Do you wish you had built a bigger coop?

[naturababe]

we are thinking of starting with about 12 chickens - i say about because i want to get chicks and i don't assume i'll get 50/50 exactly - so we would need a 48 square foot coop. i'm worried that i will love having chickens so much that i will want more next year and more the year after that. so, are you generally happy with the number of chickens you first got and the size of your coop or do you wish you had built bigger so you could add chickens as you became more experienced?

thanks

 

[chicmom]

Oh boy, what a good question. I started with a small coop that was supposed to hold around 5 to 7 chickens, and then I wanted more more more.......then my husband made me a coop that held appx 9 chickens.....THEN I STILL WANTED MORE...

Whatever size you think you want, double it or better yet, triple it! LOL

 

[rubyrogue]

Ive had my hens for almost two weeks. I am already planning another coop......

 

[momma's chickens]

I have expanded my coop three times and now have three coops! Bigger is better!

 

[PunkinPeep]

I got six chicks about a year ago. We were thinking we MIGHT someday get 6 more.

I now have 39.

We're planning to expand to nearly triple.

If you can build big to begin with, do it.

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

We thought we'd keep 3 or 4 and ended up keeping 6. My 6 pullets just started laying and I'm already planning to expand.
Our coop (picture on my BYC page) is an open air, so it should be easy to enclose a little more and add a yard.

 

[naturababe]

oh my!! i had a hunch i was going to get answers like this. so i guess we will build as big as our space allows.

i thought chickens needed a certain size coop, small enough i mean, in order to stay warm in winter. is that wrong?

i am planning to get winter hardy breeds (i want half and half buff orpingtons and buckeyes) if i can find them so it isn't like i want to have tropical chickens in massachusetts....

 

[SilverPhoenix]

I don't know if I'll ever have large enough coops or enough coops.

It's the nature of the addiction!

In all seriousness, yes, I do wish my coop was bigger. I'm planning on doubling my already large run (it's currently 25' x 15', I want it 25' x 30'), and I added a dog kennel for the seramas and call ducks already.

 

[Dora'smom]

Funny you should ask. . . I planned on a nice little flock of six, and we built a tool shed/coop with an attached run. A few weeks passed, and suddenly we had four more. That was last year. This year I thought I could get away with adding four, then changed my mind and decided six. We now have ten in the brooder. I absolutely have to stop now. We don't have a second coop built yet, and my husband is preoccupied with an older Mercedes that my MIL gave him. I may have to cobble this together for myself, and it ain't going to be pretty.
To answer your question, yes, build bigger than you think you will ever need.

 

[savingdogs]

We were going to get three to five and probably no roo.

We now have 17 and a roo. I'm glad my husband planned big, but we both wish he had made it even bigger. We have started selling eggs and have more customers than eggs.