I want to build a coop, but I've never built anything. Need advice!

[CKfarm22]

My advice, based on my own experience, is that if you want your girls to be safe, you should buy a sturdy coop that's been made by a professional. I'm not trying to discourage you, but in my opinion, building a coop that will actually keep out predators is hard. Since you say you want your girls to be pets for their whole lives, like our hens, I think buying a good one is safer than building - at least it was for us, although we do like to build things, we failed at this.

Professional coops are way too expensive and half the time not what you’re looking for- at least that’s what happened to us. We looked at one that would be the right size and they wanted $1000 for it... then a run would be even more money. We made ours and we have no predators getting in, as long as it’s bolted correctly and locked correctly you should have no problems. We made our coop, run, feeder and waterer, for under $600.

 

[Jackisews]

We have no carpentry skills, either. So I bought our coop from TSC and then purchased a used 10x10x6 chain link dog kennel. We bought extra galvanized poles for roof support and used vinyl siding from a yard sale as the roof. We used hog rings to attach hardware cloth to all sides of the coop run and also laid out the predator proofing on the ground on all sides. Before Hurricane Elsa blew through we added tarps to keep out blowing rain. Here are photos of our setup.

 

[CKfarm22]

The sale listing said it's 2 feet wide, 2 feet high, and 12 feet long.

So the solid-sided coop area is probably 2 feet by 2 feet, which gives 4 square feet of space, which is enough for 2 bantams (since they only need half as much space as large chickens.)

And the wire mesh area would be 2 feet wide and 10 feet long, which makes 20 square feet, or 10 square feet per chicken. That's the recommended run size for standard sized chickens, so it certainly ought to be adequate for bantams.

More space is always better, but this is definitely large enough for 2 bantams according to the most common guidelines I see cited on this site.

More space is definitely needed for chickens to be happy and healthy.

 

[NatJ]

More space is definitely needed for chickens to be happy and healthy.

How much space? Do you have an estimate of how many square feet of coop, and of run, is needed for two bantam chickens?

 

[Krugerrand]

How much space? Do you have an estimate of how many square feet of coop, and of run, is needed for two bantam chickens?

http://www.adoptabirdnetwork.com/topics/chicken-space-requirements

This says 4 ... but location and bird personality could impact that.

 

[NatJ]

http://www.adoptabirdnetwork.com/topics/chicken-space-requirements

This says 4 ... but location and bird personality could impact that.

That chart calls for exactly the same amount of coop space I mentioned (4 square feet for two bantams). And if the measurements of OP's new pen are accurate, that is what it has (the enclosed "coop" portion).

That chart calls for a lot more run space than most guides, but the pen in question almost meets even that generous allowance (24 square feet in the chart, probably 20 square feet in the wire-enclosed section of the pen.) Most other guides call for 5 to 10 square feet per bantam, which would be 10 to 20 square feet for two bantams.

 

[SarahGfa]

Start hammering, it’ll come to you

This is bad advice. I tried to build my own coop with no experience and it was surprisingly hard. I did not know how to pick strait lumber at Home Depot, so none of my pieces lined up. In some places the connections were so screwy so I started using wood glue to glue all the 2x4s together.



For whatever reason, the coop kept leaning and needed to be reinforced over and over again. I ended up buying and using five times as much lumber as I should have, and it would of been WAY cheaper to just hire a builder.

 

[topochico225]

This is bad advice. I tried to build my own coop with no experience and it was surprisingly hard. I did not know how to pick strait lumber at Home Depot, so none of my pieces lined up. In some places the connections were so screwy so I started using wood glue to glue all the 2x4s together.

View attachment 2796903

For whatever reason, the coop kept leaning and needed to be reinforced over and over again. I ended up buying and using five times as much lumber as I should have, and it would of been WAY cheaper to just hire a builder.

I think they're joking, but wow, that sounds terrible!

 

[topochico225]

My advice, based on my own experience, is that if you want your girls to be safe, you should buy a sturdy coop that's been made by a professional. I'm not trying to discourage you, but in my opinion, building a coop that will actually keep out predators is hard. Since you say you want your girls to be pets for their whole lives, like our hens, I think buying a good one is safer than building - at least it was for us, although we do like to build things, we failed at this.

I ended up not building it for that exact reason.

 

[topochico225]

More space is definitely needed for chickens to be happy and healthy.

https://www.dummies.com/home-garden...rmine-your-flock-size-and-space-requirements/

The coop/run is actually the right size. Rob Ludlow is @Nifty-Chicken , the owner of BYC, so he knows what he's talking about.

I plan to put the bantams in a separate run whenever weather allows for a change of scenery.