Could this design really house six chickens?

[NatJ]

Looking at the dimensions, I think the original probably has 3 feet by 3 feet of "house" part (not counting nestboxes), which makes 9 square feet. If you need 4 square feet per large hen or 2 square feet per bantam, that would be enough for about 2 large hens, or 4 bantams.

I went and looked at the website-- it says "Sized to comfortably house four hens – up to six if they are allowed to range freely during the day."
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cedar-chicken-coop-with-planter/

So either they're figuring for bantams (2 square feet each), or they think chickens need half as much space as the amounts commonly recommended here.

I do agree with the manufacturer that all-day free range would slightly increase how many could fit, so I think 6 bantams could work in that case.

I decided a long time ago that coop manufacturers must be figuring for bantams when they list capacity

If you doubled each dimension when building yours, yours has four times as much floor space, which is a big improvement! And I like your great big run

 

[jthornton]

You lose a bunch of floor space with a bottom exit. Much better to have a side exit into the run.

The original is a very poor design and I would not put a chicken in there but that's just me. As @NatJ points out if they only sleep in there you can fit more with a large run and that's how my first coop ended up. I copied this poor design for a coop and after several modifications ended up with a place for them to sleep after moving the nest box out into the run.

Before adding the nest box.


After adding the nest box.


The inside of the so called Awesome Chicken Coop lol after extensive modifications.


JT

 

[RobertaD1]

What's bad is the price tag for the model coop! For that kind of money, you could buy a shed and convert it...wow! So glad you didnt buy that one!
Your run looks nice. Would like to see the inside of the coop.

 

[B40chick]

I think you did a nice job. They only sleep and lay eggs in the coop. Mine hardly ever go in during the day unless they have "business". Even then it is only one or two at a time. When I added 5 chickens to my flock of 4, I did add another roosting pole so they could have plenty of space to settle in for the night. The run space needs to be sufficient in my novice opinion. I am not an expert by any means. When I can't let them free range, I attach my portable tractor to the run to give them more roaming room.

 

[Kaesi2020]

What's bad is the price tag for the model coop! For that kind of money, you could buy a shed and convert it...wow! So glad you didnt buy that one!
Your run looks nice. Would like to see the inside of the coop.

Ya the price is crazy! We found the model specs. Online for free. I believe it's called the Ana White model. We like the run but regret building the coop using this design. It's hard to clean, hard to reach in to do anything, and the door in the floor in the middle is annoying to open. We were so new when we built it, basically saw a design that looked nice and went with it. If I could go back in time I would still build a raised coop but much larger, with ease of access.

 

[TooCheep]

Yup. Browse the articles area on coops. You will find many interesting designs. Whenever you decide to redesign/rebuild in the future, get input from BYC before committing. We'll be able to find any flaws before you spend money and effort.

 

[Kaesi2020]

You lose a bunch of floor space with a bottom exit. Much better to have a side exit into the run.

The original is a very poor design and I would not put a chicken in there but that's just me. As @NatJ points out if they only sleep in there you can fit more with a large run and that's how my first coop ended up. I copied this poor design for a coop and after several modifications ended up with a place for them to sleep after moving the nest box out into the run.

Before adding the nest box.
View attachment 2265454

After adding the nest box.
View attachment 2265456

The inside of the so called Awesome Chicken Coop lol after extensive modifications.
View attachment 2265458

JT

Thanks for sharing! So true what you say about the run making a big difference with smaller coops. We could technically leave the coop door open to the run but I'm still uneasy about that. My husband says the run is predator proof with the trench and screen and the hardware cloth but it just it so much more exposed than the coop. It's probably just me being a worry wort! I tend to overthink everything having to do with the chickens.

Yes, same here with the several modifications! Had we left the original design as is, our chickens would be cramped and miserable.

 

[Kaesi2020]

You lose a bunch of floor space with a bottom exit. Much better to have a side exit into the run.

The original is a very poor design and I would not put a chicken in there but that's just me. As @NatJ points out if they only sleep in there you can fit more with a large run and that's how my first coop ended up. I copied this poor design for a coop and after several modifications ended up with a place for them to sleep after moving the nest box out into the run.

Before adding the nest box.
View attachment 2265454

After adding the nest box.
View attachment 2265456

The inside of the so called Awesome Chicken Coop lol after extensive modifications.
View attachment 2265458

JT

Is your coop very close to your house? I wish ours was closer to ours! Your setup looks well built!

 

[jthornton]

My husband says the run is predator proof with the trench and screen and the hardware cloth but it just it so much more exposed than the coop. It's probably just me being a worry wort!

Both of my runs are "predator proof" but I still lock both flocks up at night and inspect the run before the door opens at sunrise. The RIR hens are 3 years old and the door is automagic, I still open and close the door in the Cinnamon Queen Coop manually but it's time to put it on automagic as they are 3 months old now.

In the 4 years I've had chickens it's always like my signature says " Observe, Improvise and Adapt... "

I think you guys are doing a good job of taking a poor design and making it work well.

JT

 

[Owenp_2]

We downloaded the design specs. For this model back in March and it is how we had built our coop- except we doubled everything thinking it would fit six comfortably. This website says that the original design size can house six chickens, it just seems way small for six- even ours where the size is double seems tight sometimes for our big breeds. What do you think? Thank you.

It really just depends on a few factors...
- what breed are you getting
- how much floor space is there
- do you plan on adding more chickens to your flock eventually
To me I would not house 6 chickens in there I would probably only do 4.