Is my coop safe? and question about # of chickens

[bbingraham]

We are first time chicken owners and just finished our coop! I'd love for you to look at it and see if everything looks safe! We have hardware cloth dug under the ground about 12-14 inches.
We are planning on making larger food/water containers. These are just the ones we had been using in our brooder.

Also, here's where we are at for # of chickens. Our coop is 4x6 - so I think that means we can have approx 6 chickens for our size, correct? Right now we have 15 mix breed chicks that are 7 weeks old. We just put them out in the coop. (Their brooder box was getting way too small - we had to move them out of it.) So, I have no idea if they are hens or chickens yet (we are only keeping chickens). I'm not sure what the next step is. I guess we just keep all 15 in the coop for another few weeks until we can determine which is which?

Then, is it worth it to try and sell the roosters/extra chickens for a few bucks, or is it worth it to have them butchered for chicken? What age is the best for that?

Thanks in advance for all your help!!

 

[Legolas12]

As it looks it seems your coop would be safe for the little guys

 

[PapaChaz]

simple and effective, you can't beat that at all! I like it!

I haven't butchered any yet, so I can't answer that for you. someone will be along and give you some specifics I'm sure. You may have to wait until they're 12 weeks or older to know gender, some breeds are easier to tell than others.

 

[PapaChaz]

oh I neglected part of your question, yes it looks safe!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yes it looks safe.
That number of birds should be ok till about 15 weeks. By then you'll know how many you're keeping. And that will be the time to butcher. I use the extra cockerels for meat and be glad they lived a good life like chickens rather than the life of a commercial broiler.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

Looks very secure to me from the pictures you have.

There is one "item" that would cause me concern if I needed to have a truly secure coop. I see you have a 2x4 across the cleanout doors on the back of the coop to secure them. I'm not sure what you are "securing" your coop from but when I look at that crossbeam blocking the cleanout doors I picture a racoon with their magic paws(hands!) on the ground at the back of the coop reaching up and trying to move anything that he can to get into that coop for the tasty meal. As he stands there behind the coop pulling and pushing on anything he can touch, suddenly the crossbeam moves when he touches it. So he keeps pushing/lifting on that beam and suddenly it falls out of the framework on one end and ah, ha he's in.

If you already have a method for securing that crossbeam besides it's own weight then you are good, if not I'd try to come up with an easy way to make the crossbeam secure from being lifted out of it's framing. Something that is easy to move/remove so you can access the cleanout but that also will not allow the crossbeam to be lifted out.

 

[Legolas12]

Just for the space between the hut and the ground u might want to cover that up so a animal can't get under neath there

 

[bbingraham]

Thanks! There is hardware cloth attached to the coop and it goes down to the ground and then under the ground about 12".