Garden Loft Coop - finally completed!

[BayAreaMike408]

@3KillerBs
From the plans:

THE GARDEN LOFT makes for a spacious, attractive home for up to 16 hens (or more, depending on how much additional run space you can provide).
It is an integrated henhouse and run — basically a box within a box. The elevated henhouse is an ideal retreat for roosting by night and laying eggs by day. And because the henhouse is raised, the entire footprint below is open for the run.

SPECIFICATIONS

Height (roof peak to ground)........ about 8.5’
Henhouse (inside) ..... about 11.5’w x 3’d x 3.5’h = 34.5 sq. ft.
Run (inside)........about 11.25’w x 9’d x 6.5’h 102 sq. ft.
Nest boxes (four) .............. each 15.5”w x 12”d x 15”h
Roost length in henhouse (total)....19’
Roost length in run (total) ............ 22.5’

EDIT: I live in the Bay Area (California) and we have mild winters with no snow.

 

[3KillerBs]

So the coop interior is 34.5 square feet -- enough for 8 chickens.

The run is about 101 square feet -- enough for 10 chickens.

 

[BayAreaMike408]

Ok, I already have the coop / run built and the kids are attached to them so I’d rather not regime any. Does it matter that I chose smaller breeds?

2 bantam silkies
1 cream legbar
1 green queen
And what you see pasted below. I believe most will be 4-5 pounds. The numbers seem close- should I build a small run to enlarge or do you think it’ll be alright? We will also be letting them free range in our backyard for a few hours every day.

Day-Old Chicks: Olive Egger ($11.15) -->Sex->Females(+$2.30)	1	$13.45	$13.45
Day-Old Chicks: Buff Orpington ($3.05) -->Sex->Females(+$0.75)	1	$3.80	$3.80
Day-Old Chicks: Blue/Black/Splash Ameraucana ($19.85) -->Sex->Females(+$3.60)	1	$23.45	$23.45
Day-Old Chicks: Blue Easter Egger ($9.95) -->Sex->Females(+$2.00)	1	$11.95	$11.95
Day-Old Chicks: Lavender Orpington ($19.85) -->Sex->Females(+$3.60)	1	$23.45	$23.45
Day-Old Chicks: Blue Favaucana ($26.95) -->Sex->Females(+$4.00)	2	$30.95	$61.90
Baby Chick Vaccination (bulk 7-14)	8	$0.50	$4.00
Day-Old Chicks: Golden Cuckoo Marans ($11.15) -->Sex->Females(+$2.30)

 

[aart]

The numbers seem close- should I build a small run to enlarge or do you think it’ll be alright?

You've got 16 birds listed, twice as much as minimal for your coop space(34.5sqft).

Curious what the inside of coop looks like....wonder how much space then nests might take up?

 

[BayAreaMike408]

It’s a total of 12 birds. this is a pic of the boxes from the website and looks like mine (just not my birds)

the boxes are only 12” deep and are stacked 2x2 so minimal space in the coop.

 

[aart]

It’s a total of 12 birds.

I did miscount......looking again I see 15 on the list and the 4 in the text above the list.
So, yeah, I'm confused about how many birds you are getting and how many you might already have.....and I got a bit confused thinking at first you were the OP.
All I know is you(and they) will be unhappy if you crowd too many birds in, then want even more down the road.

 

[BayAreaMike408]

I'll clean it up a little:

2 bantam silkies
1 cream legbar
1 green queen
1 OE
1 buff Orpington
1 lavender Orpington
1 ameraucauna
1 Blue EE
2 Blue Favaucanas
1 Golden Cuckoo Maran

All 12 are 3-4 weeks old and we will not be getting any more. Chicken math already got us and we went from 6 to another reorder of 6 a week later lol. But we are limited to 12 per city law.

I am not the OP but this thread is specific to this coop design so I didn't think he would mind. There's not a lot of customer info / reviews about this exact coop (the design is purchased here and built by us) so I thought it would be helpful for anyone else considering buying this design. It clearly says it will fit 16 adult full-size chickens, so I'm trying to see why 12 is too many now. Sorry for hijacking the thread. I'm a first time chicken owner and will be moving them to the coop in about a month, so if any changes are needed i'll need to get back to work.

Thanks

 

[3KillerBs]

It clearly says it will fit 16 adult full-size chickens, so I'm trying to see why 12 is too many now.

Because the manufacturers of such coops always exaggerate their capacity in order to boost their sales using the space figures for intensive commercial production management rather than the standards used by backyarders who use more natural management systems with greater emphasis on the birds' long-term well-being.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It clearly says it will fit 16 adult full-size chickens, so I'm trying to see why 12 is too many now. Sorry for hijacking the thread. I'm a first time chicken owner and will be moving them to the coop in about a month, so if any changes are needed i'll need to get back to work.

Thanks

Manufacturers often go by bare minimum space requirements (aka factory farm) numbers to calculate how many chickens fit in a space. That's why measurements matter.

To illustrate, think of clothing sizes. "Large" in one brand isn't the same as another's. If you're getting something that requires more specific fit than a t-shirt, like a dress shirt, you need to use measurements and not small-med-large.

If you can provide several hours of free ranging time every day that should help with the crowding in the run. You can probably get by with the coop as is, however, I would add a LOT more ventilation unless there's large vents we can't see in the photos? The entire coop wall facing into the run could theoretically be wire mesh, or at least mostly wire mesh. Your chickens will thank you in the summer, especially since you have that clear roof that's going to let in heat, but not let heat escape easily.

 

[BayAreaMike408]

Thanks for your input. It looks like I’m at about 3 feet per chicken in the coop. If I remove the bantams I’m at almost 3.5 so I’m thinking I’ll be ok since it’s close. I have a ton of roosting space and a large yard so I’ll see how they do as they grow into it. If it feels tights when they’re full grown I’ll add another run to it, and maybe do a chicken tunnel around the yard for fun.
It doesn’t sound like I’m too far off, especially given the free ranging during the day.
Also, the entire coop and run is predator proof so they’ll have full access to both, 24/7.
Ventilation isn’t an issue. The entire run is hardware cloth and the top of the coop is also wide open with hardware cloth. The plastic roof is only to protect from the rain and provide some extra shade. This thing is basically completely hardware cloth all around.