Is this big enough?

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well, i wanted one that kind of looked like a real house - im SO not handy when it comes to making things so i was looking for one i could buy, then i could stretch to painting it myself
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lol!

Obviously it has to be big enough so if any of you guys see any, let me know please!
 
I see other s have been posting while I was typing. I'll send this unmodified any way but obviously some questions have been answered.

Are you planning on full sized chickens or bantams. It makes a difference.

The rule of thumb for sizes is 4 square feet per full sized chicken in the coop with 10 square feet per chicken in the run. The 1245 x 600 has 8 square feet, the 1245 x 1000 has 13 square feet. You did not mention the run, which was only 10 square feet.

This rule of thumb has different components. Some of the space requirement is the area it takes for chickens confined to a space for extended lengths of time to get along and not fight. It also includes room for roosts and enough room for you to put the feed and water in there where it is not under the roost and to allow them to get to the food and water. It also takes into account how much poop load the coop can carry with normal poop manangement practices. Nest boxes can also take up some room, but chickens are ground dwelling birds. Vertical space does not really matter. If the chickens can get under the nesting boxes, then the nesting boxes do not count against coop space.

I'm not sure what your climate is like in your corner of the UK. The key question is snow and ice. Rain doesn't really matter as long as they have solid soil and not a wet muddy mess. Most chickens like to play in the rain. Earthworms come to the surface. How much room will your chickens have outside the coop on a daily basis? Most parts of the UK are pretty mild and I would expect your chickens might be outside practically every day if you are in York or further south. Now if you are in the Shetlands, that changes. If they can be outside daily and they have an available area at least 15 square feet per chicken, that component of size becomes much less important. It does not completely disappear, but it is sure reduced. It is also important that they be allowed outside soon after they wake up and are not kept cooped up for hours in the morning.

If you feed and water outside, then that component goes away. The feed needs to be kept dry and they need access to water as soon as they wake up, so you would need to commit to letting them out with the sunrise.

The poop load is another issue. Chickens drop 1/2?, 1/3?, let's say a lot of their daily poop load while they are on the roosts. If the poop stays dry and does not build up too thick, it will not stink too bad. With less space than the 4 square feet, you would need to clean out the coop more often than normal standard practices, whatever they are. Or you can put a droppings board under the roosts and clean it of daily or however often you deem necessary. The pure droppings are a great addition to your compost heap, much better than the litter mixed with poop, by the way.

In this model, it looks like the nesting box is elevated and not part of the size calculations. With four hens, you would need only one nesting box anyway.

Bigger is always better. I'd certainly go with the larger of the two if I purchased one of these for four hens. If you have ample outside space and the climate where it is usable year round, and you are willing to manage them to make the coop really nothing more than a secure roosting area and hiding place in severe weather with a nesting box, it could work for you. But if they are going to be locked in there for extended periods of time, even the larger is too small.

Good luck!
 
Thank you Ridgerunner!!! I am planning on letting them have free run of the garden everyday when the weather permits it
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i have seen a rather nifty device which opens and closes the hen house door on a timer. i might just invest in one of those
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Okay...the 105 model of your original post looks like it has about 20 sq. feet, which could hold up to 5 birds in theory. I did not measure the run. I haven't looked at your other links yet.
 
Quote:
this is a perfect example of lying advertisments. Yes its gorgeous and looks reasonably practical, but there is no way I would ask 12 hens to sleep in there and wait until I let them out in the morning!! Thats crazy talk
 
i did think it looked a bit small for 12 hens - but a good size for 4 wouldnt you say?
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