Buying coop and chickens

[TonyBYC]

Someone near us is moving to another state and selling a sturdy coop, all accessories and twelve 1-year old chickens. It seems like a great opportunity and as we get all at once and it's our first time (and the chickens are beautiful!).

My only concern is the coop size. It's only 6x4, 2 sqf per chicken, whereas some here recommend 4 sqf. The seller is telling us that they are almost never all inside at the same time, and even in the winter some roosted outside overnight (and coop was never heated). They will have a large enclosed run (about 200 sqf) and be allowed to free range on 1 acre property.

Is this a reasonable setup? I'm afraid the weaker ones will be kept away by others from the tight coop and freeze in the winter. We are in New York state by the way, just north of NYC, so the winters get cold but not brutal. Of course, they did survive their first winter this way...

 

[Kiki]

Pictures of the coop?

 

[Kiki]

And birds?
Do you know this person well?
It would suck to buy sick birds.

 

[Percheron chick]

No it not reasonable. Do you need 12 chickens? That's about 5 dozen eggs a week. If it's a great deal, sell half the hen's.

 

[DobieLover]

Do you have any pictures of the coop? You might be able to expand it. Alternatively, you could build a large run attached to the coop that has a solid roof and 1/2 inch hardware cloth walls and a predator apron and make it as predator-proof as the coop. That way you never have to close the pop door and that run basically becomes an extension of the coop. In the winter time you can cover the walls with old shower curtains or heavy duty clear plastic or vinyl reinforced plastic sheeting like I did.

 

[springvalley123]

The 200 sq ft run for 12 chickens is pretty good. the minimum run is 10 ft/bird, and many people double that at least, depending on the types of chickens. The coop is barely enough for 6 birds. You'd need the run to be secure enough for overnight (wire top, hardware cloth etc), since the seller is saying that some of the birds don't sleep in the coop. I, and others use a secure run so we don't have to lock a coop at night. You can put obstacles like pallets tied to the run fencing or T-posts, other clutter to give the weaker birds hiding places. And, at least two feeders and waterers, a distance apart and out of line of site of each other so any bullies or more dominant birds have a hard time keeping the weaker ones from eating/drinking. The clutter/pallets would help with such a setup.
Best of luck!

Someone near us is moving to another state and selling a sturdy coop, all accessories and twelve 1-year old chickens. It seems like a great opportunity and as we get all at once and it's our first time (and the chickens are beautiful!).

My only concern is the coop size. It's only 6x4, 2 sqf per chicken, whereas some here recommend 4 sqf. The seller is telling us that they are almost never all inside at the same time, and even in the winter some roosted outside overnight (and coop was never heated). They will have a large enclosed run (about 200 sqf) and be allowed to free range on 1 acre property.

Is this a reasonable setup? I'm afraid the weaker ones will be kept away by others from the tight coop and freeze in the winter. We are in New York state by the way, just north of NYC, so the winters get cold but not brutal. Of course, they did survive their first winter this way...

 

[TonyBYC]

Pictures of the coop?

 

[Kiki]

That coop looks extremely small doesn't look like it even has ventilation.
I would not buy it if I were you.

 

[TonyBYC]

No it not reasonable. Do you need 12 chickens? That's about 5 dozen eggs a week. If it's a great deal, sell half the hen's.

We don't. But he says they only lay about 3 eggs per day, which is about right for us. Is it a bad sign that the egg production is so low?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Given the breeds I see that is not good production levels. Not good at all.

What are they being fed?

While that coop is tiny selling half the birds would relieve a lot of stress on them which might help production.

Are you 100% sure they are only a year old?