[Lindeggs]

oh that's BRILLIANT!  Thanks so much for the photos and the explanation.  Now I can see exactly what you mean.  There are lots of features there that I never would have thought of, but now I can see how useful they are when incorporated into a coop design.

OK now I'm off to redesign my coop for the 500th time, without even hammering a single nail yet! 

Actually the design stage is turning out to be much more exciting than I thought.  At first I just wanted to get the hens immediately, but now I want to incorporate all these features in their home to keep them happy and healthy.  What fun!