Need help planning coop/run

[RIR-Mama]

I'm building my own coop/run for my two peepers I'm getting soon. I'm only getting about 2 or 3, maybe 2 Rhode Island Reds. They might be bantam, I don't know. Anyways, I was wondering if a 2ftx2ft box coop would be okay for them. And the run will be about 2ftx4ft.

 

[patandchickens]

That's only 4 sq feet of coop and 8 sq ft of run, which is really *awfully awfully* small for even just 2 chickens. Less so if they are banties, but still.

Try doubling your dimensions, or trebling them for 3, or *significantly* more if you think there is any possibility you may ever get hooked into any more chickens (as happens to most people around here <G>).


Pat

 

[RIR-Mama]

I didn't really know how big to make it.

 

[Acre of Blessings]

I noticed your rank is "New Egg" well let me give you some advice. You need a 10x10 coop with a 20 foot run, because if you hang around here long enough, you are definately going to buy mor chicks.

I read somwhere in the forum that "chicks are like Pringles, no one can get just one".

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

The size of coop and run you are considering would work for 1 chicken, although the run could even be a bit larger.

Here are a few things to think about.
Are you going to keep your chickens locked up in the coop for longer than overnight? If so, you will need more than 4 sq. ft. of space per chicken.

The more room your chickens have, the less likely you will have problems with them picking feathers and drawing blood from each other.

The more space you have, the easier it will be to keep clean. Chickens produce a lot of poop, and if they are confined to a small area, it builds up quick.

If you are getting 5 or less chickens, I suggest your coop be at least 4X8.
I would put the run on the 8 foot side, and make it at least 8x8.
I would also make them both tall enough to walk into. You will appreciate the height later on, when you have a hen that decides to hide her eggs and not lay in the nest.

As you add more chickens, you can build another coop next to this one and just keep growing!!!

I don't know where you are, but if the weather is not too harsh there, someone on here made a hoop house from PVC pipe and covered it with wire , then a tarp. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=29631

Here is a link to one that is not tall enough to walk into, but it will give you the idea. http://4hpoultry.osu.edu/HoopHouse.htm

And here is one we made from a trampoline frame.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=43233&p=1

Here are some breeder pens we built, and after using these for 3 years, I sure wish we had made them taller! There are other pics of pens in this thread also.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=395113#p395113

Hope these give you some ideas.
Jean