Is the Omlet Coop Big Enough

[MrsKroo]

Hi.
I have 5 buff Orpingtons 17 weeks old. They have an Omlet Igloo for a coop. Tonight I noticed that one of them was sleeping on top of the rest.
There’s space for all 5 to roost in this coop, any idea why one would sleep on top of the others?
Thank you for the help.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

What are the dimensions? Standard hens should have at least 4 sq. feet per bird in the coop and 1 foot of roost for each.

 

[MrsKroo]

What are the dimensions? Standard hens should have at least 4 sq. feet per bird in the coop and 1 foot of roost for each.

Hi, thank you tor the reply.
I believe they have enough room . The Omlet website says there’s room in the coop for 4-5 buff Orpingtons, and these guys are not even full grown.
I’ve attached a photo from the Omlet website with the dimensions.
I’m not convinced space is a problem here, I’m wondering if this is a habit for this breed/age group.

 

[Buffberry]

The Omlet Eglu has room for only 2-3 Buff Orpingtons.
The Omlet Cube has room for up to 6.
Which one do you have? Your pic is of the Cube but you call it an 'Igloo' so I'm thinking you probably have the Eglu. That means it is too small for the number of hens you have.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The Omlet website says there’s room in the coop for 4-5 buff Orpingtons, and these guys are not even full grown.
I’ve attached a photo from the Omlet website with the dimensions.
I’m not convinced space is a problem here

Sorry but their claim is only good if you're using close to factory farm numbers as far as coop space. And Orps are bigger birds to boot - when they are full grown it'll only get worse.

Your actual internal space is 34" x 35" MINUS the nest box. Even if I were to include the nest box, you have 8.2 sq ft, enough for 2 standard birds.

Your coop floor space, minus nest boxes, for 5 birds, should be around 20 sq ft.

 

[Buffberry]

Oh wait I see now in the background of the photo that you definitely have the Cube - sorry I only saw the pic of the instructions before.
Well then in theory it should be enough. You can make more room by removing the partitioning wall between the laying area and the roosting bars. That's what I do to make it much more roomy. Means you have to clean out the nest a bit each morning but I think it works better. Much easier to clean in general really because you have a lot more room in there.

 

[MrsKroo]

Oh wait I see now in the background of the photo that you definitely have the Cube - sorry I only saw the pic of the instructions before.
Well then in theory it should be enough. You can make more room by removing the partitioning wall between the laying area and the roosting bars. That's what I do to make it much more roomy. Means you have to clean out the nest a bit each morning but I think it works better. Much easier to clean in general really because you have a lot more room in there.

Yes, thank you. I do have the Cube. I said the wrong name earlier.
I don’t think I can remove that divider wall between the roosting bars and the nest boxes. I have opened the door for them. I don’t care if they sleep in the nesting area but they prefer the roosting bars.
I don’t think there’s enough room in the cube for six buff Orpingtons for sure, but I was hoping for 4, they only use it for sleeping at night.

 

[MrsKroo]

Sorry but their claim is only good if you're using close to factory farm numbers as far as coop space. And Orps are bigger birds to boot - when they are full grown it'll only get worse.

Your actual internal space is 34" x 35" MINUS the nest box. Even if I were to include the nest box, you have 8.2 sq ft, enough for 2 standard birds.

Your coop floor space, minus nest boxes, for 5 birds, should be around 20 sq ft.

I was hoping I could at least have 4 birds since they only use the coop for sleeping at night. I’ll have to consider this new information, thank you for taking the time to reply.

 

[3KillerBs]

I was hoping I could at least have 4 birds since they only use the coop for sleeping at night. I’ll have to consider this new information, thank you for taking the time to reply.

Unfortunately, every pre-fab coop that I know of makes wildly exaggerated claims for the number of chickens it will serve.

For each standard-sized bird you need 4 square feet in the coop (space taken up by nestboxes, feeders, waterers, etc. doesn't count), 10 square feet in the run, 1 linear foot of roost, and 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation (the pop door that is closed at night and windows that are closed in the winter don't count).

IMO, any coop smaller than 4'x4'x4' is unlikely to be adequate over time.

Some chickens will tolerate closer quarters, but over-crowding is a common cause of behavioral and health problems.

 

[deidreg]

Hi there! I have Omlet's Cube and five girls about the same age as yours. While I think four is best, five is doable. (I planned on four, then took in one more who needed a new home.) Mine are also bunched together right now because it's cold.

If you're concerned about space, you can slide out the divider between the roost and nest. Mine is closed while I await my first egg.

Let me know if you have other questions. I've been very happy with my Omlet coop and run.