Minnesota Joe

[Minnesota Joe]

Welcome. I am happy you get to have chickens again. As you know, more space is better. You can go up as well.

I didn't mention. The animal control guy did a site inspection before the coop build and granting me a chicken permit. The application has the maximum coop height of 6ft. I'm 6ft and building a "I can stand up in it" coop. Max height of 6ft isn't going to work. I said I have a corner lot and 6ft fenced back yard. A higher roof line won't interfere with anyone's line of sight. The animal control guy agreed. It helped that he and his boss of well over 6ft and they understood. I got permission to have my coop roof height of about 7 ft Their tone was....about 7ft or.... The roof pitch of 2" per foot for 5 ft roof= 10" and base of some kind...7 ft may not be enough.....
It will work, sometimes a plead of ignorance....

 

[Tookie]

Hello, welcome to BYC! Nice to meet you. Good luck with all your plans!

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

 

[Minnesota Joe]

I figured it out. I have a very small yard only one spot to build the coop, so no run. In my research, if there isn't a run the space per hen should be 10sqft. I will have 5 hens. The coop will be 5'x10'. One end of the coop will be in the shade. That end will have hardware wire sides. The sides will be covered in the worst of winter. Sort of a run inside the coop.

 

[Debbie292d]

I figured it out. I have a very small yard only one spot to build the coop, so no run. In my research, if there isn't a run the space per hen should be 10sqft. I will have 5 hens. The coop will be 5'x10'. One end of the coop will be in the shade. That end will have hardware wire sides. The sides will be covered in the worst of winter. Sort of a run inside the coop.

It doesn't sound like there's much you can do about it, but wherever you read isn't exactly correct. It's a minimum of 10 square feet for a run, 15 square feet suggested for larger breed birds.

In the coop, 4 square feet per bird, thus 14 square feet would be the bare minimum per bird, 19 preferred.

Avoiding overcrowding usually prevents feather picking, pecking on each other, and illnesses.

If you had bantam breeds, this could work better, but I scrolled back and you're getting full-sized hens.

Is it possible you can build a second story in your coop so they could climb a ladder and go up there to spread them out a little more? Or perhaps a deck of sorts, fenced in?

 

[Minnesota Joe]

It doesn't sound like there's much you can do about it, but wherever you read isn't exactly correct. It's a minimum of 10 square feet for a run, 15 square feet suggested for larger breed birds.

In the coop, 4 square feet per bird, thus 14 square feet would be the bare minimum per bird, 19 preferred.

Avoiding overcrowding usually prevents feather picking, pecking on each other, and illnesses.

If you had bantam breeds, this could work better, but I scrolled back and you're getting full-sized hens.

Is it possible you can build a second story in your coop so they could climb a ladder and go up there to spread them out a little more? Or perhaps a deck of sorts, fenced in?

I can’t go up. 7’ height restriction. The coop has to be “I can stand up in it”. I configured the coop several times. The coop size is all that is possible.
The hens will be 2 Orpington Lavender and Jubilee. 3 Wyandottes hens. Silver Laced. Blue Laced and Bkack laced. Hand fed treats calm and very tame

 

[Debbie292d]

I can’t go up. 7’ height restriction. The coop has to be “I can stand up in it”. I configured the coop several times. The coop size is all that is possible.
The hens will be 2 Orpington Lavender and Jubilee. 3 Wyandottes hens. Silver Laced. Blue Laced and Bkack laced. Hand fed treats calm and very tame

Well, you might prove us all wrong, and 5 hens can live in peace in there.

 

[Minnesota Joe]

I’ll keep you posted. When completed I’ll post pictures.

 

[janiedoe]

I’ll keep you posted. When completed I’ll post pictures.

Have you heard of chunnels? Some people use them to gain a little extra space for their flocks. They are basically just wire enclosed tunnels for chickens to safely graze or go from one place to another. Here is a picture from the web:

 

[Minnesota Joe]

A great idea if I had the room. Back yard is 50x30. Setback puts the coop in the only place it can go. I’m attaching three photos. Facing the coop site from my back step. Left is east fence burlap wrapped arborvitae, garage and patio, right side walk to SW corner of the fence. Narrow strip is staked out coop site.