Moving to the Coop...What do I do?

[AsunaWolf42]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there is no way those coops are going to house 15 LF chickens.
You only have 20 sq ft total coop space and about 6.5' of roost space. That is good for no more than 7 LF chickens TOTAL. It doesn't matter if they are orps or leghorns. They are going to be too crowded if you try to stuff more than that in them.
Is there any way to return these coops? Have they been set up yet?

They can be returned but I have been unable to find any other coop with good reviews that I trust.

 

[DobieLover]

They can be returned but I have been unable to find any other coop with good reviews that I trust.

Have you considered using an old shed and converting that into a coop? It can be done relatively quickly.

 

[townchicks]

They can be returned but I have been unable to find any other coop with good reviews that I trust.

That's, sadly, is the problem with prefab coops. They have their place, ( I have one), but you cannot trust any of them when it comes to the amount of chickens they say it will hold. I don't know how much you can spend, but would it be in the ball park to have a coop built, or buy a prefab shed instead? A shed would still need some work, adding ventilation and roosts, etc, but it would house all of them pretty comfortably. You would still need a run, too, unless you free range.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I know my babies are not old enough for the coop yet but 4 weeks will fly by as fast as the first 2 did I am sure. I don't want to be scrambling for answers when the time comes to move them out.
I have 2 coops meant to fit up to 8 orpington sized chickens. I have 15 chickies at the moment and I have heard I should keep them in the coop for some amount of time to teach them where home is.
How long do I keep them in the coop before letting them in the run? And then how long in the run before letting them into the yard? I have a designated 1200 sq ft part of my yard for them to roam freely once I know they will come home to sleep at night.
Also, this does mean I will be splitting them up into the 2 coops for the allotted time, will that affect their behavior toward each other when they go into the run?

That sounds great! But I wouldn’t split them up. Is there anyway you can make the chicken coops into one? Can you post a picture of your set up?

 

[AsunaWolf42]

Have you considered using an old shed and converting that into a coop? It can be done relatively quickly.

That's, sadly, is the problem with prefab coops. They have their place, ( I have one), but you cannot trust any of them when it comes to the amount of chickens they say it will hold. I don't know how much you can spend, but would it be in the ball park to have a coop built, or buy a prefab shed instead? A shed would still need some work, adding ventilation and roosts, etc, but it would house all of them pretty comfortably. You would still need a run, too, unless you free range.

I intend to free range relatively. And I have no experience in actually building things...and I wouldn't get it done in time to let them out.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

That sounds great! But I wouldn’t split them up. Is there anyway you can make the chicken coops into one? Can you post a picture of your set up?

Oh, I see the picture.

 

[townchicks]

I intend to free range relatively. And I have no experience in actually building things...and I wouldn't get it done in time to let them out.

Depending on the budget, you can have it set up for you. I don't know for sure, but I think the ones from home depot and such like, come with set up. A handyman could install ventilation and roosts. They usually have small vents but that is not enough for chickens. A dog kennel, covered on top, with hardware cloth attached to the lower part and a skirt of hardware cloth around it to prevent digging, makes an easy to do small run for when you are not able to watch them. Check places like craigslist too, in the farm section, often there are folks that custom build them and will do set up for you.

 

[townchicks]

Do keep us posted, I think 4 weeks is do able.

 

[AsunaWolf42]

Depending on the budget, you can have it set up for you. I don't know for sure, but I think the ones from home depot and such like, come with set up. A handyman could install ventilation and roosts. They usually have small vents but that is not enough for chickens. A dog kennel, covered on top, with hardware cloth attached to the lower part and a skirt of hardware cloth around it to prevent digging, makes an easy to do small run for when you are not able to watch them. Check places like craigslist too, in the farm section, often there are folks that custom build them and will do set up for you.

We will try to find something on short notice but we both work full time and planned on getting the eglus set up Tuesday when we start our vacation. We cant get a refund that fast.