So I have recently gotten some chicks and want to start working on a coop. I looked around on the small coop thread and could not find one I think would work for me. I want a coop with the basic necessties and a small outdoor caged area. Does anyone have any pictures of their small coops or ideas? Thanks
For 7-9 birds I would go up to the medium coop section -- if I lived in the northern US. Keep in mind that it's not unusual for people to have only 2 or 3 chickens. Also, in Texas, your birds will do much better in a 3 sided type of coop / run. Southern summer heat is almost more than chickens can tolerate. Every summer, some people lose chickens to the heat. So they need plenty of breeze, and shade is a necessity. As for winter, there really isn't one in the south, to a chicken -- even if you get some below freezing nights as we do. Mine have an oversized 4 sided coop that has so much open area or hardware cloth for walls that it is in effect three sided. In the heat of summer, before the plants grew enough to give shade, they would gather in the coop during the heat of day for the shade. I haven't lost a bird to heat in several southern "chicken years" (knock on wood.) Here is a thread showing the kinds of setups that work well in this climate. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/163417/please-show-me-your-hot-weather-coops/0_20 Good luck!
We're in Texas, too. Definitely take into consideration the summer weather. We currently have three small "open air" coops. They are two-sided. They all open up into one large run area. We have seven standard hens and two bantam hens. -are currently constructing one large 8 x 12 shed-style coop to house everyone. -plan on leaving one side open (with hardware cloth), and adding plenty of windows and vents. Some folks use sand, hay, or wood shavings for bedding. -just depends upon individual preference. (make certain that you can reach all areas of the coop/nesting boxes for cleaning)
