Big enough coop?

[cmom]

Located in southern England

 

[aart]

There are thousands of coop plans available online , many of them free.

Beware of these, many are just as terrible designs as the prefabs.

 

[CKfarm22]

When experts here say the minimum is 3-4 sq ft per bird in the coop and 10-15 sq ft per bird in the run trust them! My young 6 pullets recently began feather pulling in their 78 sq ft coop and enclosed run. (30 sq ft coop-48 sq ft run) Soon after the feather pulling began I stepped up the pace and finished the 120 sq ft addition I was making. It only took being crowded a short time to cause aggression in my small flock.Fortunately for me it stopped soon as they had more room. Living in small quarters causes a flock to fight one another.

Yes i know that’s why i said it’s way too small for 5

 

[suburbanfarmermi]

we are new to keeping chickens and I spent a month or two watching you tube videos and I dont think I found anyone happy with their prefab coop.

we ending up building our own. We spent a lot more but it will last and should have some value if we want to sell it some day.

 

[CKfarm22]

we are new to keeping chickens and I spent a month or two watching you tube videos and I dont think I found anyone happy with their prefab coop.

we ending up building our own. We spent a lot more but it will last and should have some value if we want to sell it some day.

That’s exactly what we did. We spent 3 months looking online for a prefab and we weren’t happy with any sizes, and the one that would be big enough was $1000 for just the coop. We ended up building our coop and run, it might not be perfect but it’s sterdy and it costed less then buying one.

 

[CKfarm22]

There are thousands of coop plans available online , many of them free. Using a few hand tools and basic power tools you could do it yourself if you like

I agree with this. Depending on how well you are at making a plan and putting it all together, your best bet might be to build one.

 

[McChooky]

Beware of these, many are just as terrible designs as the prefabs.

Yes ! Some of the most beautiful coops are designed poorly.

 

[McChooky]

I started to make a simple 4 x 6 coop but after reading how important it is to have good ventilation over their roost it ended up being over 6 ft tall . I had to use a ladder to work on the roof.The pop up doors were re-done several times too in the making and looks nothing like it does in this picture. The best part of making your own is you can make it any way you want.

 

[Jessicamtorres93]

Still not very clued up on this, would this be big enough for 4 average sized hens and a cockerel? It’s only for them to sleep in as they’re free range in the day.
Not sure if it’s big enough would appreciate other opinions

Definitely not big enough. You could build a big run around it with fencing top, bottom and sides. Then use this to sleep possibly. Chickens need space. I would suggest building your own. It’s fun and you can design the coop anyway you want. Side note, in the run make sure you put chicken wire down and then cover it with dirt to prevent predators from digging under and into your coop! Good luck

 

[Imataken]

We have 5 hens and we have the omlet cube which my girls have plenty of room and we absolutely love the omlet love that I can't completely clean it and disinfect the entire thing in 20 min we have 2 coops for them to choose from and since the 1st day the omlet was added they have been sleeping in it ever since