easily.  What follows is a discussion of each coops layout and how it aids in keeping chickens in the barnyard, easily.

    Ease of daily maintenance (feeding and watering)

    Ease of periodic cleaning

    Safety of the flock

    Ability to collect eggs without going in the coop

  As a product of the big city, I must say, chickens were never on my list of things to do before moving to a rural home in Ohio.  They were simple to get into, and inexpensive.  My first batch of day old chicks was approached as an 'experience.'  If I didn't want to do them long term, I didn't have to, and I did have a lot of capital tied up.  Since that time, I have learned a lot.  Number one, is mother nature and animal instinct are amazing to watch.  Day old chicks with no adult chicken exposure, will develop all the appropriate behaviors.  They learn to scratch, take dust baths, and lay eggs under cover.  I find it amazing to watch with each new batch of chicks.

  Fresh eggs taste better.  Ya, you watch the birds eat every bug they can find, but it makes for happy chickens and great eggs.  In addition to taste, fresh eggs are easier to cook "over" and not break (my favorite, "over medium").  Sometimes it is almost difficult to break the yoke.

  I control what my chickens are fed (bugs excluded).  I have yet to need to medicate my birds.  Less drugs for them, means no residual chemicals in my eggs.  Again, it isn't something I considered much when living in Los Angeles.  When it comes to selling or giving away your excess eggs, it is nice to be able to say that they are from happy birds that were not fed hormones or antibiotics.

  Another fun thing we have noticed, is the number of phrases that chickens have inspired.  They are almost endless and you don't give them much notice until you have a small flock.  See how many you can name.

  As with everything we do in our busy lives, finding easy, quick and effective ways to accomplish a task, affords us more time to enjoy what we have done (or do more in my case).  I feel that when something is less burdensome, I take more time to enjoy it.  For instance, if I'm not schlepping water to the chickens every night, I can spend time just watching them.

Periodic cleaning of the coop:

  Here is one thing you just can't avoid.  With the size of our coops, chicken density and outside run areas, we have found that a complete cleaning is required twice a year.  Once in late fall and once again in spring.  It isn't every 6 months for us, because during the winter the birds stay inside more and the coop gets dirty faster.  During the summer they are outside more and the coop stays cleaner longer.

  The major component of a complete cleaning is the changing of the litter.  Deb and I both use wood shavings that we buy in plastic bales from the local farm store.  During the course of the season we stir it with a pitch fork to keep it loose and dry.  But after a while, it just needs to be replaced.  We use a grain shovel (a large flat shovel).  You could use a regular square nose shovel, a snow shovel, or even just a dust pan.  Choosing a grain shovel is all about efficiency.  Because litter doesn't way much, taking a large scoop isn't heavy and it speeds the process along.  You will want to use a dust mask.  Chicken dust (dander) can be bad when inhaled in quantity.

  We also clean the watering fountains.  We wipe out the reservoir buckets to remove sediment, and remove and bleach the drinking cups.  In the case of the watering fountains we use, we also clean or replace the filter screens that are in them.

  We clean the nest boxes and change the straw, was well as sweep down the cob webs that collect in the corners.

  There are several considerations when accounting for safety of your flock.  You need to protect them from wildlife that would make a meal out of them (raccoons like chickens!).  You need to protect them from disease carried by wild birds, and finally and in my opinion, most important, you need to protect them from domestic animals.  It is this last item that should not be overlooked.  In the years that I have had chickens, my biggest problem has come from domestic dogs.  Chickens are like a magnet for dogs.  They will come from all directions it seems.  Because I like to let them range through the yard to help keep down the bugs, it is a risk that I take.  Now that I live on a secluded farm, it is almost no risk at all.  When I lived on 5 acres with neighbors and no fences, it was another matter.  Just keep them in mind.  The door into my coop has the wire mesh all pushed in, from a dog jumping up on it.  Nail the wire on tight.  Also, use a catch with a safety latch on it, so it cannot be easily opened when put under strain.

  The run areas we construct have two measures of safety.  First, they always get a net roof of some kind.  This keeps out the flying predators, and deters the ones on four legs.  It also keeps domestic birds.  Not only do domestic birds eat the feed meant for your flock; their waste is a potential source for disease.  The other thing we do, is put wire down, flat on the ground, in front of the fenced areas.  We do this by making the wire extend below the frame of the run, then bend it outwards.  This is done to deter animals that might try and dig under.  It may not stop them , but they will have to work a lot longer at it, giving you a chance to catch them.

  Both of our coops are wired for electricity.  Each coop has a weather tight cover, with a plug end like you would find on any appliance.  During the time of the year when we need electricity, we just run an extension cord out and plug them in.  Although this may be a luxury in some areas of this country, where we are (Ohio) it is important.  The electricity provides us the ability to have light.  This is a must for us during the winter as we leave for our city jobs in the dark and come home in the dark.  It has the additional benefit of allowing us to have prgrammable light timers inside so we can extend the 'daylight,' thereby maintaining our egg production through the short days of winter.  Otherwise, as the days shorten, a hen will lay fewer eggs.

The programmable timers we use are the type that install in place of a regular wall switch.  They are available at hardware and home centers. The picture below is of the switches and plug in my coop.  The timer is in the middle slot, and is made by Intermatic.
 

The other area of electric use is in heating the water so it won't freeze.  We both have 5 gallon water fountain setups (see a description <here>) that would freeze solid and rupture if not heated with heat tape.

  Our coops are equipped with self contained, non pressurized watering systems that we designed.  As they use plastic buckets they are large enough to not need constant attention, and can be easily cleaned when required.  These save us a bunch of time allowing us more enjoyment of the birds.  For a detailed look at our watering setups, and making your own, read my article all about them.  Water Your Small Flock...Easier!

Water Heaters for cold climates:

  Deb has the best water heater setup.  It uses a standard heater cord purchased from the local hardware store.  They are made specifically to keep pipes from freezing.  They have a thermostat built into the plug end, so on warm days they don't go on.  The cord is wrapped around the bucket once (or twice if you get a long cord), then down the pipe to the fountain, and across the bottom of the water bowl.  She wrapped the bucket and the pipe in a thin layer of insulation to aid the heat tape on the extra cold days.  In addition, she wrapped the insulation on the pipe, in aluminum flashing.  The flashing is to keep the chickens from pecking off the insulation.  When wiring her coop she installed an outlet up next to the heater to make plugging it in convenient and out of reach of the hens.

  My heater was purchased through a livestock supply company.  It's main weakness is that it doesn't have a thermostat.  I had to wire it to a cord end, and must remember to plug it in on the cold days, and unplug it on the warm ones.  I plug mine into a light socket with an adapter for the plug, screwed in.  That socket is then run off a switch located outside the caged section of my coop.

  Another area where our setups differ.  I use a hanging feeder that holds 25 pounds of feed.  It was given to me used by a friend and has worked wall.  One improvement I made, was the addition of a 'feed-saver' ring around the tray.  I was going through food very quickly and discovered it was because my girls (hens) were picking through looking for their favorite pieces, and throwing the rest on the floor.  The ring makes it so they can get their head in, but cannot throw it side to side.  What little they do flick around, tends to hit the bottom of the ring and fall back in.  I cut my feed consumption by 1/3 at least.  One improvement this feeder needs, is a lid that will prevent the birds from roosting on top, or getting inside and eating.  My feeder hangs from the ceiling by a small chain.  This allows me to raise it off the floor as the birds grow.  The higher off the floor, the cleaner it stays.

  The feeder in Deb's coop hangs from the wall.  It is aluminum and holds just about as much food.  It has a slanted lid that keeps the birds out of the food and they cannot roost on it.  It has a feed saver similar to my feeder on it also.  Her feeder also has two smaller compartments.  One she puts grit in, the other she puts oyster shells (calcium supplement for thicker egg shells).  I have to scatter these things out in the run for my birds to find.  The feed we give the birds when they start laying, already has additional calcium in it, and being that they free range the yard and pastures they find plenty of grit. So although our birds don't need the additional items, we give it to them and say they are 'spoiled.'

  The feed savers are cut from 1/4 inch thick plywood.  I started by cutting it to fit the feeder.  After I had the blank, I laid out the spacing of the holes.  I started by cutting a 1-1/2 hold, then cut out the inside web using a scroll saw.  You can also use a copping saw.  I left about 3/4 of an inch between each hole so if they tried to throw food out, it would have something to hit and fall back in.

  My nest boxes were made from scratch.  They are made of 1/2" MDO plywood.  The coating on the plywood lets them handle the moisture well, and are easy to clean.  You will have the occasional broken egg to clean up.  They are designed so they open into the coop for the birds to enter, but the top and bottom are accessed from outside the caged area.  The top opens up for egg collecting, and the bottom opens down for easy cleaning.  A couple of inches of clean straw makes for happy hens and clean, unbroken eggs.  When the straw gets soiled, I set a plastic tub under the next and open the bottom door.  The straw falls into the tub, along with anything that I have to scrape off.  I put the bottom back up and refill with clean straw.  I keep a trash back of straw in the supply side of the coop for refilling nests as needed.  Aside from cleaning, the hens have a tendency to kick some straw out.  This tendency can be reduced by having a taller edge at the front of the nest box.

  Deb's nest box is a production made unit.  It is galvanized metal with wood perches that can fold up to block birds out if necessary.  She collects her eggs from outside the coop also.  Her coop has two large doors that open on the outside wall of the coop.  From there she can reach into all of the nest boxes.  It has been our experience that even if there is a bird in a nest, she doesn't have much desire to try and fly out when the big doors are open for egg collecting.

  The best part of birds in the yard is that the bugs don't last long.  The year I introduced my hens to the yard, the issue ticks completely disappeared, and in our area that is nice to have.  Small fly's and other critters were eliminated.  Because we only let them out in the afternoon, they don't roam far and any waste they drop in the grass is gone with the next rain.

  Although both coops are built on similar 8x8 size platforms, the interior layouts differ.

  His:  Mine started out as a standard garden shed with a plywood floor, build on a 2x4 frame sitting on 4x6 skids.  Before getting chickens, I sprayed the floor boards with deck sealant to protect them from spilled water and the inevitable moisture from the chickens.  Next I framed in a small opening for the chicken door.  I insulated all the walls and ceiling, then covered them with 3/8's particle board sheeting.  The sheeting was to protect the insulation from moisture as well as from the constant pecking of the hens.  This insulation allows me to keep chickens through the cold months without worrying about their comfort.  I sometimes leave a small light on for extra warmth.  I then divided the shed across its width.  This division left approximately 2/3rds of the room for the chickens, and 1/3 for me and supplies.  Into the area outside the fencing, I put the watering system where it is easily refilled.  I store food and scratch grain in large plastic buckets with screw on lids.  The buckets originally had 100lbs of chlorine tablets in them.  They are large enough for 50lbs of feed, and have a secure top.  I've been told you buy chlorine tablets for a swimming pool in them, so you can check your local pool supply store.  Mine came from a different source.

  Part of the divider wall holds two rows of three nest boxes that measure roughly 12x12 inches (more on nest boxes <here>).  This is enough nests for two dozen birds.

  My coop requires two bales of wood chips to cover the floor in a nice deep layer.  In the middle of the coop floor, I have divided it with a 1x6 board.  This acts like a baffle in a tanker truck.  It helps keep the litter from all getting pushed to one side.  Even if they kick it all away from the feeder, it stays undisturbed on the other side.  A note on liter.  It is good to stir it up occasionally.  That allows it to dry and stay fresher.  I get the chickens to help with this task by throwing scratch grain on the floor of the coop.  They will spend most of the day digging around for the treats and stir the litter in the process.  All I have to do is even it out when they are done.

  Chicken door....

   Windows and ventilation....

    Spring closer on coop door....

    Roosts

    Access to fenced pasture beyond run is safe from dogs.

Madder then a wet hen.

Fox in the hen house

Chicken S__t!

Hen pecked.

They're flocking to dinner. (etc)

          All cooped up.

Flying the coop.