Building our first coop! Is this enough?

[Bbam19]

Our chicks are going to be 4 weeks old here in a few days and it's been quite the scramble getting this coop together.

We have an 8x8 coop with an attached 8x8 run. We live on quite a few acres and plan on having them free range most of the the day. But, I wanted somewhere for them to be incase I left home. We had 10 chicks but lost one so we are down to 9 chicks. (2 light brahams, 2 buff orpingtons, 2 easter eggers, a silver laced Wyandotte, a golden laced wyandotte and a white Plymouth Rock) from my understanding the run is a decent size for them BECAUSE they are going to free range but if they stayed solely in the run, it would have had to been quite larger.

The picture I have attached is no where close to complete. We have to reframe the door because we originally framed it for a larger door but found an old door original to the house in the barn so we decided to use that. There also will be a window on the facing side and nesting boxes below the window. On the left hand side there is a cleanout door that will open upwards and latch. The run is going to be completely wrapped into the ground and to the roofing with 1/2 inch 19 gauge hardware cloth. As well as the roof soffits on the coop that we are leaving open for ventilation and the window covering.

Will my girls love their new home? Is it safe for them and also large enough for them?

 

[MartinsPoultry]

I use an 10x12 for my flock.
Very large flock but they have protected free range.
6 turkeys, close to 30 chickens, and 11 guinea fowl. Once spring for my zone hits next year i am planning on separating my guinea flock onto their own coop and run.

 

[Bbam19]

I use an 10x12 for my flock.
Very large flock but they have protected free range.
6 turkeys, close to 30 chickens, and 11 guinea fowl. Once spring for my zone hits next year i am planning on separating my guinea flock onto their own coop and run.

I have heard mixed reviews on the number of chickens that can be in an 8x8 and 15-20 seems to be the most popular vote. I intended on only having 10, unfortunately one died but i do not plan to add...yet! I think 9 chickens in an 8x8 is good. I was more concerned about the run. Like i said, they are going to free range most of the day but I'm just concerned i didn't make it big enough for them. Hopefully I can let them free range from sun up to sun down. I just wanted somehwhere for them to go during errand runs.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Looks good, but hard to tell about safety with only one picture. I think they should be fine in there. Did you enjoy your build?

 

[Bbam19]

Looks good, but hard to tell about safety with only one picture. I think they should be fine in there. Did you enjoy your build?

I'm being pretty cautious about the safety. I'm putting latches and locks on every door or opening. Nothing is getting in that coop. The run i worry about but, only because it's 19 gauge wire. We bought 100 feet of it and i could only find it in 19 gauge and 23 gauge. I would have preferred something stronger, we have coyotes just roaming in my neck of the woods. I don't worry about them while they free range only because we have a very tentative dog that nothing gets anywhere close to our yard. Our neighbors have free range chickens and the only prey that have gotten one of theirs was a hawk...and I know that's something I can't really control.

As far as the build, it's been...quite stressful. We have a gradient to our yard and had to build the coop on it. I wanted the run to be visible straight to the ground, but with making sure the hardware cloth looks nice and is installed into the ground itself we had to close off the bottom half with plywood because of the footings we used being odd shaped. It's not what I invisioned and I wanted to tear it all down. I'm very particular with what the finished product is going to look like. It still needs all the trim work and a nice paint job. But other than having a slight meltdown, I'm very excited to get the babes into it. I live in upstate New York and the warmth is my biggest concern as of late.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I would not worry about the cold. The chickens we had in TN did fine. The main concerns are frostbite from direct wind chill and lack of ventilation and ammonia build up. We never insulated coops. Mind you, i know temps in NY are colder. I was born there and lived there until i was 17.
Don't stress, enjoy!

 

[aart]

Looks pretty good to me....would love to see more pics.
Run might get tight in winter, or if you have to confine due to predator issues.

 

[MyISAbrownhens]

They should be fine with your coop, the rule of thumb if your not free ranging is about 10 square feet for the run but since you plan on free ranging most of the time, your chickens should be fine with what you have

 

[Bbam19]

Looks pretty good to me....would love to see more pics.
Run might get tight in winter, or if you have to confine due to predator issues.

I still plan to let them free range during the winter as well, if they want to. I know some chickens that love the snow and others that won't leave the coop. We will see. The coop/run isn't quite finished. This weekend should be our last build day and getting everything together. I also plan to paint this weekend as well. Only thing that won't be finished is the run, I had to order our hardware cloth online and of course it comes a few days before I planned on transitioning them to the coop. I'll will try to add more photos once we get some more progress.