Help with Coop please! :)

[Nancie]

Hello friends,
We are new to chickens... our first time! We have 12. Originally we bought this little coop (which says it is for 12 chickens) and thought it would be great if we make it mobile with wheels, and move it around the yard each day. We were going to add one MORE run to the front... making the run itself 10 feet long. Now that it’s been assembled, seems like it might be too small. The house itself is about 40 X 40 square.

Can you help me figure out if this is too small for 12 chickens? (4 white leghorn, 4 Easter Egger, 4 Rhode Island Red/ISA) It has 6 nesting boxes and 3 bars. Does this seem like it would be enough space? Or too stressful for them?

Two pics attached.

 

[Freeloading slacker]

The rule of thumb is to give at least 3 square feet of indoor space per chicken and 10 square feet of outdoor space per chicken.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello friends,
We are new to chickens... our first time! We have 12. Originally we bought this little coop (which says it is for 12 chickens) and thought it would be great if we make it mobile with wheels, and move it around the yard each day. We were going to add one MORE run to the front... making the run itself 10 feet long. Now that it’s been assembled, seems like it might be too small. The house itself is about 40 X 40 square.

Can you help me figure out if this is too small for 12 chickens? (4 white leghorn, 4 Easter Egger, 4 Rhode Island Red/ISA) It has 6 nesting boxes and 3 bars. Does this seem like it would be enough space? Or too stressful for them?

Two pics attached.

Way, way too small for 12 chickens.
Your coop is good for maybe 3.
4 on a good day.
Those pre-fab manufacturers always grossly over estimate the number of birds their coops can house.
Chickens need about 4 sq ft per bird in the coop and 12-15 sq ft per bird in the run.
WLHs, although small, are fierce little things and brutal at roost time.
If there is any way to return that coop, I would and then start building something more appropriate. A shed conversion is relatively fast. You could get a shed from a big box place and use that if you have nothing to work with on your property.

 

[Nancie]

Ok, thank you. Darn... I was hoping it would work, but was thinking this might be the case! I hope we can return. Can I ask an important question? We had really liked the idea of the mobile coop... moving it around to fresh grass each day. BUT... if chickens are supposed to have that much space allotted per chicken.. (4sq ft/per in coop, and 12-15 sq ft outside) it seems impossible to make a mobile coop for 12 birds. Is that correct? Is there any such thing? It would have to be huge.

 

[DobieLover]

Ok, thank you. Darn... I was hoping it would work, but was thinking this might be the case! I hope we can return. Can I ask an important question? We had really liked the idea of the mobile coop... moving it around to fresh grass each day. BUT... if chickens are supposed to have that much space allotted per chicken.. (4sq ft/per in coop, and 12-15 sq ft outside) it seems impossible to make a mobile coop for 12 birds. Is that correct? Is there any such thing? It would have to be huge.

I too had visions of a mobile coop but when I started researching what was best for the birds I ditched the idea and went with a large fenced in area surrounded by electric poultry netting. My flock of 21 adults and 8 chicks has 1/3 acre with their coop and fixed, predator-proof run inside that pen. The run is 28x12 with a 4x8 jog behind the coop for a dust bath area. The coop is 8x12 with 24 ft of roost space.
It works well.

 

[Freeloading slacker]

A mobile coop for that many chickens does not sound like a good idea, maybe if you made multiple coops? Here are some pictures when we first built our coop the run is 10 feet by 30 feet and the coop is 10 feet by 10 feet.

 

[Justso]

You will be shocked, shocked, shocked at the amount of poop 12 chickens will generate. Search out some of the chicken tractor designs on the site for ideas. You can make a mobile tractor, but I would rotate just some of the birds through each day. Have them take turns.

 

[Nancie]

Oh wow. I'm kind of panicking because I'm realizing we might have gotten ourselves into way more than I thought. My husband might not be very happy with me! (He's not really a builder and is super busy). They are going on 3 weeks old, so I'm feeling a little panicky now that the clock is running down and the plan I thought I had isn't going to work!

Do you guys know of any simple plans to build something easy that could work for 12 chickens? I have NO idea what to do..

 

[Freeloading slacker]

An easy thing to do is to get a shed off Craigslist, buy a chicken door for it and for the run can you put some fencing up with stakes. For the inside I use bins as nesting boxes and for roosts you can put large sticks or wood diagonally in the corner. The Run won't be predator-proof so you'll have to keep a close eye and every night make sure all the doors are closed. You can also see if any one is selling chicken coops off Craigslist this might be easier and cheaper.

 

[Justso]

You could also consider shedding some chickens. It may be much easier to start out smaller and work your way up. I know this must feel like a very sad and hard option, but just something to think about. Where are you located?