Does anyone else suffer from coop dissatisfaction?

[NHchicks]

My husband built a nice little chicken coop - 8 x 4, but with chicken math, I'm feeling a little cramped. I'd like it larger. Also, the perches are too high, but of course, they're nailed in. I don't really like the perch arrangement. I also don't feel at peace about the nest box arrangement. There need to be more of them that they would actually use, instead of all insisting on using the same one because we don't really have really nice nest boxes. The coop is a little dark, I'd like more window space, and the interior is a little cramped, kind of a box within a box, so that the use of space isn't that efficient. (They do free range all day)

Of course, I don't complain too much because my husband put a lot of time and effort into this coop and, well, how can I say I would really rather tear this one down and build a really nice big one? Ha. Plus, it would be expensive... Oh, and it has to pass my husband's test of looking more like a garden structure than a piece of plywood stuck in the field, so it's not like we could use scrap lumber so much.

So I just wondered if anyone else had the coop redecorating blues.

You'd think was my house. Maybe a little wallpaper and paint... HA!

 

[TigerLilly]

Is it possible for your husband to 'remodel' & add on to the coop he just built? Or possibly have him build a duplicate & have them side-by-side?
I am not happy with my dog kennel / chicken coop...but I am trying to learn from everyone on here. So far I have learned that chicken math is the art of ending up with more chickens than you planned on (this is an on-going process) and in an effort to keep up with chicken math, you have to plan your coop VERY CAREFULLY! So, my REAL coop will be big enough to house about 20 chickens that will free-range at least for a few hours everyday.
But for now, I'm stuck looking at/dealing with a 12 L x 7 W x 6 H kennel with cinder block nests & blue tarp walls...

 

[elmo]

Yes, I know just what you mean. It took me three tries to get my coop "just right" and three tries to get a chicken tractor "just right." So now I have three coops and two chicken tractors (I dismantled the first tractor).

 

[crazyhen]

Tigerlily
Build it even bigger. I wanted 4 hens then 12 and I now have way over 20.

I have built on multiple times stepping up a hill. Its not so pretty but its functional. I too wish it looked better. If I had to do it over again I would build it at least 40 ft long and devide the inside into compartments for different ages that could see and get use to each other as they aged ready for my laying group. Also I would build in a big storage room.
Gradually I now have a 16ft x8ft for my layers 4x8 for the juveniles and 4x8 for the hatching area. I also have in the juvenile area a start of a 2x6 brooder. It is up higher so the juveniles will not be bothered by it. Wow!!!!! How did this happen in 3 years?

Definitely chicken math and the enablers on byc. LOL. If you want your hb to help with your project start building it without asking and watch him jump in to make it better. gloria Jean

 

[Jenski]

Always. . . we are on coop FOUR. We improve a thing or two each time.

 

[Knight Hawk Ranch]

Always...I have a brand new 10 x 10 coop for my Marans...with NO ROOF and can't get hubby to finish it. It has been sitting like this for nearly 2 months. My poor little flock (3 adults, 3 teenagers) is currently in a 4 x 10 pen with a box on the floor for a nest box.

 

[Cluckn Crazy]

My coop is a fine example of marital comprimise. The chickens will have to make due (actually they're fine - its me thats unhappy). Way too much money was spent so I have to wait awhile for additions or improvements! He didn't even want chickens in the first place so I should be "grateful."

 

[HeatherLynn]

Yep, alway plan big. My first coop is now a dog house and run again. The new coop is a cow barn my husband remodeled and it still making adjustments on. I went from wanting 4 birds, to 16, down to 8 after roosters meet freezer back up to 20 birds, back down to 0 birds ( city made me get rid of them and I had no coop at the farm) Then moved to the farm and I went back to 4 birds and am now up to 34. That was in just 2 years. Give me a few more years of chicken math and I will be up over 100

 

[BWKatz]

Mine is a case of a dinner plate. I was taught u have to eat everything on it. Right now my eyes are WAY bigger than my plate. I WANT a 12x10 coop and an attached run so they don't have to stay cooped up in the mornings. I will have to settle for my doghouse and tractor because that's all I can physically handle right now. But I can dream.

 

[70monte]

I'm pretty happy with my coop although I would like it bigger. Its 4'x8' and I have six chickens so its about right. I resist the urge to buy any more chickens because I know I don't have the room for more and don't have the money to buy or build anything else. Maybe one day.

Wayne