Coop Size

[barneveldrerman]

I personally wouldn’t buy it. However if you can and are willing to modify this coop it will be just fine. If you can get this coop cheap enough it may be worth it, if it is overpriced I would look for a new option or build it yourself. As a rule of thumb you want to have 4 SQ. Feet of space per bird. This will ensure each chicken has enough space to encourage egg production and keep them comfortable. Many people go as low as 2 sq. Feet per chicken, but it is not going to encourage egg production and could cause unneeded stress.

Good luck, hope this helped! If you have any more questions don’t hesitate to ask!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Did you build your own coop? What did you end up spending on material if you don't mind me asking?

The following link has tons of members coops. Many have very good plans/drawings and bills of materials. Peruse and find one you like. Either build yourself or hire an unemployed carpenter off of craigslist.
I have 5 coops and I built them all. Actually 2 are a big hexagon split down the middle with a roofed breezeway. It has 5 breeding units in it.
My first one was a barn style garden shed my son and I built from a kit at Lowe's.
The second I built from scratch as a smaller version of the first. Same colors and everything down to the cupola.
The third one was intended to be a temporary grow out coop and I used it for years until the mink figured out how to get in. When I thought I killed all the mink, I put some birds in it again and the raccoons chewed a hole in the door and killed those birds. That building is now decommissioned until it gets rebuilt to be mink proof.
All my doors are now metal so raccoons can't chew through them.
The breeder houses were built with cull lumber from Lowe's which I got for half price or less.
So basically, I have no idea how much they cost. I must say though the cull yard at Lowe's is great and lots of times you can find free lumber in the free section on craigslist.

 

[R3bauer]

Do you remember where you found those DIY plans? I'm all for simple as my husband and I aren't builder savvy and I'd honestly probably put it together myself as my husband doesn't have time and isn't into the whole chicken thing.

Apologies for the late reply! I juat searched free chicken coop plans and found one I liked. Sorry I dont have specific sites.

 

[Mysimplewyominglife]

I agree with everyone else build your own coop if you can if you can't keep looking cuz that looks like it would hold 2-3 large birds or 3-4 bantams if that. this looks more like a rabbit hutch with nest boxes added.

My husband and I originally built a chicken coop & run for no more then say £150 or roughly $200. The most expensive thing was the wire for the run, It held 4-6 hens well when they had to be penned. We managed to get darn near everything for free. The back, sides and roof were insulated metal siding (Think park homes) we got that from my father in law. The door and side were the pop door was was just a thick piece of ply with a latch for both the pop door and main door the main door had a swivle brace thing attached to a piece of the wood for the run as extra protection got the ply free but can't remember where and the whole frame was red wood that my husbands place of work was throwing away. Overal size was roughly 6.5' to 7' tall x 8' long by 4' wide. the coop was 2' up off the ground (as that space was part of the run) the house was 4'x4'x3.5' to 4' tall. the run itself was 8'x4'x 6.5-7' tallk. It worked well for 4-6 chickens. The nest boxes cost about $50-$60 they are metal roll away type nests (not worth the money I'll admit it)

But we got more chickens due to me hatching out chicks now I have 14-15 chickens with 15 more hatched out last week and more on the way so we have removed the wire from the run and have used thick ply we got for free (again) to extend over the rest of the area to make a 6.5'-7' tall x 8' long' 4' wide. The chicken house is 8 long x 4' wide x 3.5'-4' inside and it's 2' up off the ground. We plan on building a 20'x20' covered run in the next month and butt the house up to it.