Is this coop sufficient?

[PapaChaz]

Mr. Chaz, I have never had a fresh egg. My husband and I were very much city kids. And we have recently been given free minds with an acre of land, that we plan on having plenty of live stock. lol. I'm excited. ive seen the pictures of a fresh egg, compared to store. And read that it has more aminos, omegas, and just overal healthier, which is something i'm looking forward too.

What do you mean? I guess I've never had "fresh eggs"...lol

google
free range eggs vs store bought

your 'fresh' eggs, the yolk will most likely be a bit bigger, and will definitely be darker yellow and maybe even orange (perfect!) and will have a little stronger taste. Once you've eaten only your fresh eggs, store bought and as mentioned, restaurant eggs will be bland and almost have no taste at all!

You'll love em, that's for sure!

 

[broomrider]

If the general consensus is 4 square feet per bird, and he has 7 birds, then technically he only needs 28 square feet and his coop is 32 square feet. So do you think it's not big enough due to the larger breed birds? Just asking because I'm new to layers and getting ready to plan my coop as well.

 

[microchick]

For a while I was purchasing our eggs from a lady who raises EEs and boasted that she boosted the healthy oils in her hen's eggs by feeding them sunflower seeds. Those yolks were the prettiest shade of orange you ever saw and stood up in the skillet like Little Debbie Snow Ball cup cakes. The flavor was wonderful and the yolks were creamy...good grief I'm making myself hungry for fresh eggs and our girls won't start laying till August.

 

[yyz0yyz0]

If the general consensus is 4 square feet per bird, and he has 7 birds, then technically he only needs 28 square feet and his coop is 32 square feet. So do you think it's not big enough due to the larger breed birds? Just asking because I'm new to layers and getting ready to plan my coop as well.

From looking at the picture they posted I'm assuming that the coop size quoted includes the nest boxes, which if that is the case then they have less than 32sqft. I'd say closer to 20-25sqft for the floor area of the coop itself, but that's just a guess.

I have a predator safe run so I never close my pop door, which means the birds have 24/7 access to the run when ever they want. My coop is 4x8 and I have 8 birds but from seeing how much roost they use(I have 8'), I'm thinking I could increase my flock by 2-3 hens without too much trouble.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I use to have a 4x4 coop with nest boxes external like you have. One winter had 9 birds, that was too much, but once down to 6 birds it worked well. I can't tell the dimensions of yours but the birds will do well with a nice run which you'd let them into every day.

The biggest problem with smaller coops is in the future when integrating new birds due to older ones stopping lay or a death or two, it can be tough with pecking order until the new birds get established in flock. Larger coops makes integration easier. For the purpose of roosting at night birds don't need 4 sqft each, that number is for those that coop birds in foul weather and have different management style like that. For those of us that let birds out everyday even when -20F 2.5 sqft per bird is plenty. Big runs are nice, the bigger the better.

 

[pipemum]

So we just built our first coop. It is 5' tall, 8' long (6 nests, 3 on each side}, and 4' wide.



I was planning on building a pen around it like so




I was thinking it would be near 10' long by 8' wide.


Does this this sound like enough room for 7 chickens? They will be able to free range durring the day for a few hours here and there. But mostly worried about winter when they are more isolated to there coop and pen. And we don't have extremely harsh winters, but have gotten snow maybe 2x a year.

Yes, that will be plenty of room for 7 chickens. I can not believe how many people are saying it's not. Your chickens will not be confined to the coop with winters with almost no snow.

 

[fishwithaface]

From looking at the picture they posted I'm assuming that the coop size quoted includes the nest boxes, which if that is the case then they have less than 32sqft.  I'd say closer to 20-25sqft for the floor area of the coop itself, but that's just a guess. 

I have a predator safe run so I never close my pop door, which means the birds have 24/7 access to the run when ever they want.  My coop is 4x8 and I have 8 birds but from seeing how much roost they use(I have 8'), I'm thinking I could increase my flock by 2-3 hens without too much trouble.

My co-op that box is 4x4x4, the boxes, are another 2x2 so all together the foundation with flooring was a 4x8 board.

 

[PapaChaz]

ok my mistake, I looked at the numbers wrong, I did 5x4=20 without realizing the 5' is the height.

Yes that coop more than meets the general consensus of 4 sq ft per bird, I am indeed sorry for my mistake and the confusion caused by it.