Hi!! New chickens.. and I haven’t a clue lol

Pics
Date sort Score sort
So your coop, the inside area, is 40" x 20". 5.5sqft for the coop, the run is 70"x20" which is 9.7sqft.

A common rule of thumb for a standard sized bird is 4sqft per bird in the coop. 10sqft in the run. Minimum. So you can see where I'm going with this on how many birds you can keep in there...

Coops often calculate their "maximum bird capacity" based on LEGAL requirements, which are the legal minimum for CAFO farms, usually 1.5sqft per bird. These are the sizes used in huge battery farms where the birds live at most 18 months before becoming campbells chicken noodle soup. You can't REALLY keep chickens that way. Not if you want healthy, happy animals.
 
Christal075 said:
4. Breed?... well... I forgot ( I warned everyone I was a newbie and completely unprepared lol) here’s a picture. 2 black 2 white. Black has purple in feathers
Click to expand...
The white ones are light brahmas. The black ones look like australorps. Both breeds get quite large. You will have to get a bigger coop if you want them to live comfortably, otherwise they will be very overcrowded.
 
If it were me, I would scrap it, build something new. I'm pretty handy. And I know you have 4 birds - most lumber comes in 8' lengths, and most plywood is 4'x8' - that makes constructing a 4'x4' coop rather simple - potentially even simpler than expanding your current coop. You would not have real room for more birds, but it would be great for your four.
You can keep the old coop as a hospital coop/integration coop if someone gets sick/hurt or you get more birds, or you could put a bunny in it or any number of other things.

You will need to expand your run more either way unless you free range daily, so I'd look into that too.

You could also buy a shed and retrofit it or buy a much bigger coop of course.
 
Well hold the phone!!! I have a playhouse my kids never play with anymore!! The wheels are turning!!! Would this work??
 

Attachments

  • EE3DCB8B-C3CE-48C9-9102-937FD598D419.jpeg
    EE3DCB8B-C3CE-48C9-9102-937FD598D419.jpeg
    788.2 KB · Views: 8
  • 5ACE1657-01DD-4DD3-A7D6-7103BE1B678E.jpeg
    5ACE1657-01DD-4DD3-A7D6-7103BE1B678E.jpeg
    636.7 KB · Views: 7
  • DB0DA210-6B71-4454-85CF-2EB363CDA814.jpeg
    DB0DA210-6B71-4454-85CF-2EB363CDA814.jpeg
    540.1 KB · Views: 7
  • F5F743A1-1C32-46CC-BDF6-E0271777EF30.jpeg
    F5F743A1-1C32-46CC-BDF6-E0271777EF30.jpeg
    944.3 KB · Views: 7
I’m thinking I could close off the back opening add two or three roosts in there put a nesting box on one side a nesting box on the other side and put a hinge door up On the outside to get eggs..I would put chicken wire over the openings in the door but then I could open up the door and put the run all the way around the house? Thoughts?
 
And then I’m assuming it’s gonna be a heck of a lot easier to heat it in the winter time because the peak is so high I can put a heater in there now here’s one question do I put the roost higher than the nesting boxes? I’m assuming yes so should the nesting boxes be on the ground or elevated up a little bit? And then do I need to put in flooring which is fine because there’s no floor attached In the house
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom