So, I am in the market for a new coop. I need one that will comfortably house 15 chickens. I've been told that bigger is better, and to just buy a shed and retrofit it to become a coop, adding ventilation, roosting bars, nesting boxes, and of course, a door, leading out to an enclosed run area. Does anyone have advice for me? What's worked best for you all? All suggestions are welcome as I am still in the early planning stages. Thanks! ~ Liz
This is a sticky in the coop section on what people learned from building their coops. It is a lot of reading but it has some good ideas. Just pick the ones that apply to your situation.
The rule of thumb on this site is a minimum of 4 square feet in the coop along with 10 square feet in the run for each chicken. There are a lot of different assumptions that go into this, one of them being that the chickens will not be locked in the coop for days on end. In your climate for the winter months, I'd consider some extra space in the coop and/or building a roof that can take snow load on at least a portion of your run, along with snow fencing so some of it stays snow-free and wind-free during the winter. Mine will play outside in single digits temperatures but they really don't like wind. I've had a couple wade through 9" of snow to check out the compost heap to see if I've put any goodies there for them, but most really don't like deep snow.
I think your plan is great. Good luck and welcome to the adventure.
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Yeah, that would pretty much be my advice to you LOL
Seriously.
Build or buy as big as you can stand to (I generally prefer building, myself, but if you are shorter on time than on money, or like trolling Craigslist for super bargains and know someone with a flatbed truck, then prefab can be a perfectly legitimate option too). And then put as few chickens in it as you can content yourself with.
You're not really in an especially cold area but IME no matter WHAT your weather is, the chickens still act differently (more natural, 'happier', more individual) if you give them a lot more space than is often recommended on this forum -- either free ranging, or a *big* coop. Having tried different stocking densities, I will never go lower than like 10 sq ft per hen (indoors, *plus* ample run) and actually stick closer to 15 sq ft per hen (indoors, *plus* ample run). Plus lower stocking densities make management MUCH easier.
OTOH if you want to go with a higher stocking density, you won't run especially high chances of cannibalism at like 5-6 sq ft apiece (indoors, plus run), it's just that the chickens will act more, well, "crowded"... to give 5ish sq ft apiece to 15 chickens would mean a 10x12 or 12x12 or 8x16' building.
You're aware that with 15 chickens you will probably be getting a dozen eggs PER DAY for much of the year, especially the first year? Just checking
Make sure you have both enough ventilation to keep the coop cool in summer AND to keep air quality good in wintertime. Vents for wintertime use should generally be high on the usually-downwind wall(s) -- in fact it would be better to have high vents atop at least 3 of your walls, so you can open/close different ones depending on storm directions. Build more ventilation rather than less, as it is much better to have more than you need at any given point in time than to need more than you have (the latter tends to lead to frostbite). Ventilation should generally be big rectangular openings screened with hardwarecloth -- do not be thinking in terms of little round soffit vents or heat-register vent covers or drilled holes, which tend to lead to woefully insufficient airflow. Chickens produce A WHOLE LOT of humidity and ammonia. Some prefab sheds, the barn-shaped ones especially, are harder than others to retrofit with enough ventilatin for chickens; but it *can* be done, one way or another, with any of them, although you may need to build a little 'porch roof' to shelter the vent openings in some cases. Building ventilation into a coop you're building yourself is of course easy.
It is very, very important to select a HIGH AND DRY SITE for your coop. Not just 'oh I bet it's ok', especially if you have only lived on the property for a year or less, but really GENUINELY never gonna flood no matter what the snowmelt or three-days-of-rain or tail-end-of-hurricane or whatever. If you are forced to use a slightly questionable location, try to put in a dumpload or three of sand or roadbase or other aggregate to raise at least part of the run up above flood level, and build a *raised* coop rather than one with a dirt/cement floor or just inches above the ground.
And, if you can locate the coop somewhere you can run electricity (or even water!) to it, it's awfully nice. Saves you having to lug buckets of water out there every day (or several times a day - tho prolly not in your climate) to supply them with liquid water during the freezy part of the year. But, if you *can't* get electric or waterline out there, that is ok too, it is perfectly well survivable
