How many hens are good in here?

[partiallycredible1414]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum. I'm thinking about getting a few chickens this year, and this is the coop which I think might be suitable. It's the "Producer's Pride Villa" from TSC.

I know it looks like the typical little prefab coop, which I know would be unsuitable for chickens. However, it's a lot bigger than you think. The run is roughly 36 sqft, and the hen house is 20 sqft. I've seen one in person, it seemed fairly durable, with perhaps some slight modification for predator-proofing. From what I'm reading online, the coop should have space for 3 standard chickens (4sqft in coop, 10 in run), but this doesn't seem like enough room to me. I imagine they'd get pretty crowded, and I don't think that they could get away from any bullying/accidental rooster in that space. I have a lot of predators (mink, bears, raccoons, eagles, hawks, etc) in my area, so I don't think that free ranging or a fenced in open-top pen would be safe for them.

So what does everyone think? Would this be enough space for 3 hens? And if not, would it be possible to extend the run somehow? All the prefab runs I can find are all either too expensive or not secure enough. I don't think I can build one, I'm not up to that.

Thank you!

 

[NatJ]

I went ahead and looked up the specs myself directly on the tractor supply website. The coop states it is 4.4 sq ft to be exact. NOT 20:
View attachment 3763588

There is at least one error in their measurements.

They say 4.4 square feet of coop
They say the run is 52.7 inches wide
The coop is the same width as the run (visible in all photos)
The only way to have a coop that is 52.7 inches wide and contains 4.4 square feet is if that coop is 1 foot long. Looking at the photos, the coop is roughly square.

So either their run width measurement is wrong, or their coop square footage measurement is wrong.

I measured the base of the hen house when I looked at it in person. It's about 4' x 5', not sure where the given number is from.

I think Tractor Supply has the coop square feet listed wrong.

I stand by everything I wrote above.
It's a waste of money. The OP good do so much better by converting a used shed.

It might be a waste of money, and OP might do better to do something else.

But I would trust OP's own measurements before I would trust the Tractor Supply measurements that are not even consistent with each other. If OP measured correctly, the coop DOES have enough space for 3 hens according to the most common rule-of-thumb guidelines.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The big issue is whether there's enough space for 3 hens, even with more accurate measurements. That would, following the guidelines I keep seeing of 4sqft in the coop and 10 in the run, be a sufficient bare minimum, but I want to make sure that they would have enough room to roam and be happy. Would it be good to put some branches/cinder blocks in the run so they have a more entertaining and interactive environment? Thanks!

Keep in mind those minimum guidelines are just that, minimum. Some birds will get along fine in that amount of space. Others will pick feathers and attack one another. So that makes it impossible to know for sure if this will or won't work for you.

As it sounds like you've already decided to get this regardless, it'd be a good idea to plan ahead for "just in case" - what will you do if things don't work out? Do you know anyone you can rehome birds to, are you willing to expand the run, etc.?

As far as enrichment I would avoid putting anything large in that run (anything that eats up floor space), you simply do not have room in there for it.

 

[partiallycredible1414]

I decided that I won't be using this coop, and if I do, it'll only be with some sort of extension to the run. Might be a good summer project. Thanks for the help!

 

[nuthatched]

2, max. I've also seen them. They included the next boxes in their measurements. They fall apart well in two years and I've personally seen the aftermath of coons pushing their esy in through the next box floor.

 

[nuthatched]

Also, bear in mind that prefab coop companies use the same space standards as egg farms, 1 sq foot per bird. You know those videos of factory farms that show rows and rows of hens squished in cages? Those are those measurements.

 

[NatJ]

Would it be good to put some branches/cinder blocks in the run so they have a more entertaining and interactive environment?

Yes, that would probably help.

Chickens also enjoy having something to scratch in, preferably a variety of things. That is easy to manage by putting in wood chips if you have a good source, weeds and/or grass clippings in the summer, dry leaves in the fall, anything compostable from your kitchen all year long, and so forth. You want it to stay relatively dry so it doesn't get stinky.

The big issue is whether there's enough space for 3 hens, even with more accurate measurements. That would, following the guidelines I keep seeing of 4sqft in the coop and 10 in the run, be a sufficient bare minimum, but I want to make sure that they would have enough room to roam and be happy.

Yes, that is the big question. It will partly depend on the individual hens and how they act.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Does anyone have any experience with this run? It seems like a good potential add-on, but I'm not sure if the wire would be able to keep predators out.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-universal-poultry-pen-8-ft-x-8-ft-cr0808

I've seen that one at tractor supply. You would need hardware cloth all over or sheet metal a couple feet up to prevent a weasel from climbing, and hardware cloth into the ground or other means to prevent digging underneath. Most people use a hardware cloth skirt because it's effective and you don't have to dig very deep.


I had full size birds (red sex links, orpingtons, barred rocks) in a small coop with a very large (25x30ft) run. It worked, but I was constantly cleaning the coop. I had not room for error if one of them was aggressive. Integrating new birds into the flock was a pain in the posterior for all parties involved. More room gives you more options. I would seriously consider bantams in a coop that small before I put 3 full sized breeds in there, even with all the run space. It'll probably work fine with the big run, but you'll be doing a lot of coop maintenance in my experience.

 

[DobieLover]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum. I'm thinking about getting a few chickens this year, and this is the coop which I think might be suitable. It's the "Producer's Pride Villa" from TSC.

View attachment 3763558

I know it looks like the typical little prefab coop, which I know would be unsuitable for chickens. However, it's a lot bigger than you think. The run is roughly 36 sqft, and the hen house is 20 sqft. I've seen one in person, it seemed fairly durable, with perhaps some slight modification for predator-proofing. From what I'm reading online, the coop should have space for 3 standard chickens (4sqft in coop, 10 in run), but this doesn't seem like enough room to me. I imagine they'd get pretty crowded, and I don't think that they could get away from any bullying/accidental rooster in that space. I have a lot of predators (mink, bears, raccoons, eagles, hawks, etc) in my area, so I don't think that free ranging or a fenced in open-top pen would be safe for them.

So what does everyone think? Would this be enough space for 3 hens? And if not, would it be possible to extend the run somehow? All the prefab runs I can find are all either too expensive or not secure enough. I don't think I can build one, I'm not up to that.

Thank you!

Not sure where you read that 3 standard size birds could be housed in 4 sq ft but the standard "rule of thumb" is that they have 4 sq ft PER BIRD.
Going with the bare minimum of square footage in the run is not a good idea.

That thing is tiny. It's appalling that the literature states it can hold 12 chickens.

The wood that is used to construct them is about the worst quality I've ever seen and as stated above, it will not last more than a year in the vast majority of climates.

For $700 you'd be so much better off buying a used shed and converting it into a coop.

 

[DobieLover]

From my recent experience

The OP says: However, it's a lot bigger than you think. The run is roughly 36 sqft, and the hen house is 20 sqft. I've seen one in person, it seemed fairly durable, with perhaps some slight modification for predator-proofing.

I went ahead and looked up the specs myself directly on the tractor supply website. The coop states it is 4.4 sq ft to be exact. NOT 20:

I stand by everything I wrote above.
It's a waste of money. The OP good do so much better by converting a used shed.