Help Needed

[U_Stormcrow]

Yeah I agree with everything you've said, and more, I just don't know where I'm meant to be looking in all honesty. I've been recommended Eglu but they're so damn expensive and so small I don't think I can justify them.

The ventilation is a huge issue, especially how humid it can be here..

I don't understand why the second one has 6 nest boxes, I assume it is only to lure people into thinking that's a great thing? It's too small for enough birds to use even 3??

I'm struggling not gonna lie. Been looking for about 3 weeks and just seems to be these two popping up every time

Yes, when the buildier installs more nesting boxing on the thing than the number of birds which can reasonably fit inside, its clear sign they either don't know (or don't care) what a bird needs and are targeting humans who don't know better. The ventilation is also (as usual) massively insufficient. They''d have been better off ithey simply increased the size of the coop by the second nesting box and continued the roof. What they'd save in labor and hardware would likely cover the extra materials costs.

Those pop up all the time because they were designed to advertise to humans (all humans) by appealing to their sense of aesthetics. and there are a lot more ignorant humans than chicken keeping humans who know better. It biases the search engine.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and glad you found an inexpensive metal shed. SHoot us some photos, maybe we can help out.

Also, I use a sliding gate hasp, mounted vertically near the bottom of the door to keep my people door open on my coop - i just push the bolt down into the dirt. Works great. Possibly you can do something similar. Just make sure it clears the ground when the rod is over the other post. If needed, you can put a "reciever" in the ground to take the other end with a short piece of PVC, etc.

 

[3KillerBs]

and glad you found an inexpensive metal shed. SHoot us some photos, maybe we can help out.

Also, I use a sliding gate hasp, mounted vertically near the bottom of the door to keep my people door open on my coop - i just push the bolt down into the dirt. Works great. Possibly you can do something similar. Just make sure it clears the ground when the rod is over the other post. If needed, you can put a "reciever" in the ground to take the other end with a short piece of PVC, etc.

View attachment 3324242

I'm low-tech. I prop the door open with a concrete block.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

There is also...

The mighty "gate drop rod" - which can be made from a bent piece of scrap rebar and some strap/conduit fittings you had laying around (plastic or metal). Though the plastic don't last long.

 

[Rose Quartz]

Most these metal shed builds use insulation boards on the walls but I'm not sure that's necessary for me as down here rarely gets below freezing for more than a couple of days at a time, I didn't get condensation on my quail shed (also metal) last year either.

If the chickens have access to it they'll eat it like it's popcorn

 

[saysfaa]

Thank you!

I go away for a maximum of 4 days at a time and think my best option could be to keep the girls inside their coop during this time, what sort of size would we be talking for this?

I have a coop/run combination - that seems to be what yours will be for the days you are gone.

I don't how much you will need but this may help you decide how much to build.

I based the size on 14 sq feet (1.3 sq meters) per chicken for a planned flock size of 4 to 6 hens. This was taken from the 4 sq feet for coop plus 10 sq feet for run often recommended as minimums by this community. The chickens have 8'x10' (2.4 x 3 meters) - outside dimensions, though. Five standard sized hens seemed uncomfortably cramped. Four seem very comfortable.

They have three or four levels of various sizes above floor level (roost - if you count it as a level, poop board, platform with feed on it, platform with nests on it). The floor space loses a few sq cm to the waterer and a couple thousand sq cm to the dust bath tub. They currently use all the levels as floor space except the roost (they will get on it in the daytime but only to talk to me as I clean the poop board - as far as I've seen), and under the nest box platform (it is either too low to be comfortable or they don't like how crunchy the autumn leaves I use as bedding are, maybe).

I think personality is important as well as sq meters per chicken. I'm pretty sure the fifth hen, Spice, was a trial to the others. She was much, much more active than the others and in their faces. She and another hen also never really settled who was top hen... after 17 months together. It was never open warfare but it wasn't peaceful, either.

My current four (three australorps and one brown leghorn) seem very content and having enough space. I expect if I had four but one was Spice, the space would still seem quite tight.

 

[saysfaa]

Oh. I didn't read everything.

A shed that size should work for what you want to do.

I hold doors open with cement blocks too. Or pails of feed - which are a little easier to move. Someday I might get around to a kickstand or something.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

If the chickens have access to it they'll eat it like it's popcorn

Yeah I would cover it up obviously but I don't think it's needed for south England

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

I think that's a personal preference thing. I'm loving my dirt-floored coops for the ease of using Deep Litter, but I had to add a floor to the brooder after losing 7 out of 12 chicks to snakes even after I'd *thought* I'd blocked all the possible gaps.



If it's working in the quail shed it ought to work for the chickens -- assuming adequate ventilation.

Metal's a wonderful material for people keeping animals in mild climates.

Sounds lazy but I can't be bothered to screw the wood on I just feel like that's another job to do and with the shed on bricks nothing will get underneath it so dirt would probably be fine, my only worry would be rain could probably get in around the bottom

Yeah the roofs for some of these sheds provide okay ventilation to start with so it's a case of only a few smaller vents around the sides

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Yes, when the buildier installs more nesting boxing on the thing than the number of birds which can reasonably fit inside, its clear sign they either don't know (or don't care) what a bird needs and are targeting humans who don't know better. The ventilation is also (as usual) massively insufficient. They''d have been better off ithey simply increased the size of the coop by the second nesting box and continued the roof. What they'd save in labor and hardware would likely cover the extra materials costs.

Those pop up all the time because they were designed to advertise to humans (all humans) by appealing to their sense of aesthetics. and there are a lot more ignorant humans than chicken keeping humans who know better. It biases the search engine.

I think the nest boxes create the illusion the coop is larger and therefore better, bigger and worth more. I think the ventilation is deliberate, that way the coop doesn't not last for many years and therefore getting you to buy another. I am not sure if it is laziness or deliberate!

The real coops are like 4 or 5 times the cost too, most around here are £900+! That's a huge difference between the £200 for these worse ones!