Have to Purchase Coop

[Tstanc2]

Can someone suggest a coop to purchase for 4 chickens? I don't understand the dimensions that everyone recommends as the minimum requirement. I also don't understand anything about ventilation or how to keep the chickens cool/warm during summer/winter.

I have to purchase a coop. I do not know how to build.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It's simply math. Minimum recommendations per bird: 4 sq ft floor space in coop, 10 sq ft in the run, 1 linear ft in roost, 1 sq ft ventilation open 24/7.

Any prefab coop you're considering, you have to look at the measurements and not the number of birds the manufacturer claims it'll hold.

 

[SpotTheCat]

to figure out square footage and how many chickens you can have, I take take the measurements of the coop/run you, go depth times the length, so lets say you have a 4 ft by 4 ft coop, that would be 4 times 4 that equals 16 ,so you have 16sq feet then if you take that and divide it by the minimum square ft requirements for chickens which is 4 square ft
4*4 =16%4 = 4 chickens fit in to the coop

I hope thats makes sense and is helpful

 

[3KillerBs]

Rules of Thumb

• If it looks like a dollhouse it's only suitable for toy chickens.
• If it's measured in inches instead of feet it's too small.
• If your walk-in closet is larger than the coop-run combo you're thinking of buying think carefully about whether you have an utterly awesome closet or are looking at a seriously undersized chicken coop.
• If it has more nestboxes than the number of chickens it can legitimately hold the designer knew nothing about chickens' actual needs and it probably has other design flaws too.

4 square feet -- the coop for one hen -- is the size of my doormat:

10 square feet -- the run for one hen -- is the size of a standard bath/shower insert:

Also, while chickens don't stack for storage, you will find it nearly impossible to get the nests high enough off the floor, the roost above the nest, and the ventilation above the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost in a coop that's much less than 4 feet tall.

So, for 4 birds it's a 4x4x4 cube. (My Little Monitor Coop was designed to meet al the minimums for 4 hens).

If anyone in your family or circle of friends has any handyman skills, a hoop coop is the easiest thing to build.

Which part of Maryland? Climate matters and the mountains of the panhandle are a much different climate from the Delmarva peninsula.

 

[Tstanc2]

It's simply math. Minimum recommendations per bird: 4 sq ft floor space in coop, 10 sq ft in the run, 1 linear ft in roost, 1 sq ft ventilation open 24/7.

Any prefab coop you're considering, you have to look at the measurements and not the number of birds the manufacturer claims it'll hold.

Thank you! Math isn't my Forte haha.