#1 mistake people make when building coops

[cluckmecoop7]

So, this is the number one mistake people make when buying OR building chicken coops.

THEY OVER CROWD THE COOP WITH CHICKENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, they over crowd the coop. If the coop is over crowded it can start the chickens picking on each other and pulling feathers. Just letting all you new chicken owners know!

 

[FishMtFarm]

Lol, it’s that dang chicken math that takes over....

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Ya

 

[sourland]

When it comes to coops, "Bigger is better".

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Lol! Right!

 

[WindingRoad]

So, this is the number one mistake people make when buying OR building chicken coops.

THEY OVER CROWD THE COOP WITH CHICKENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, they over crowd the coop. If the coop is over crowded it can start the chickens picking on each other and pulling feathers. Just letting all you new chicken owners know!

I won't bother to tell you my coop is PREFAB ( BOO HISS) AND BY MOST STANDARDS TOO SMALL FOR 4 BIRDS. My birds seem happy. Not sure how to determine that. Now I'm not ADVOCATING a small coop. I would love to have a bigger coop, Heck I'd like to have a bigger house for myself. Would my chickens fare better in a bigger, define better.
I think a few people here overthink this chicken thing. IMHO and anyone with an opinion better be H.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Hmmm, I'm not sure what to say here.

Well, as long as your chickens are happy and don't pick on each other I guess it's OK.

 

[WindingRoad]

Hmmm, I'm not sure what to say here.

Well, as long as your chickens are happy and don't pick on each other I guess it's OK.

I guess so tooooo. I was brought up on a farm. A working farm. My nephew was in 4H. he raised broilers and put them in agricultural fairs and won blue ribbons. He showed Black Angus cattle, He won many awards for sheep shearing. I think he must have some Aussie in him LOL. We had heifers (non milking stock) Large number of sheep. Chickens, pigs, I remember when you didn't have to cook your slop for the pigs. We drank raw milk and lived to tell about it. Our neighbor tried to tell us one of his cows gave chocolate milk my sister was furious with him. He had a Jersey cow and that one was supposedly the one who gave chocolate milk. We had three gardens. We sold corn, cucumbers, and other veggies for money to buy ski tickets, snowmobiles etc in the winter. We picked apples for the same reason. My BIL tapped his maple trees in the spring and made maple syrup. Had an old wood stove and "Parked" it in the driveway to boil down the sap. One year he complained to my nephew that he wasn't getting any sap out of a particular tree. My nephew looked at the tree all the way at the end of the driveway and said, "Daddy, acorns fall from that tree". My nephew got 50 broiler hens in the spring and fattened them up for display. The ones he didn't enter into contests we killed and ate during the winter. My BIL chopped off their heads, I plucked them by hand and pin feathered them . Then gutted them being careful not to break that gall bladder. Save the gizzards, livers, and hearts. I love them. My sister canned everything ( I lived with her during my high school years) We had strawberry plants and froze the fruit. We picked blueberries. My sister made her own bread. 7 of us in all a lot of mouths to feed. BTW animals do heat an area. Cows kept the barn warm. Rarely works a coat in the barn too warm in there.

 

[CapricornFarm]

A big mistake is using chicken wire or not using a skirt around the perimeter.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Agree, the BIGGEST mistake is not making the coop big enough due to Chicken Math. Hubby built me a 8x12x7 Chicken Enclosure, it's open air due to out climate & predator "free" wrapped in chicken wire. His thinking it keeps me limited; 96sq ft/14sq ft per LF = 6.8 chickens. Have had 5 Wynadottes comfortably but now having BO, I keep it at 4 and that's comfortable. Think I need to go bantams